In what year did you first use the Internet?

I first used the internet in 1997. Getting a computer was out of our family budget since computers used to start around $1900 for a very basic model with a 14” CRT monitor. So I used to go to the public library as they had opened an area to use computers.

It was so slow with the V.34/28.8k modems of the time. Back them we used to have Windows 95 and sites like Yahoo were just starting out. The most popular browser was Netscape Navigator and people at home who could afford computers used America Online! to search the Internet. I remember using Yahoo one time and everytime I wanted to search for something, this new thing called “Google” kept popping out wanting me to use it instead of Yahoo.

I remember when we could not use the computers at the library for like a week because they were getting upgraded to Windows 98 and when we came back they had faster 56K modems!

I still have and use my first Yahoo email address that I made in 1997 and I made my eBay account in 1999.

I remember something revolutionary that happened and everybody was using it. It was a way to talk to other people besides email!!! They called the program ICQ and later people came out with the name Instant Messaging for that new form of communication.