Weird To Watch 1995 Internet Used By A Family. Did It Happen?

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  • Опубликовано: 13 дек 2023
  • I made this video presentation for AT&T in 1995 when Bell Labs, which was a part of AT&T at that time, were developing new computer-based communication services that used the Internet. It was completely new at the time. AT&T believed that it could "own" it services and in a way, Internet communication. It saw what Apple was up to but did not see it as a threat to AT&T's vision as of the Internet leader.
    Looked at five years later, that was a silly view as others were developing Internet-based services that didn't need AT&T.
    This service was called True Experiences and it was quite visionary for the time.
    Another service was called PersonalLink Services and AT&T spent hundreds of millions of dollars to develop the service connected to software and hardware built by the great Silicon Valley startup (which failed) General Magic. A feature-length documentary has been made on this story called General magic: The Movie, using about 20 minutes of footage I filmed back at that time.
    In 1995, AT&T was in a period of post-breakup restructuring, after having experienced significant changes in its business operations and market focus throughout the 20th century. The history of AT&T during this period involves a broad spectrum of technological and market developments.
    Remembering back, it is interesting to note that I never heard the word "Internet" or even the "World Wide Web" discussed during those days. The leadership at AT&T had great confidence in "long lines" and looked at (I specifically remember this) Apple and AOL as companies they could just buy. Of course that didn't happen.
    If you found this video memorable or interesting, please consider supporting my efforts to present more films like this one by clicking the "thanks" button below the video screen or by supporting my work at www.paypal/me/davidhoffmanfilms.
    Thank you
    David Hoffman filmmaker

Комментарии • 113

  • @deltatango5765
    @deltatango5765 5 месяцев назад +44

    If you told everyone back then that you would be able to do all this and more on a phone the size of a deck of cards they wouldn't have believed it. Look at us now. I've worked in technology for over 50 years and it still never ceases to amaze me.

    • @MPHswayze
      @MPHswayze 5 месяцев назад +1

      It's God, or magic, or alien. Something. Technology is too crazy

    • @eliot1970
      @eliot1970 5 месяцев назад +9

      It amazes you BECAUSE you are in technology. Everyone else takes it for granted. A fellow IT operator here who is constantly shocked by the sheer lack of appreciation the general public shows.

    • @global001
      @global001 5 месяцев назад +7

      So true. I remember lying in my warm bed in a freezing cold room in the early 70’s when 7 years old & trying to work out a way to switch the light off without getting out of bed. I imagined a wireless method however had no idea how that would be achieved. I’d love to go back then and show everyone a smart phone.

    • @global001
      @global001 5 месяцев назад +4

      @@eliot1970 I’m not in tech but find it amazing.

    • @JWF99
      @JWF99 5 месяцев назад +4

      Well, we've all sure come a long ways since "The Clapper" lol💡😂😂✌

  • @codeman3639
    @codeman3639 5 месяцев назад +18

    "Your information is protected by AT&T"
    Yeah suuure it is

  • @westleyanson
    @westleyanson 5 месяцев назад +23

    Fall 1995 was the release of Windows 95. Built a “powerhouse” 486DX66 with 4MB of Ram, 100MB HD, 1MB Video Card, Sound Blaster Audio Card, and 19 inch tube monitor.
    It was an amazing time to be a nerd my friends!

    • @vincentsolomitajr4029
      @vincentsolomitajr4029 5 месяцев назад

      I remember!

    • @anonUK
      @anonUK 5 месяцев назад

      It was an absolutely dreadful time to be a nerd, or a geek. Take it from one who knows!

    • @scottfrenz
      @scottfrenz 5 месяцев назад +1

      Yup it was amazing! I had a 486DX66 myself! SoundBlasters were incredible, too.

    • @mikesully110
      @mikesully110 5 месяцев назад +1

      I had a "big" 19" CRT around that time (well around 1997), I used to lug it round my friends houses for LAN events. I could barely lift it at the time. Now a 19" panel is tiny, I use a 55" TV at home now!

    • @MrPickledede
      @MrPickledede 4 месяца назад +1

      We will say that about the technology in another twenty years and How much it out classes our primitive smartphones of today? This is the March of technology that's blazingly fast and unbelievable. That really began in the late 19th century from electricity to flight to computers to diminuterization. skies the limit

  • @global001
    @global001 5 месяцев назад +14

    I remember all this. The new frontier and how they thought things would go. All nice and clean, family orientated. Didn’t work out that way though.

  • @jq8974
    @jq8974 5 месяцев назад +9

    So crazy - the family largely was destroyed by tech instead

  • @black2785
    @black2785 5 месяцев назад +10

    Ahh 1995, if I could go back, I’d watch Mortal Kombat in theaters again. Good times

  • @matthewfarmer2520
    @matthewfarmer2520 5 месяцев назад +7

    Good evening David Hoffman film maker for sharing this. I was in highschool my senior year 1995 the Internet was new and fresh. Yiu had to put a phone line then this crazy loud sound comes on like a buzz that also sounds like scratching or stacked. Then it says "Welcome you got Mail" lol. It has changed now just get on your tablet, smart phones or laptops and your done. Thanks for sharing this. Awesome. 📱💻🖥️

    • @drewpall2598
      @drewpall2598 5 месяцев назад +1

      @matthewfarmer2520... I do remember the days of Dial Up Internet service connection through your landline phone service, and if someone you were trying to call was on the internet you got a busy signal, Beep, Beep, Beep. 🤨☎

    • @matthewfarmer2520
      @matthewfarmer2520 5 месяцев назад +1

      @@drewpall2598 yep, lol

  • @dirtyunclehubert
    @dirtyunclehubert 5 месяцев назад +7

    i miss the pre-corpo internet. internet from around 2007 until 2013 was the golden standard. youtube, from its founding up to around 2010? that was youtube the way it was intended to be. normal people talking about normal stuff and interacting curiously with each other.
    no 50 cuts per second, no screaming, no begging to click bells and thumbs. just people telling their stories. it was overall a great adventure for everyone and so it felt.
    point in fact, id say, nostalgia this and that, even the trolls back then were more amicable than they are now, in the corpo-controlled web.
    in general, the downfall began with facebook imho. the moment that really took off in 2010 and rang in the age of social media, things started to go downhill.

    • @jareknowak8712
      @jareknowak8712 2 месяца назад

      Such channels and videos are still available, You just have to look for them.
      I also miss the internet from the mid 00s.

  • @drewpall2598
    @drewpall2598 5 месяцев назад +13

    I always appreciate you description write up it fill us in on the film clip you are presenting. Growing up in the south bay California in the 1960's and 70's it was hard to avoid the changes from a framing community to High Tech Silicon Valley that was taking place there,
    I find this interesting that you David made this video presentation for AT&T in 1995 the same year that the film "The Net" was released starring Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, and Dennis Miller, as you know the film "The Net" show what could happen when all of our personal information is posted on internet. Thanks, David Hoffman, for a look back on the cutting edge of High Tech. 😊👍

    • @JWF99
      @JWF99 5 месяцев назад +2

      Great comment! I know I watched "The Net" (but for some reason) it's not completely coming to me just yet? (Only remembering a basic jist of it so far) I'll have to search & at least view the trailer, that should bring it all back to me? If not, I'll surely watch it again! Really glad you mentioned it Drew!
      Thank Ya Sir!✌

    • @MicahScottPnD
      @MicahScottPnD 5 месяцев назад +2

      I second that, excellent comment!

    • @JWF99
      @JWF99 5 месяцев назад +2

      @@MicahScottPnD Evening Micah!😁🖑

    • @MicahScottPnD
      @MicahScottPnD 5 месяцев назад +2

      @@JWF99 Cheers!! I've got a bit of embarrassment at the moment: I think I saw somewhere the J stands for Jim, but I don't know ☺

    • @MicahScottPnD
      @MicahScottPnD 5 месяцев назад +2

      I'm sitting here with a similar thought "didn't I see The Net somehow? "

  • @thisisme3238
    @thisisme3238 5 месяцев назад +2

    How things have evolved since 1995....til now. Thanks for the film, David! Hope you are enjoying the holiday season. 🎄

  • @MicahScottPnD
    @MicahScottPnD 5 месяцев назад +10

    One thing fun for me was seeing "chat rooms" on one of the computers in this video. I remember hearing of chatrooms and had no idea how to find them, and never did! These comment sections are closest thing ive found, only took me 25 years!!😂

    • @JWF99
      @JWF99 5 месяцев назад +1

      Me too! 😂👍

    • @bjnowak
      @bjnowak 5 месяцев назад +4

      Yahoo used to have them. They are mostly dead now

    • @vio3366
      @vio3366 5 месяцев назад +2

      Yes I agree. Seeing the chat rooms was also very interesting to me. I've tried finding information about them online but I haven't found much unfortunately.

    • @letitbleep2683
      @letitbleep2683 5 месяцев назад

      Chatrooms are long gone but replaced by Twitter, Facebook, and messaging apps. @@vio3366

    • @floatingleaf9672
      @floatingleaf9672 5 месяцев назад +1

      MSN messenger chat. I was on that shortly after it was introduced. Still nose deep in comment sections!😅 Our first computer had an actual floppy disk! Ah, the good ol' days, and I am only a pinky toe into my 40's;)

  • @visaman
    @visaman 5 месяцев назад +6

    I used the actual Internet in 1995, 94, actuality. It was text based. Usenet was the main component. The Vancouver Public Library had terminals connected to the Vancouver Free Net. The time limit was one hour.

    • @somehyjinx
      @somehyjinx 5 месяцев назад +1

      Don't forget IRC, Archie, Veronica, and Gopher 😂 they were around then too

    • @visaman
      @visaman 5 месяцев назад +1

      @somehyjinx yes, I first encountered them in 1994. I was in the library at Vancouver Community College and saw a dedicated computer to ftp, I didn't know what it was, and neither did the librarian. It looked fascinating though.

    • @visaman
      @visaman 5 месяцев назад +1

      @@somehyjinx I used IRC when my dad bought our first computer in 1996. I won't tell you what I used it for.

  • @visaman
    @visaman 5 месяцев назад +3

    JenniCam was the first camgirl. Every 3 minutes (later reduced to 90 seconds) a new still photo would be downloaded. This was in 1997

  • @StarFleet_Tech1701
    @StarFleet_Tech1701 5 месяцев назад +11

    We couldn’t imagine portable devices back then.

    • @mesicek7
      @mesicek7 5 месяцев назад +1

      Already had them except they weren't mainstream due to high cost.

    • @sal2975
      @sal2975 5 месяцев назад +2

      I could. I used to watch cartoons.

  • @JWF99
    @JWF99 5 месяцев назад +7

    I remember it being an exciting time, kinda like today, we knew there was a lot more coming with all that new technology! Lol😂✌

  • @deadhomer8468
    @deadhomer8468 5 месяцев назад +5

    AT&T selling your personal information

  • @TheFoodieCutie
    @TheFoodieCutie 5 месяцев назад +3

    2:27 the pertinent information:
    Hwy 101 Northbound Truck overturned off of Kingston Road.
    How on earth with that little information was the woman able to decide what route to take to work? I feel like back then, that’s all we had and we had to just deal with it maybe… it feels so long ago and far away. I would be almost paralyzed without google maps real time traffic to look and see exactly where the crash occurred and the traffic leading up to it to plan my route! Maybe we were more mentally equipped back then.

    • @deserttortoise2227
      @deserttortoise2227 5 месяцев назад +2

      Back then traffic information was more valuable. If you were a local and knew the alternate routes you could avoid major accidents while people passing through got stuck. Nowadays everyone’s phone automatically reroutes them until all roads are equally congested so it doesn’t even matter much which way you go.

    • @TheFoodieCutie
      @TheFoodieCutie 5 месяцев назад +1

      @@deserttortoise2227 An episode of The Wonder Years when Jack Arnold told Kevin to get maps out of the glove compartment really resonated in this subject because I remember my own dad having maps made out of paper, too in the 80s and early 90s. I know recently if you look on Google maps, the app at least, they have real time color-coded streets and roads pertaining to the traffic. So at a glance you can look and see where the traffic is. It’s true, however if someone’s just driving on through to another destination that they kind of are stuck on the gps grid. Heck; I remember when we used to print out Mapquest directions and have the person sitting in the seat next to you telling you where to turn!!!

  • @stunt-
    @stunt- 5 месяцев назад +3

    Truman Show type background music, the acting and idea of a centralized operating system hub designed by a communications company is all very much like Truman Show

    • @MicahScottPnD
      @MicahScottPnD 5 месяцев назад +1

      David, did you take cues from the Truman Show?😂😉❤ I really did love that movie

  • @1969tss
    @1969tss 5 месяцев назад +3

    People do not realize there was a dial up connection back then. It took forever

    • @somehyjinx
      @somehyjinx 5 месяцев назад +1

      Not if you were at a university or arpanet installation, 10Mbps! 😅

  • @MelliaBoomBot
    @MelliaBoomBot 5 месяцев назад +2

    I was in my third year of college in 1995.. still writting 2,000 word essays and acquired a deformed finger from holding my pen...by 1997 my 7.000 word dissertation was initally put together by writing sections then physically cutting and pasting (with GLUE) cut out bits into it. I had it typed up by someone for £35.
    ........ 11 years later doing a MA, I typed all my 20.000 word thesis myself. MAD

  • @MLaker221
    @MLaker221 5 месяцев назад +1

    This is AWESOME! we never ended up doing things this way just yet. But I love them pretending to.. and the style and clothes is my childhood.

  • @JB-vk8jk
    @JB-vk8jk 5 месяцев назад +2

    Wow all the info at 32kb over your phone line.
    The voice control seems to work better in 1995 than it does now

  • @ambunnie9972
    @ambunnie9972 5 месяцев назад +3

    Incredible

  • @Katz2310
    @Katz2310 5 месяцев назад +4

    I remember.

  • @CeruleanCzarina
    @CeruleanCzarina 5 месяцев назад +3

    Not two whole minutes to complete my “update request” 😂!

  • @BKNeifert
    @BKNeifert 5 месяцев назад +4

    Not much has changed, in principle. We're still basically doing everything in that video today. The only difference is that now everyone else can, too, and also contribute to your experience. Someone from Morocco or Japan might be reading something you posted, and maybe even from 7 years ago.

    • @sal2975
      @sal2975 5 месяцев назад +2

      100+ years from now, like the way we look at old videos today from the 1920s.

  • @malcorub
    @malcorub 5 месяцев назад +3

    I'll take 6 of those, one for each member of my family. LOL One thing ATT True Experiences doesn't have is the David Hoffman RUclips channel, that family is missing out.

  • @jesusislukeskywalker4294
    @jesusislukeskywalker4294 5 месяцев назад +3

    🤠 when we got the internet on computers .. what amazing times . #worldpeace now

  • @hatingontruth9118
    @hatingontruth9118 5 месяцев назад +3

    This video is missing the classic dial up and connect tone.

  • @bjnowak
    @bjnowak 5 месяцев назад +1

    None of this was really ready then. But it did see the future

  • @Abel_Girma91
    @Abel_Girma91 5 месяцев назад +2

    The internet was boring to me as a kid in the 90s...maybe because it felt very robotic...I preferred playing outside 😃

  • @taiven.lechevalier
    @taiven.lechevalier 5 месяцев назад +12

    This is entirely fiction. From the technology to the happy 90’s family.

  • @Kirkvanhouten55
    @Kirkvanhouten55 5 месяцев назад +1

    Mom should have searched True Experience to see if those stupid shoulder pads were still in style in 1995

  • @sal2975
    @sal2975 5 месяцев назад +3

    Why was everything beige in the 90s? From computers to buildings.

    • @EagleArrow
      @EagleArrow 5 месяцев назад

      Because the 50s 60s and 70s were wild vibrant colors...80s were all dark browns or purples & pinks...then boring 90s.. beige.

    • @sal2975
      @sal2975 5 месяцев назад

      @@EagleArrow Was there a reason for it?

  • @BridgetC1
    @BridgetC1 5 месяцев назад +2

    I don’t remember this at all.

  • @SpotkickProductions
    @SpotkickProductions 5 месяцев назад +1

    Back then if you told people your cell number they would’ve thought you were in jail!

  • @calicokush
    @calicokush 5 месяцев назад

    if you haven't yet, Mr. Hoffman, you might take a look at "The BBS Documentary"

  • @1969tss
    @1969tss 5 месяцев назад +1

    On a top of the line 485 computer!

  • @StephanieJeanne
    @StephanieJeanne 5 месяцев назад +1

    I don't know. Even the film quality looks a little too HD for that time.

  • @jenniferswieboda5696
    @jenniferswieboda5696 5 месяцев назад

    They never tell the down side of all this technology ; but we are seeing it now

  • @vincentsolomitajr4029
    @vincentsolomitajr4029 5 месяцев назад +1

    We do this stuff today much smaller and faster!

  • @Susan_R
    @Susan_R 5 месяцев назад

    I've lived through this since 1989.

  • @DukeCannon
    @DukeCannon 4 месяца назад

    I was in telecom for most of my career. The technology is incredible. Those Bell Labs guy are on another level.
    "What if we dope the germanium?" Srsly WTF?

  • @JohnSmith-zw8vp
    @JohnSmith-zw8vp 5 месяцев назад +1

    You had to be really rich at the time. Just like any family who got a TV before 1950 or a color TV before 1965.

  • @StarFleet_Tech1701
    @StarFleet_Tech1701 5 месяцев назад +3

    Old Windows

  • @Whiteowl1976
    @Whiteowl1976 5 месяцев назад

    Omgosh this was the computer we used when I was in high school 😂😂😂

  • @JFCG
    @JFCG 5 месяцев назад

    David - I supported technologies on enterprise networks for NASA in 1995 - I have no recollection of “AT &T True experience” - AOL was ‘king’ - then. And there was Microsoft’s horrid offering of “web TV” - but this video is funny and full of ‘95 cliche’. (The mothers shouldered blue dress and hair cut )

  • @shigaxn
    @shigaxn 5 месяцев назад +1

    All a single dad could ask for...wait, is that his wife *spits drink*

  • @harrytinker2328
    @harrytinker2328 5 месяцев назад

    It happened, and then some!

  • @eastonmartin5342
    @eastonmartin5342 5 месяцев назад +2

    Lol

  • @EagleArrow
    @EagleArrow 5 месяцев назад

    A bit like Alexa.
    I didn't get a personal home computer (IMac) until 2000. We dabbled on Apple's in the 80s. And PC's in the office around 1990. But they were basic with amber or green text.
    Most in my suburb or work had nothing close to this. Maybe people like the Trumps did. I didn't have anything close to this nor did I have AT&T nor was marketing of AT&T with this technology in my area. AT&T was mostly pushing long distance and cellphones pretty heavily in my area in mid 90s.
    My eldest and his peers were about the age of these children and they did not have any conputers like this and we lived in middle to upper class neighborhoods.
    (Those kitchen chairs by Pottery Barn are still in style. I have a few I kept.)

  • @tmctmc-hc5oi
    @tmctmc-hc5oi 5 месяцев назад

    The Jetsons made all this possible 😅

  • @content_generator_
    @content_generator_ 5 месяцев назад

    Why does the Dad look old enough to be the Mom's father?

  • @wunwuntew
    @wunwuntew 5 месяцев назад

    Gee whillikers I bet by 2015 we'll be living in like practically Utopia, practically.

  • @thegreatsiberianitch
    @thegreatsiberianitch 4 месяца назад

    Vaporwave - The Movie

  • @joshooahh
    @joshooahh 3 месяца назад

    Overhearing your dad say 72342.
    ...
    *account hacked*

  • @robertnewman4072
    @robertnewman4072 5 месяцев назад +1

    Algore invented the internet in 1966

    • @warrpedd
      @warrpedd 5 месяцев назад +1

      That's why we call it Al Gore Rhythms.

  • @NONE2NONE
    @NONE2NONE 5 месяцев назад +1

    Meanwhile 90% of access is on porn 🤷‍♂

  • @laynedoe3455
    @laynedoe3455 5 месяцев назад

    1995: "Update will complete in 2 minutes"
    2023: "hope u don't need to be online for a week cuz I have to update the icon for firefox"