Sointhemeantime, itwasthatitwasjustfor a small, selectfew.
I think I havetheInternetsince I was a babybecausemydadwasalwaysintoit.
Westartedwith 56 k modem, andsothattook a longtimetoconnect a lotofbeeps.
I usedtobe a humitback.
Exactly.
I don't think I did.
I coulddoitnow.
No, no.
Didyou?
Didyoudothat?
Itwas 15 yearsbefore I sawanybenefitfromthatSocalledbreaksthrough.
Yeah.
Whatwasthatbenefit?
JustItwasemail.
Sothefirstthing I rememberwasin 1984 when I was a PhDstudentattheUniversityofSheffieldonwewereconnectedtotheJanetnetforthefirsttime, andwegotaccesstoemail.
So a groupoffiveorsixofusgatheredaroundtheterminalandsentanemailtoEdinburghtoAndrewBlake, whowasrecentlythedirectorofthetouringinstitute.
Notsure, I thinkmostlyitwas a Webaccess, and I wasbuildingwebsitesfairlyyounger.
15.
Itwasfuntodo.
Yeah, justslowloading, noisyInternet.
Sayswhat?
Rememberoneofmyfirstmemories, I guess, issittinginanInternetcafeinCambridge a numberofyearsagowith a oneofthefirstWebbrowsers.
SoWasit, I won't saylikeNetscapeorsomethinglikethisonopeninguptheWebbrowserandactuallyseeingWebpagesforlikethefirsttime.
Really, thatwasprobablymyoneofmyfirstmemories.
I Thismusthavebeen 25 yearsago, so, youknow, a longtimeago, but a whileago, so I wasinuniversity, offTechnicalUniversityofPoland, andwehadwehadthefirstconnectiontoeARPAnetorwhateveritwas.
It's a timeondhe.
Um, sowhat I wasdoingYes, I I wasneversubscribedtothetheanarchymailinglist, whichwasprettyprettyinteresting.
Soitwasquitecuttingedgeinourhouse, and I rememberwehaddialupandhavingThiohangupthephone.
AndeverytimeyouwantedThiousetheInternet.
I usedtodrivemymomsparebecauseshe'd wantustogetoffincasesomebodycalled.
Well, oneofthefirsttimes I wentonlineand I startreadingfrak, whichis a, uh, askingonlyDigitalMagicmagazineabouthowtohacktelephonesinparticularandhowtogetfreeontotheontotheInternetsystem.
And I justthoughtofusfantastic.
Soforme, I thinkitwasgonnarunmyfriendAlantoastsandgoingonbulletboardsystemstoarrangegamesofdoomto, Sothatwasprobablywhat?
Earlynineties, 94 95.
LikethatonthencominghomeonlearningaboutApple's E world, whichwas a wholenewworldforyou.
I wasreallyexcitedthatit's gonnabegoodiesnow, isn't it?
You'regonnahave, like, a pictureofyourtiredandyougotoyourlittleemailareaanditwasnotlikethat.
It's reallybad.
Orthiswholecommunityoffpeoplewhoaretryingtounderstandthisassistantthatwasstillbeingdevelopedanditwassortoflike a anactiveraceofpeopletryingtofigureouthowitworksandhowyoucansubvertitwastookforeverbecausethetelcosvestedinterestsgotinthewaytheywantedtoruntheworld, and I hadtobetoldfirmlythatitwasn't justthem.
Sothatwasmaybe a, youknow, ifyouweredownloadinganMPthree, thatwouldbequite a while.
Itwouldtake, asopposedtofractionsof a second.
Youhadthephonecablethat I wasdraggingthroughthewholehouse, andyou'd havetoasktheparentsbecauseitwaslike, Oh, theywerestill I'm fromLuxembourg.
Sowestillhad a differentcurrency, anditcosts, like, youknow, fivefrancsperminutetousetheInternet.
AndGrandmacouldn't call.
Yes, thegoodolddays.
I dorememberthatassoonas I understoodwhattheInternetwasandhowitworked, I immediatelystartedtryingtomakemyownwebsite.
Um, which I did.
Itwasterrible.
Uh, that's myMyearlymemoriesoftheInternetareliketryingtowritehtmlinoldcampsin a notepad.
Itwas a simplertime.
I wasthinkinglastnightaboutbuildingboardsandthefactthatactuallywith a socialmedia, we'rejustgoingbacktodoingexactlythesamethings.
No, it's great.
Youknow, we'rejustpostingstuffforpeopletoseeifthesamestuff, thefirststuff I remember, I suppose, islisteningto a modemdialuptoconnect a Webpages.
Therewerethatmanywherepagesthen, buttheonesthatdidexistseemtobeabsolutelyloadedwithblinking, flashingbannerssayingunderconstructioningarishSionfontsasthenightmyfirstmemoryofusingInternetwithin 1994 mybrotherjustgotbackfromuniversityandfoundoutabouttheInternet, andsowhenwehadtohaveitathomeon, sowebought a 28 U.
S.
Roboticsmodemforouracornarecomedians.
A 3000 whichwasthefamilycomputer.
Youcouldn't domuchWebbrowsingatthetimebecausethe A 3000 wasn't muchgoodatit.
Um, so I spent a lotoftimeontellnetchatrooms, socalledtalkersatthetime, itwas a bitlike a B B s.
Youcouldlogonandtalktopeopleonkindof a terminalinterface.
So I spenthoursonthat, andthenitallcamecrashingdownwhen, after a monthofhavingthat, wegotthephonebill, whichwasabout £150 basicallyallofme, orformydineupInternettalkingon.
Fromthenon, I waslimitedto 1/2 anhour a dayontheInternet.
When I startedusingtheInternet, I I wasdoingmyMastersstudies.
SoAndiitwas.
Butinmycountry, veryinorigininMexico, in a citycalledShewon't likethedogfellprettyexciting, youknow, I guessthat's probablyoneofthereasons I wentintocomputersciences.
But I wasamazedhowthetimeallpast, whichwerejustsentonplayingtextbecause I wrotetheserver, I coulddropallthepacketsand I couldstayforthepasswordsandyouknow, andpeopledidn't believemethat I understand.
I justshowedoneofmyoneofmyshootingfriendslike, Look, it's likeyourpassword.
Well, someofthechamberisthisway.
So I saidSo I startedgoingonlinein 1995 sothatwasveryearly.
SoitwasthingslikeGoforandtellhimthat.
Andarcanelibrarymethods.
TherewasnoInternetsearchyetatthattime, butwehad a wellinmyhouse, andwewereWasthatannoyingnoisewasdialinginget, like, threestagesacrossin a little, eh?
Well, person, movealong.
Andthen, umyeah, andtheneverywebpage, ifyoulike.
Okay, loading.
Got a bitof a picture.
That's yeah, that's usuallymyearlymemories.
I thinkwhen I firststartedusingtheInternet, wedidn't usetheWebthatmuch.
TheCharliewasn't uptoit, particularlybefore I gotactualTCP I peek.
Actually, oneofthingswedidwaswe e mailpeople.
And I rememberthat I was a bigfanofBabylonfive, stillam.
Andatthattime, thewriterJoeMichaelStraczynskihadhisemailaddresspublic, and I rememberemailinghimwithquestionsaboutthingsintheshowwhenhewouldrespond.
I certainly I wasatuniversitybetween 1985 1990 Doforundergraduatedegree.
Andi, I certainlymembermuckingaroundwiththemanfromsmokingaroundwithofaxesandplayingaround, but I can't rememberSendanemail.
What I canvividlyremember, however, isgoingthiosynchrotron, whichis a particleacceleratorweekcondensedmatterphysicistaren't somuchinterestedintheparticleswereinterestedinthelightthoseparticlesgiveoffonthatwasin a placecalledterrorspree, whichisprettywellequidistantbetweenLiverpoolandManchester, rightinthemiddleofLiverpool.
Manchester.
Andi, I remembergoingtheretodoanexperimentonDhesendinganexcited e mailboxandyouwon't believeit.
They'vegot a browserhereandyoucanactuallyseeimagesonit.
Soyousendsomemoneythroughthepostandsay, I wantthesedisksandyou'd getthesedisksbackinthepostandsobeabletodothatviatheInternetwas a kindofcompletelydifferentexperience, butyouknowoppositetook a really, reallylongtime.
I remember e mailing a friendwho's inAustraliaon a gaphereondhe.
Theywereon a universitysystemoverthere, assumingthatwouldbedoingbackwardsandFord e mails.
Sotheythisemailpoppedupandtheysend a replyandthoughtwe'd bebackonit.
I wasn't there, but I couldreadwhatotherpeopleweresaying.
I'm thinkingthatwasfantastic.
FirstElectroniqueCommunicationsthroughtheshot, ourprogramsatthetime, If I recallcorrectly, theyweresomethingcalled I R C shotDennis.
I don't getit, butyeah, so I don't remembertheChuckteenprogramthatwillallowyoutotalktopeoplethatyouhaven't metbeforeandthatwasstrangebutveryinterestingfeeling, Really.
Thefirstthings I canrememberwhichcan't bethefirstthings, butit's likeusingIRCusingthingsliketheundernetonusingFTPservers, thistypeofthing.
And I rememberwedidn't veryearlyonwithan O, a CDprojectthatlookedattouseoffdigitaltechnologyandtheInternetforeducation.
Thatwasthefundsstyle I needtypingyourmessageonveryincendiaryandyou'd hearitgotPingoneachofthedestinations.
ItwasItisasifitwasbeingcarried.
Exlinewaspinging, pinging, pinion, andtheneventuallyitpinnedondotgooseand 90 onitsaidmessagereceived, and I thought, Wow, it's thefirsttimeandthenyouhavetowaitabout a dayortwodaysandthen I keptgoingbackandcomingwithonedaysaid, Yeah, comealone.
Comeon.
So I wentoversowellwiththe U.
S.
SoAlanBooth, suchtendersekatowintheNobelPrize S o I raise a tour.