The Early Days

[Just_Me_D]

Can't even watch a 5mins clip without being interrupted by 2 or more ads. Privacy is just a word now, every app or software that guarantees privacy has their own commercial products ads in store for us once we started using them.

You are spot-on....:yes:

 

[Ledsteplin]

I really enjoyed my LG Chocolate 3 flip phone. It had 1 whole gb of separate storage for only music. I think I had about 115 songs on it. And thought that was special.

 

[bakron1]

BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) ruled the internet back then and there were no inundating of ads like there is today on the web. The camaraderie that existed by fellow BBS members were high and everyone appeared eager to assist you with something you didn't know how to do. Nowadays, everything is so commercialized and privacy is a thing of the past. (Sigh)....:concern:

I remember the BBS sites quite well and belong to a couple of them back in the day. They where a great source of technical information and folks where willing to share their knowledge and information.

As you said, today it’s all commercial and it seems it’s more about making money then sharing knowledge,’god I miss the early days and the great computer shows we had back then.

 

[Annie_M]

I used to be a moderator on a BBS site. It was really great and people became good friends, many of which are still friends today!

 

[Wotchered]

Extraordinary ! that was so long ago, back in the days when I still refused to carry a mobile.

 

[bakron1]

Extraordinary ! that was so long ago, back in the days when I still refused to carry a mobile.

I didn’t start carrying a mobile phone until I became a field service tech way back when and then it was a Nextel with the chirp walkie-talkie feature which everyone in the auto industry used back then.

Then came Blackberry and that’s when it all changed and I have been carrying one ever since. I do miss the old days, must simpler back then, but it was exciting to see the changes taking place.

A lot on innovative folks made a lot of money back then and the rest is history. But it’s been a great ride.

 

[wilber1]

I started with a pager that BlackBerry introduced in 1998 and then a few years later with a BlackBerry 8220 and wow I could even access the internet on it .

 

[bakron1]

I started with a pager that BlackBerry introduced in 1998 and then a few years later with a BlackBerry 8220 and wow I could even access the internet on it .

I still remember the first time I could actually access the internet on my smartphone, it was like magic back then and it was on a Blackberry device.

 

[BlackBerry Guy]

I was just entering my teen years when I got my first PC - a 486 DX, back in the days of SVGA graphics, 2400 baud modems, and BBSes. Had some Pentium PCs along the way, and the last one I built for myself was a Core 2 Duo based one around 2006, mostly for gaming. Switched to Mac in 2013 and haven’t looked back at the Windows world since then.

I was a fan of, and used a number of high end Motorola phones (StarTac/Timeport, V60, V710, RAZR), and Palm PDAs in the early to mid 2000s. Then I discovered BlackBerry. I just loved how it combined the phone and PDA functionality into one, and how easy it made text messaging. I had everything from the Pearl up to the Z10. I was part of CB during its heyday and even was a mod for a bit. Eventually, like a lot of BlackBerry users, I started looking at alternatives when they stopped releasing compelling, competitive products. These days I daily drive both iOS and Android devices (iPhone 12, iPad Air, Pixel 5), but I will always have a soft spot for those clickety keys and flashing LEDs of BlackBerry phones.