it is a widely, or indeed universal, acknowledged fact that some (most righteous) dude called Tim Berners-Lee is the man what invented the internet. well, kind of acknowledged, look you see. like anything what is ace, there are many who will try to claim that it was them and not someone else who done it. most memorably, of course, Al Gore claimed that "the internet" was just one of many initiatives what he came up with.
when he invented it, did the internet then look like what it does now? of course not. if anything, it was even more excellent and ace than it is now, for one (more or less) had to use a Commodore 64 to access it. if there were any doubts about the wisdom and intelligence of this Tim bloke, well, that he was a Commodore 64 man (presumably) is enough credentials for me. and should be for you.
how did you get onto this "internet" thing back in 1989? as with most things then, if they didn't have it in stock down at HMV or Our Price (or Woolworths, i suppose), then you wrote off to an advert in a magazine or newspaper to get it.
there you go. for just south of £40, you could get a boss modem in the post, and then three months access. quite the bargain, considering the price for it these days. also, you got something called "electronic mail", which i shall take as being what we now know as "email", and could say you were part of the on-line revolution.
what could you do "on-line" in 1989? from what i recall of a documentary, featuring Vernon Wells, anyone connected (and that had some jumper leads) could download anything from a girl to a tactical nuclear missile. now that i think, just them two.
also yes, you could get games too. i imagine that for the most part people "connected" in 1989 did some "file share" things as we call it now, of smart games like Stroker 64 and Samantha Fox Strip Poker. no, 1989 internet wasn't quite at the point where one downloaded or "streamed" music and films to their Commodore 64 but that was also covered at the time.
behold, the "streaming box" of 1989, the Video Sender. quite clever it was, using FM to transmit any audio and video source to other devices in your house, or next door. creating a bit of a "wi fi" network, i guess. strangely this was not too popular on launch, for no one could work out why on earth you would either want or need to transmit, or "stream", something to a different device in the home than the one you were in front of.
can you still connect to the internet, or whatever that is in the advert, with a Commodore 64? yes, probably, maybe, no, i don't know. at present i don't have a functioning Commodore 64 as such, and do not have a modem. well, it didn't seem worth the risk - Mum & Dad would have knacked me for "accidentally" making a tactical thermal nuclear missile appear in our house, which i would absolutely have tried to do if i had a modem. someone out there will have the full kit, though, and is bound to give it a go.
in respect of the last sentence of the previous paragraph, the answer is yes, and here you go. off you go, give it a try. since you will be no doubt keen to connect via your Commodore 64, no one will be reading this any more, so i will call it quits.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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