Remember downloading a single song over 56k? Took 45 minutes for one track.

I spent all night in 1997 grabbing 4 songs off Napster at 3 kb/s, then my dad picked up the phone and killed the connection. Comparing that to streaming a whole album in seconds today isn't even a contest. Who else had to schedule downloads around when nobody needed the landline?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_foster5312d ago

Waited until 2am every Friday just to start a download and prayed nobody got thirsty. The real skill was estimating when to restart a failed transfer based on how many times the modem resynced. Kids today will never know the heartbreak of being 92% done and hearing that pickup click.

michaelrodriguez12d ago

Man, I used to be the guy who just set downloads whenever and hoped for the best... didn't really get why people made such a big deal about timing it. But reading what you said @parker_foster53 about being 92% done and hearing that pickup click just hit me different. I never considered how that moment of heartbreak actually made the victory sweeter when a download finally finished. Now I realize that struggle taught us patience and problem solving in a way gigabit internet never could. Kids really don't know what it's like to have a failed transfer represent hours of wasted time and a whole night of waiting shot to hell. You changed my whole view on those old internet rituals... they were more than just a pain, they were a rite of passage.