When did you start using an online computer?

I never touched a computer until 1994, when I took a job in a restaurant that had daily menu changes...I was introduced to the wonders of "desktop publishing", on a VERY old computer.
I had no contact with the internet until 1997, when I finally "bit the bullet", and bought a computer for my apartment so that I could do the menu changes from home, and fax them in. I got a Compaq, 3gig, 64mb,...it was decent at the time, especially since aol was so slow anyway.
I was 28.
I have since upgraded to a PowerSpec 80 gig, 1.7gh 512 mb,...she's fast!
And this past fall I got a laptop, so that I could take it to work with me, and that's even faster than my desktop!
It's all on a wireless network here in the house, and at work. And the broadband connection changed my life!!

Used to go to a Internetcafe' here in town, got hooked pretty quick! That was '99, and when they closed, I got this one here in 2000, it's not really uptodate, but that is ok with my double broadband conn at 1536 kbit/s, I love it!!!

Well - I owned my first computer in 1983, it had dual floppies and a green monitor, cannot even remember what you called that. I cannot remember the message board system name anylonger, but is was some kind of usnet, where packets of info(messages) got routed around every 24 hours or something like that. Right now we have 5 operational computers connect to a hub, and a pocket pc.
owned CPU processors(computers):
8088 desktop
286 laptop (still have first Olvetti laptop model)
386 desktop
486 desktop
P133 desktop, laptop, and tower
P233 desktop
P400 tower
Athlon 950mhz tower
Athlon 1,400mhz tower
Athlon 2,200mhz tower

I have odd little experiences which weren't really regular PC use but are definitely a part of my history.

In somewhere between 1976 and 1979 (probably before late '77), saw my first computer in person (I've talked about this already on this thread).

In 1981 I took a computer class in college. Dropped the class but got to keep the account for that school year. The account had exceptionally rudimentary chatting/email. Used it perhaps once per day or once per week for a while but then stopped. Access was pulled in early 1982.

From 1983 - 1986 I took computerized legal research courses at Law School and used Lexis and Westlaw. Very rudimentary type of quasi-boolean searching. Access was spotty.

In 1986 I worked for a firm which had Westlaw but no one was allowed to use it. I used it, of course, and there was hell to pay. Very weird, total misunderstanding by management as to how to use computers, and why.

1987 - 1990 I worked on that legal billing/calendaring system I mentioned above. Word processing was only available to secretaries. No spreadsheeting capabilities, no database.

1991 - we bought our first PC but it wasn't connected online. I mainly did word processing.

1994 - worked for a company with dumb terminals. Definitely about 15 steps backward from where I'd been. The computers were only for the purpose of looking up stuff. Secretaries used word processing. No spreadsheets, no databases.

1995 - we inherited an external modem and started using Juno email. I also started working for a company with email. Learned at that time what a spreadsheet is. Started online banking.

1997 - we bought our current PC (yep, we still use it). Online and everything - spreadsheets, databases, online banking and bill paying, online shopping, scanning, email, etc.

Looks like I've used something, on and off, for the past 25 years, but most intently for about 10 or so of those years.

just remembered this little tid bit my first modem was a phone craddle, you dialed the isp server then set the phone on a craddle connected to the puter (not exactly broadband)

I first started using the internet when I arrived at Framingham State College (now called Framingham State University) back in the beginning of November 1995. I started the semester that September and I remember wandering into their computer lab to see what this internet thing was all about. Since then, I haven't been without the internet and forever been hooked to the medium.

I was not quite 24 years old at the time. My birthday coming at the end of November.

I think that one of the first sites I visited was http://www.cartalk.com/. They kept bringing it up during the Car Talk show in those days.

Prior to that, I was using computers to play video games (IBM PC Jr, Commodore something or other, Tandy TRS 80, etc...) since the early 1980's.

I started online with intranet around 1982 by logging onto DEC's intranet. Soon I connected from work on their world wide intranet and then at home to work but also through a portal to the Internet with modem.

Had a brush with TRS-80, Commodore 64 games as well as playing Pacman and what-not on an Atari console. around 1988-1990

After that, I purchased my own pc around 1991 and logged into Bulletin boards (through Delphi) and UseNet news groups. Then my activity migrated over to Prodigy and AOL around 1994. Then AIM (chat proggy) and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) around 2000.

You bought your first computer in 1991. It looks like Jespah bought her first computer in 1991 (as mentioned a couple posts above here).

I believe I also bought my first computer in 1991 from the Fort Hood PX.

Before 1991, I had a DEC home terminal and modem that I could dial in and link up to the work network.

BTW, I used to live in Framingham in 1967-1970 then again in 1972 when I got out of USAF. Back in my high school days ('67) , FSU was then chartered as an all women's teaching college...and was known as 'Hungry Hill'. We used to go there for social mixers.

oops...wrong timeframe:


That should have read:"... brush with TRS-80, Commodore 64 games as well as playing Pacman and what-not on an Atari console. around 1982-1985."

Also remembered playing on a friend's Apple IIC in 1980.

how did i miss this topic for so long

i bought my first computer in 97 and used pay as you go dial up for the first few months

in the late 80's a friend had the dial up in the cradle that Bob mentioned earlier

2001, it is my first time to touch the online computer,