When we started AOL in 1985, to learn about “the Internet” you needed to read science fiction or the predictions of futurists. I remember reading Alvin Toffler’s The Third Wave — describing the evolution from the agriculture age to the industrial revolution and predicting the emergence of a third “electronic” revolution — like it was yesterday. At the time we launched, only 3% of U.S. households were online, and those early adopters averaged just one hour of weekly use
Communication modems were viewed as “peripheral” devices — a non-core, optional, niche add-on for a small subset of hobbyists. Connectivity was expensive, as most users were charged for every minute of network usage. And the Internet was limited to non-commercial uses (mostly educational institutions and the government). In fact, back then it was illegal for companies or the general public to be connected to the Internet. Read more…
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