In March 1994, the Philippines was first connected to the internet. twenty years hence, a lot has changed in the way we communicate, work, learn and make friends.
In this week’s edition of our #ThrowbackThursday, we go back and reminisce the things we used to do with the limited amount of connectivity that we had.
1) Email was a novelty. It was scarce and when available, you had to pay for it. Our school-issued email account had no visual interface (GUI) and we had to memorize how to use the Pine command to read and send emails. Our first commercial email was Yahoo and HotMail.
2) Netscape Navigator rocks! Before that, we had to use Lynx to check out the scores on NBA.com.
3) Google did not exist then. Yahoo! and AltaVista were our default pages. We did not search, but instead, scrolled thru directories to find new websites.
4) Those who dared creating their own website had to deal with Geocities or Angelfire.
5) You had to memorize your ICQ number if you want to chat with friends or just randomly find new ones to chat with. Do you still remember your ICQ number?
6) Want some MP3 with your chatroom? Try mIRC.
7) US Robotics might sound like a really high tech company right now but back then, it was the single most popular 64kbps dial-up modem of that time.
8) Ten years ago, a SmartBro connection (before PLDT bought Meridian Telekoms, Inc. and named it Smart Broadband Inc) would fetch as high as Php8,888 a month for a 128Kbps fixed wireless connection. That was already cheap considering an unlimited dial-up connection from big ISPs like MozCom can cost you over Php5,000 a month. And who could not forget the early morning promo of ISPBonanza that made me a nocturnal animal during my early days of blogging?
9) WAP is the only way to get internet to your phone. I remember getting charged Php50 by merely browsing the homepage of YugaTech in 2003 on my Nokia E51.
10) Friendster was the coolest, hottest website in town. It changed the way we “defined” who our friends are.
How about you? Do share with us what you remembered most about the early days of the internet in the Philippines.
YugaTech.com is the largest and longest-running technology site in the Philippines. Originally established in October 2002, the site was transformed into a full-fledged technology platform in 2005.
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pandapipino says:
It’s been a while since I used my unlimited dial-up internet using AOL (America online) account. It was so frustrating dialing for an internet connection for 30mins or long hours, but when you get connected, you felt excited, but wait, there’s only one problem, when someone calls, you’ll get disconnected! :(
Internet was not so popular before but file sharing existed in our community using a telephone line, BBS and Hyperterminal. I also lived during those mIRC days when dial-up modems are vulnerable to disconnection using Misoskian rocket (nuke). So many memories and so many to talk about during those times.
dags says:
You know what, I really envy those folks who have lived from the early days of internet here in PH. You guys are real hardcore internet geeks!
Kobe67 says:
I used bravenet for my free hosting and .tk domain way back 2002-2003. Di pa uso yung mga video sharing sites nuon. And halaka.tk for the great source 3gp scandals. :D
Mark U says:
I had Yahoo Groups for every class, subject and project. I think i had around 150 yahoo grps acc. It just died after fb, dropbox, etc…
wew says:
d ko naabutan ung nasa article,pero atleast naabutan ko pa ung dialup connection hahaha ung iconic na tunog habang nagcoconnect
Maui says:
EDSAMAIL… and oh that Kris Aquino Yahoo! audible “korek ka dyan!”
onat says:
I miss the sound of the dial-up modem trying to establish connection. I know when the connection is successful just by listening to that distinct sound.
Alphere says:
20 years ago we have 56kbps modems, today, we still have 56kbps broadbands. Nothing has changed.
Abe Olandres says:
Nag mura na ang dial-up. Dati Php5,000 for unlimited, ngayon Php500 na lang.
none says:
naalala ko ang…
walang kamatayang TUNOG ng modem pag kumokonek sa ISP..
:rotflmao:
Vekou X Aitenshi says:
bongga na nun ang webpage mo pag madaming mga animated gifs.
Easy E says:
V.92 US Robotics at 56kbps.
Nasa utak ko pa rin ang sound ng “handshake” at alam ko ang tone kapag na-connect o hinde. ISP bonanza was the cheapest back then at 40hrs fir 100pesos. We have to disable the callwait feature of our phobe para lang hindi mainterrupt ang chat haha..
Alta vista was my default search engine and my first email are @eudoramail and @yahoo.
Psi says:
Altavista, astalavista(warez), edsamail, alltheweb and ofcourse, using IRC and BBS with hyperterminal. Dial-up modem is the king back then.. I can only see 1 computer shop in gilmore, its pc option and its too small.. And I still had huge ISA slot sound card.. Also made a game driven by hate of bayantel dialup internet 4shared.com/file/TuUfazWi/radioactive_combustions.html
asa says:
Patesti po sa friendster hahahahaha
Ryan M says:
Not Internet related. naaalala ko ung Era n to.. yong Drop call sa globe :) kelangan icancel mo ung tawag bfore mg reach ng 9 secs. hahahahhhhaha!
eZMe says:
we used to play C&C red alert over phone lines
nakakamiss yung sound ng modem. hehe
rmil says:
Umabot ng isang dangkal ang pre-paid Caraga ko ng ispbonanza bago Naga switch sa postpaid dialup ng tri-isys, naalala ko pa na tinatanggal ko splitter ng dial-up para di maputol yung internet pag may tumatawag.
unang email ko at connection sa “net”..lol
lhoylhoy says:
yeah! alta vista! ICQ! mIRC! dial-up connection sound was a music to the ears
woohoo says:
yeah, dati dial up. madaling araw ako gumagamit kc free from 1-6am sa mozcom. i also won 80hrs free sa raffle nila. downloaded about 1k songs kahit ang bagal mga 3kbps lang speed. until now i still have those songs i downloaded. also remember /ping command sa mirc na ubod ng bagal.
Ianemv says:
Freetel was a hit in 98 from our school but eventually blocked by our internet admin.
AsusFan says:
I never got tired listening to my 56kbps internal modem…
Before mIRC, I used to troll the #Filipino room using Microsoft Comic Chat (Microsoft Chat). Those avatars were really cool back then! :-)
AsusFan says:
I never got tired listening to my 56kbps internal modem…
Before mIRC, I used to troll the #Filipino room using Microsoft Comic Chat (Microsoft Chat). Those avatars are really cool back then! :-)
weh says:
BBS
L.O.R.D.
AOL Msgr
Tripod
AskJeeves
InfoSeek
starguything says:
I remembered the time when selfies weren’t famous XD
Totoro Kujo says:
EDSAMAIL for emails hehehe
eric jay says:
mIRC for chatting.
is says:
I remember trawling through irc for hours and hours trying to meet chicks and maybe get laid.
Oh wait. Nothing has changed. Silly me.
cranium says:
Am I the only one who saves Nude Teen Photos in floppy disks as it is the only available form of porn back then?
rotero says:
i remember netscape and gopher in our school library
and mIRC where in 2 students chatting even if they are beside each other .. and hey i also curious back then so i tried angelfire… hehehe i wonder why i didnt end up a web developer?
Icq says:
Hyperterminal connection
Mel says:
abe, the Ateneo had Sun Java Stations as early 1998 where we could access the net and send emails. it had a DOS-like interface. the email addresses were like your****@****.***
Abe Olandres says:
I think we already had access with AdMU emails as early as 1996. Never got to use the Java terminals since there was dedicated stations in the Eng’ng department. I used Pine with Hyperterminal.