I finally scored a solid DSL line in '98 and it changed my whole view of the waiting game

Back when everything was dial-up, I remember just staring at the screen for minutes while a single jpeg of a band's tour dates slowly painted itself down. The connection would drop, you'd get that angry screech, and start over. Then my dad got a business line and we got DSL in the house, and suddenly things just... loaded. No more tying up the phone, no more yelling 'Get off the internet, I'm expecting a call!'. I feel like it split people into two camps. One side says all that waiting was part of the charm, that the struggle made the web feel more earned. The other side, like me, thinks actually getting to use the thing without constant interruptions was the first real win of the online world. What's your take? Was the dial-up struggle a core memory, or was a stable connection the best thing to ever happen to your teenage self?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameron7701mo agoTop Commenter

Wait, you could actually get a DSL line in '98? I'm shocked that was even an option for a house back then. I was stuck with dial-up until like 2002, and I just assumed everyone else was too. That must have felt like cheating, going from paint-by-pixel pictures to stuff just being there. I'm definitely with you, the charm was zero percent real. The win was finally getting a connection that didn't scream at you and die if someone picked up a phone.

susan112mo ago

My older brother would start a download right before bed hoping it finished by morning. Waking up to a failed connection and that awful busy signal felt like a personal insult. Those nights definitely colored my view of the so-called good old days.

holly_jones2mo ago

Back in 1999, my family's computer would take hours to download a single song. @susan11, I completely understand that personal insult from the busy signal. I did the same thing, starting downloads overnight and hoping for the best. Waking up to find it failed felt like a tiny heartbreak every time. It really makes you question why people get nostalgic for that era. The constant disconnections and waiting around honestly sucked.