Ever since the first internet capable computer was brought into our home by my parents on or about the 8th of August, 1998, we have had, exclusively, dial-up internet service. It carried us into the digital age with access to Ebay, it introduced us to Electronic Mail, it was my link to the planet Ragol and the colony ship Pioneer 2, and has been the main stay for virtually all of my internet related activity for these last fourteen and a half years. Why yes, even as I post this message now I am online with the original, and most sophisticated form of modern analog communication there is. Your cell phones have higher bandwidth data throughput to the good old interwebernets than I do. All that is about to change though. If all goes as scheduled, sometime this, Friday, morning while I am off at work, the cable company will be setting up a broadband modem in our home. And this time tomorrow night, I could well be able to actually watch YouTube videos from the comfort of home.
I'd like to think that having broadband access from home will overall improve my life, but having been restricted online for so very long has caused me to put in a serious mindset of consideration into every link I click for thought of load times. It does rather raise a question for me about the potential for forgetting from whence I came. What does the broadband future hold for me, for PSO Archive, and for any future interests that may come? Only the journey into this digital future keep of informational wealth may truly reveal those answers.
For the previous 14 1/2 years of internet, I would like to thank.
ViprLink (out of business)
BlueLight (out of business)
ISP I have forgotten tha name of
EarthLink (out of business)
Sprint (Dreamcast) (no longer offers dial-up)
MSN (Dreamcast) (dial-up division shut down)
And our current provider from whom we've had the longest ongoing and best service out of the entire bunch NetZero.
Thank you all for making the internet available to me!
I go to bed now on this the waning eve of our dial-up era and shall take respit with the knowledge of that new age dawning upon us on the morrow.