New High Speed Internet User---and LOVING It!! (laptop, DSL, modem)
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Evening all,
Tomorrow will mark my third week of access to high speed internet---and all I have to say is that I don't know how I ever survived without it during the sixteen years I have been using a computer.
It wasn't until the beginning of the new millennium that I began using a computer---first at my new job at an insurance company and then at home. My sister gave me an old laptop she was no longer using and my son, who is an IT expert, loaded the necessary software (AOL) so I could access the internet. There was no high-speed internet access where I lived, so I had to learn to be satisfied with the speed of a 56K modem because it was all I could get. Anyway, the years passed and rumors began circulating that high speed internet access was going to be available in our neighborhood. Well, that never happened--and I continued doing without it for the next ten years after I moved to a very rural area, because, as we were told, there was no "market" for it. In the meantime, I had gone through two more computers and was on my third (my present one), when my family, out of necessity, made the decision to move to a small town about 14 miles away. The first thing I did was check with our telecommunications provider to see if DSL was available there. It was, so we ordered it. Three days later, a technician arrived at our new home and began installing the wiring. He had just gotten there when my son sent me a text asking if we were online yet. I told him no, that they had just started the installation process. He was so excited at the prospect of us finally having high speed internet access, for it was something we had been talking about for years. A few hours later, the wiring completed, the tech was at my computer, connecting it to the ethernet. The lights on the router first began flashing red, then yellow ("the system is updating"), he explained. Then, as all the lights turned green, my phone suddenly rang. I almost jumped, for I wasn't expecting it. I picked up the receiver--and it was my son, calling to see if we were connected. "Yes!", he exclaimed. "Welcome to the 21st century!"
Indeed. I never imagined in my wildest dreams how access to high speed internet would open up a world to me that has long been denied all these years---until now: lightning-fast downloads, crystal-clear phone communication and instant access to videos and websites I never had before.
(I think it's a woman Dude, based on her username).
Welcome to the 20th Century!!! LOL
I am a woman (hear me roar!)
Anyway, I don't know if finally having access to broadband meant more to my son or me. We spent many days over the years talking about it, with me venting my frustrations over error messages every time I tried to access a web page, having to resort to paying several bills over the phone (some of which came with hefty processing fees for the privilege), and being unable to view videos of my grandchildren he had posted on Facebook. He even tried once, using his connections in telecommunications (he works in e-commerce) to persuade our phone company to at least consider providing access to DSL where we lived. No dice, they said. He was told that there were not enough people living in our neighborhood to justify the cost, so we were stuck with an old, "hard" telco. And, HughesNet wanted the equivalent of a mortgage payment to install another dish on our roof. So, we had to wait until the Fickle Finger of Fate came about and told us it was time to move. So, we did---and near a major highway where the infrastructure for DSL was already in place.
I do remember what it felt like. I got it shortly after graduating high school in the year 2000... downloading beta versions of the yet to be released windows xp. How the time flies by... I still remember build 2505 which was RC1 or something like that.
I know the feeling, I used Webtv until around 2007, not long before it became extinct. For the past few years I've paid for AT&T U-verse internet speed of 18, which normally tests out around 23.47. A lot better than my Webtv days. And I can even watch tv while using the internet.
Now if I can just find a free email service without advertising and videos that clutter the pages and make my laptop work too hard. Grrr. Had Inbox.com but they are going to pay only starting tomorrow. Using Gmail, will have to do for now, though I don't like it much.
I know the feeling, I used Webtv until around 2007, not long before it became extinct.
I was on the webtv from the beginning up to it's becoming MSN TV until around 2008.
OMG .. Talk about slow/disconnects/non-connects ... Oy Vey!
Remember Draac?
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A lot better than my Webtv days. And I can even watch tv while using the internet. 
