The Internet Past and Present
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- 2001.10.19
Email, the Internet, and newsgroups began for me - as it did for many other people - in about 1994 with one central application. There were a number of them available; America Online, eWorld, Prodigy, and CompuServe were among the most popular. We signed up for America Online and received its benefits. Instant messages, email, newsgroups, FTP, and, of course, the Internet.
Back then you could access AOL with a Macintosh Plus and 4 MB of RAM. I remember downloading software and screen savers by FTP. AOL provided pretty much direct access to FTP, and you could download software updates and shareware/freeware right in the AOL application. If you downloaded the optional browser, you could have access to the Internet with AOL and look up almost anything you could think of.
The Internet has changed a lot since 1995, some for the better, some for the worse. In the mid 90s, most of the Internet was text-based, occasionally containing a few images. Right now, it is almost impossible to find a site without 5 or 6 images. Many sites use Java, Shockwave, and Flash animation, which greatly slows down the Internet - especially for those who don't have high speed Internet access or use an older computer. I prefer a good solid site with text and few pictures - no Flash, Java, or other things to slow your browsing experience down.
The latest version of AOL requires a Power Macintosh with Mac OS 7.5.5 and at least 16 MB of RAM (32 MB for OS 8.5). Many of the other ISPs are gone or have updated their programs so that they are completely different from how they used to be. A good example of this is CompuServe. These days, it is just like AOL in appearance and functions - in fact, it is owned by AOL.
AOL offers much more than it used to. You can now get news, movie clips, audio clips, weather, and much more.
You can also do the same from your Web browser. The QuickTime Web site is a good place to go for movie trailers. You can get news from the Apple start page. If tech news is what you're after, TechNN is a great place for that. Weather can be obtained from the Weather Channel website. Search engines have been much improved. With Google, you can search for images, text, or browse the Web by category.
It used to be somewhat hard to find things on the Internet (I might look up "dog" and get something written by a 10 year old telling the world why she loves her dog so much), but these days it is hard not to find what you are looking for. (In many search engines, you can omit things from the results. If I wanted information about a dog, I could type in "girl" in the "words to omit" box, and it would only display those things that did not contain that word.) With all of the new technologies for searching, there is almost no way you can miss what you want to find.
Newsgroups can now be found both on the Internet and in Entourage or Outlook Express. There is a newsgroup for almost any topic that you might think of, from Macintosh computers to antique porcelain.
You can send and receive instant messages with the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) program, talk to your online buddies with your microphone, and send files back and forth through AIM. You can also change color, font, and style of the text. None of that was possible in AOL 2.7.
FTP is still around and very useful. With an FTP client like Fetch (yes, it's still around - and for Mac OS X, too), you can download some great shareware and freeware applications. You can still do it in AOL by typing "FTP" in the keyword box.
These days the Internet is more than an online encyclopedia, and you no longer need an "all in one" ISP to experience all of the things the Internet can offer. You can now do your banking online, buy books online (Amazon.com), bid on online auctions (eBay), and more. However, you do have to be careful. Don't give out private information, such as credit card numbers, your address, and your telephone number, unless it's a secure site and you trust it with your personal information.
Next week: what to do if you aren't getting the Internet performance you want.
Recent Apple Archive articles
- iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
- Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
- Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
- Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
- More in the Apple Archive index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'Sawtooth' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - Available in speeds from 350-500 MHz, 'Sawtooth' introduced AGP video to the Mac.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
- November 22 in LEM history: 99: Gradebooks - 00: Leveraging Apple design - Quadra 630 to Power Mac 5200 - 02: Laptop or desktop? - 04: SuperDuper: Quick, easy, efficient backup - Cross-platform programming for the rest of us - 05: Mac video surveillance on the cheap - Which OS is best for my vintage Mac? - No 'best browser' for the Mac - Sorry state of browsers for classic Macs - 06: Core 2 means cooler running 'Books - 2.0 GHz G4 upgrade
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- The Long Term Value of a High End Mac, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 11.21. Low-end Macs are more affordable up front, but the flexibility and upgrade options of a top-end Mac can make it the better value in the long run.
- iPhone #1 Worldwide, Google Voice Search for iPhone, iPhone 3G Battery Pack, and More, iNews Review, 11.21. Also British accents throw off Google voice search, lots of new iPhone apps, universal USB car charger, new protective cases, and more.
- 15 Reasons Macs Are Better, Quad-core iMac in January?, USB 3.0 Spec Finalized, and More, Mac News Review, 11.21. Also 25 years of Macs, 'Snow Leopard' in Q1?, SimpleTech's faster and greener hard drive, Hyperspaces, StarOffice for OS X, and more.
- DisplayPort Copy Protection, Trackpad Update, Netbooks Not to Be Taken Lightly, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.21. Also Apple set for record sales, 4-finger gestures on original MacBook Air, MacBook Apple's best consumer notebook to date, Cricket laptop stand, bargain 'Books from $490 to $2,299, and more.
- Virtualization Shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20. Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
- Just Right: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear MacBooks, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20. Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
- Apple Caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes Videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19. Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19. Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19. Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18. Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18. New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17. Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- More deals in our archive.
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