I remember back when I was still young, working on a summer job that I was lucky enough to get to pay for my first computer. Some kids at school were always discussing what they were doing on theirs, while a majority of them didn't have one except for their phones, which at the time lacked any smart components. Nokia was all the rage and aside from Snake and a few other games the main thing you could do on them was call people or SMS text them. Weird times looking back when you had to pay for each call and SMS you did. Either way the few friends who did have "personal computers" would always discuss about the internet trends going on at the time, how they were playing online multiplayer games such as CS 1.6, MOH:AA and Worms 3d, etc. Aside from that they very much enjoyed downloading stuff before pirating became "illegal" (but did it it stop people from pirating?).
After visiting one of those friends one evening and seeing him play MOH:AA (Medal of Honor: Allied Assault) I was determined to get my own PC. After working a full summer I had finally gotten the money together to spend it on a PC, even though I remember my parents often asking me "is this really a good investment?". At first I did the usual things, play some multiplayer games, download a few movies; I still remember very well how I was trying to download a 700mb copy of the Lord of the Rings on a 25kb/s DSL. The program I used was called DC++ which enabled people to join hubs where they could share folders in and let others access them directly to download, at the same time it would download a movie from beginning to end, not partition it up like torrent programs use these days where depending on which part is available and can get downloaded by you the fastest will. This meant that I could start watching the movie on VLC while it was downloading and I remember having rewatched the beginning of LOTR at least 7 times until it was time for bed. Every rewatch I could watch a little further in as it had downloaded a little more. The actual downloading part was exciting to young me with his new computer enabling the world of the internet. Like, I'd literally just sit and watch how fast it was downloading and seeing the percentage of the download go from 10.36% to 0.01% higher now and then.
Then came the time of being able to burn CD's, I distinctively remember thinking what sort of magic all of that was. It's a fucking circular piece of glass and my PC could embed music or movies onto it through a laser, I mean even today it's kind of wtf but unfortunately the era of CD's came to an end quite quick and are mostly used as novelty these days.
There was a time when I had gotten used to PC's a bit more, constantly playing, reading chats like mIRC, DC++ chatrooms and of course getting friends who also started getting PC's of their own or using their "family pc" (possibly also a word that has lost usage over the years) to join MSN to chat with them there. I distinctively remember that my parents used to do phone calls outside of the country to some relatives and whatnot and how expensive it was and me asking them why they wouldn't use something like MSN to chat with them or maybe Skype to call them and at the same time wondering why not everyone is using skype for such calls instead of paying several euro's per minute on their phone connections. If only one could have Skype on their phone I'd think but it was of course a little too early for the smart phones to exist.
I also remember my move from the numerous Nokia's into my first "smart phone", which was surprisingly cheap but also very, very, slow and wonky; a ZTE but that was quite a few years later.
I don't know what exactly it was, what drove me to spend all this time online, constantly searching for what else is new, what fun/interesting things there are to do along with gaming being a big part of it but it kind of was the same mentality and curiosity that drove me to and got me stuck on blockchain. The reason I'm bringing up the story about my involvement with technology early on in Finland is because I have this one friend who texted me today asking if crypto is about to do another scam-run.
It's just baffling to me and it reminded me of the majority of people back when as they couldn't see anything interesting or worth their time to do on the computer compared to me and a few friends, it was still very early and they were too busy with their "lives". Many also didn't think the internet was that big of a deal and wouldn't really go anywhere, that computers were just a hassle to install and expensive to buy, kind of reminds me of some of my friends feeling about Hive registrations.
It just feels, even though I've attempted to explain to them, in great detail even, that crypto or blockchain is not just another fad. Stop listening to people talking about the tech bubble or the tulip mania, look at it in terms of the internet instead. An invention, which was older than most of us were even alive for but took a long time until people found the right usecases for to get everyone to use it. I've studied Bitcoin back in the day quite a lot, even though I was mostly intrigued by the mining and earning which I'm sure many others were but sitting around mining all day and nothing else to do back then before any alts even existed you had some time to dig into the whitepaper, other people's thoughts, etc. Like, there was a clear innovation here but no matter how I formulate it or attempt to convince them they don't see the importance of it, so eventually I just gave up.
"Another scam-run" is in a way hilarious to me, it's like they think we here today invested in the tech and potential are the same as those who get MLM'd up to sell Essential Oils or other pyramid schemes where we're all in on it together and we all know crypto is just a scam but we're trying to trick enough people to buy in so we can sell to them for a higher price. Although to be fair, let's be honest, most of the people in crypto still today are plotting to do exactly that.
Either way, I don't really know what could convince them but I assume that they'll be the same as before and join the internet, facebook, reddit, etc when everyone else is already on it compared to those early pioneers and users who saw something of value and either started building or using it because it was "some next level shit", a saying I've unfortunately not heard too much lately but fits quite well in this regard.
I'm sure many of you have had to deal with the same questions and attitudes when you've been trying to explain crypto or hive to them and I'm sure for many of you it has left you quite disappointed. Here we are, though, let's see what we can continue to keep building, innovating on and making life easier for the future generations and hopefully they'll be here then too and still have a habitable planet to shitpost on and check what the early pioneers were up to and talking now.
Hope you've been enjoying the market trends lately and it has given you some relief, I know everyone and their mothers were calling for 12k or 7k but keep in mind that most don't really know any better and most of it is just noise out there. Twitter's gonna be an even crazier place in the near future with monetization rumors coming up and everyone willing to sell a kidney or two to be someone.
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OMG, I loved this post. So many memories. I loved the early days of the internet and of course all the early technology. I remember my first CD burner too, what magic is this? Such a great way to put it. Music and movie downloading, IRC was a riot back in the day. So many great times.
The correlation between early attitudes toward the internet and similarities with crypto is staggering. Just like some folks didn't get the early internet, some folks just don't see the need for a change in financial instruments.
I think that's the bigger picture here too that a lot of "normies" and even "crypto bros and broettes", and sadly regulators don't get. This isn't just money, it's the future of finance. It could be a more inclusive, fair way to store value and share and distribute wealth. Our current system shares and distributes debt with promissory notes of payment (dollars). Crypto is more of a hard asset with a lot of potentials in trading the way banking, money transfers, and even future markets like stocks will work and operate. Financially, crypto has the potential to change almost EVERYTHING in finance. (That could also be part of the problem hindering adoption, many like the way things are and have a lot "staked" in the old system and way of doing things).
Anyway, this was just such a great post. Really enjoyed this and just wanted to leave a quick comment and let you know how much it was appreciated. We're early. Just like the early internet, we're the ones seeing the potential and understanding how this could change things. Just like the internet too, we're probably going to see all kinds of wild use cases we never even thought or dreamed of with blockchain technology!
A very nice saunter down memory lane there but to be fair to the doubters, over the years there have been a great many things that were great tech, even the best that have disappeared without a trace, not necessarily because they were scammy, some were, but because the world just didn't want, and/or was ready for them.
Just in social media, Google+ springs to mind and could anyone imagine Friendster, My Space or whatever being no more, were they 'just fads'? As for Bitconnect, One Coin and god knows how many other fake ICOs a few years back, how can we ever build trust in Blockchain and Crypto again. How many exchanges have collapsed costing so many people so much crypto?
Trying to convince people that this is the future gets harder each day. Unless there is a concerted effort to destroy bad actors and keep the whole space transparent and accountable, crypto may too one day become nothing more than a footnote in tech history. Obviously whilst there is a dedicated band of advocates, it won't happen but we need more users and more believers in the tech and while con artists and shysters are still around and stealing peoples crypto, we can't get the traction needed to build it into an unstoppable monster.
Yeah I'm kind of happy that Hive has managed to avoid a lot of exchange hacks/scams/implosions and at the same time we keep the chain quite nice now, I'd say it was the worst during the bid bot era where any and everything could end up on trending but we're making sure community consensus is up to date and fighting abusers/milkers day in and out. Couldn't say other chains are as clean as we are here.
If it is going to be effective then it has to be an organised effort to put an end to these bad actors but there is hardly any incentive to do so when you think about it.
I think it was somewhere in 1990 (right after The Revolution took place in Romania and we overturned the communist regime), when my father was in a delegation in the capital Bucharest and return from it with our (me and my brother) first computer - HC90 (Home Computer 90). That started a great journey for both of us which got us into IT and having some great jobs within the industry as a software developer and a software tester.
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Dang that looks like the stone age indeed haha, I think the oldest computers I used were in a school with those weird internet connections that made that sound. I remember looking up Pokemon and printing some so I could draw them, but nothing more than that until I got my own later. :D
I remember the days if dial up connection where I'll have to patiently wait for the connection to be established and then roam the internet in search for the latest 2D slick game. I wasn't that big on socializing back then.
Nowadays, everything is easier and faster and there are more people in the digital space. I understand the crypto doubters and where they're coming from. But to me, it seems history is repeating itself in another way and I don't want to miss this opportunity while I'm aware of it.
Wow, this post really takes me back to my own experiences with technology. I can definitely relate to the excitement of getting my first computer and the constant search for new things to do online (I literally had to make a huge sacrifice to get myself this machine, using my school fees to pay for it, and twas even used). It's interesting to see how much has changed in such a short amount of time, from the limitations of early smartphones to the ease of video chatting with Skype, to AI now threatening the relevance of man. It's a reminder of how quickly technology is advancing and how far we've come. Thanks for sharing!
I guess we're the same age, I was reading what you wrote and I remembered those times, the nokia, my first PC a 386 and then the era of recorders.
I believe that being a pioneer can depend on many things, for example I have always loved technology, the world of the internet and I have always tried to keep up to date and get there before the others because in his time I thought a revolution would be born.
The revolution has taken place and is still going on and I think we will continue to be pioneers of certain things simply because we are passionate about them and also because, in my opinion, we are passionate about knowledge... it seems obvious but then, reflecting on it, it really isn't.
Thanks for sharing and bringing back some great memories🤗
So many memories with this post!
You got me remember my first computer, at the very beginning of 2002. We had not so much money but I started needing it for school because we were asked to perform essays and small researches about assigned topics.
Since we had not so much money, me and my mother asked to my uncle to provide one ensembled home and gosh, it had so many problems. It kept freezing because we later discovered that the fan was under performing so CPU and GPU overheated.
So in that way I could not play neither Fifa2002 nor Stronghold.
So many memories from my early adolescence, quite harsh, but I was so excited getting the computer!
Looking back to the old days, you'll realize the internet has come from a long way. You've reminded me of the Waptric, Waphan and MSN days.
Like you just indicated, alot of folks didn't give a damn about the internet but now see how extreme the internet usage has become.
I don't understand why some of my educated friends still have doubts about cryptocurrencies and blockchain and I'm even fed up with explaining things to them. There are green flags all over and yet they can't realise that until it's too late. Thanks for sharing such an interesting topic buddy.
Yeah I understand that a lot, back when I first got to learn about them we had a re-union coming up and I couldn't wait to share some info about it with some of them I knew were very smart and technology-savvy, unfortunately it was quite a disappointment and had to quickly shift discussion onto something else as no one was that interested.
The voice of the "Bitcoin will die" people have been dimmer than a couple of years ago. There was a lot of FUD early on and then it stopped, at least in my bubble. Maybe we're not through yet or maybe we are.
I went from 386, to Pentium into AMD XP and finally to I7, man I had a lot of PCs in my life already. And life went by so fast... sometimes it's so hard to believe that this is not a Simulation.
Think my first one was a Pentium 4.
Oh! so... you didn't get to play Bushido?
I didn't as well, but maybe I will now!
Haha right on @manniman! :)
Go and enjoy one of the first classic IBM PC games from 40 years ago with full fast action written with barely 70KB of code. LoL
The way they solved those performance shortcomings with ingenuity is so fun to watch.
P4 was the first PC that I bought for myself and just found at home due to my dad, It was a PC from a discounter and I did some tuning to it later.
Check this out golem has the article still online, that is awesome!
https://www.golem.de/0204/19181.html
I was doing work as a Paperboy at that time, my Grandparents had just given me a couple of extra bucks and my father said to me if you can give me half of the money - I'll say mom that she'll go buy it with you. I had no clue but plugged it all together somehow, it's not like any plug would have fit into two different wholes anyway. And nothing but windows worked at the beginning. I had all those CDs with shareware and Demos and after a couple of days, my desktop was its own battlefield. Most of them were really glitchy and buggy, building a finished product was never a thing for developers' studios I guess.
I just remembered, all my paperboy money came from my grandparents. Because they had to sign the contract with the papers due to my age and me and my sister would then get the work to do and the money in cash. I think nowadays people would not do that, sjw would come to complain about child labor.
That's insane, I remember my P4 was the first thing that I put in my own room. To save money, my parents did move in our house into the basement while still building the other parts. So my sister got her own room on the first floor above the garage and I just took a room in the basement for myself. My mother was very violent toward me at that time and I was pretty happy to be out of sight as much as possible.
Laughs not one bit!!! I have to say online gaming stopped me from pirating games, I always feel the need to buy the game nowadays, especially the hardcopies🤣
On a different note, you kinda pulled me back a few years there!! Worms 3d!!that was the best shit ever!!!
It's very tiring to explain something to people over and over again and sometimes I get bored, but if I can convince even 1 out of 10 people to join Hive and guide them in the right direction, they can do something here for the future. I'm thinking of bringing my brother here next summer, so we'll see what happens.
The development of the internet and technology is simply amazing! Even though Nokia has been wiped out at this point, they used to be not bad at innovation. But that's the market, you have to do new and right things all the time. You don't even need to make mistakes. If you are static, you lose.
Counter strike 1.6 what memories. I will never forget the noise my PC was doing back on 2004-2005 I am not sure of the date while trying to connect to the internet . Seems like the Stone Age
I remember phone back in the day.. I was into gaming also, so wanted one of these so bad..
never got it tho. :( but haha, cuz today's phone are so much beyond this now..
Haha I went through a lot of nokia's before smarts.
😎👍 me too. i thought they were making a comeback with a phone with great battery like and that tough nokia case..
GPTChat certainly was an eye opener of how far things have come.
I agree, technology is accelerating and it will only push the digital world into more parts of everyday life.
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Yeah and we've only seen the public version of it so far. The lite client, the free2play chatGPT, the small sister of an older Brother GPT that's lurking in the shadows already.
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I built my first Pentium-90 in 1998. But damn it, why am I still so young, playing games on the blockchain with interest and writing on Hive.
Been meaning to reply to this.
I was talking to my gf yesterday about why I don’t have a hard time getting outside of my comfort zone and connecting to different people with different values (something she struggles with) and I realized it’s because I was one of the first people using internet for social. Before social media I was chatting with strangers on the other side of the country about coheed and Cambria and South Park. It made school feel like one of many bubbles and I could start to see outside of it.
I felt the same thing in the early days of social media, being the 9th or 10th university that was able to use Facebook before it was public, I used it as a tool to connect and so I started school with 100 contacts I never met, ended up meeting half of them.
Crypto is a little different in that it’s financial, but it’s the same in the crazy potential and skepticism around it and I think it’ll also open up more new ways to connect, hive being the most underrated example.
I think we’ve gotten adoption all wrong all these years, no amount of trying to convince will work. When there’s cool stuff going on that people want to join even if they are skeptical of the value or long term viability, that’s when it’ll catch on. If your favorite artist or game developer had some hive exclusive content, you’d check it out even if you didn’t trust crypto. You might even join hive.
That’s why I wish we could make some hivesters who love this community well known off hive, it’s easier than convincing outsiders to become insiders.