Webtv 1999
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- I had webtv from February to November of 1999, when I got my first "modern" computer, an Emachine with Windows 98. When the last days of my subscription were running out, I decided to record one of my last online sessions. Incidentally, the beginning is really garbled because I recorded it on a very old VCR that didn't have a flying erase head, so it didn't make clean cuts when recording over something else. I thought the garbled part was interesting, so I left that in.
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My first introduction to the internet.
same here
mine was on a neighbors sega dreamcast
Yep, me as well. Christmas 1996
Same here
@@spiderman141
Am I crazy, why do I miss those days?
I'm the original poster of this video, and I just realized I recorded it 20 years ago. Hard to believe it was that long ago. That webtv unit only had a 28k modem. Now I can pull in 100mb/s on my current internet. I'm also surprised at the number of hits it's gotten, and I'm happy to see all of the nostalgic comments.
Thank you for preserving this part of history. Glad you had the foresight to know how special this would be to the world someday.
This is so awesome. You are preserving history, the earlier days of public internet. I remember absolutely loving webtv. Talking to random people around the world was incredible at first. It wasn’t toxic at all. Now, well, god help us. I sometimes wish I could time travel back to the 90s. They were much much simpler times for almost everyone. *sigh
@@Kairi091 Yes, unusual foresight :)
Rest in peace MSN chat rooms, and WebTv
Maybe try fixing the start it sounds improper it’s suposed to sound like the Mario 1up sound
I was 8 when we got this. You couldn't tell me it wasn't the most futuristic thing ever.
RIGHT?
I met my wife 20 years ago thanks to webtv.
Lol thats kinda funny
Were you the author of one of the creepy chatrooms we saw scroll past ?
@@Soken50 the website we used to hang out in all the time was called "Chaos Chat" and the one chat room I used to frequent was called skanks lol
So did I!!
@@Mictian1980 Skanks! I used to hang in Asian Ladies.
Holy crap this brought back memories! DAMN! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@
Yes it sure did.
The garbled beginning kinda makes the video even better. Because now, we get to remember WebTV and what it's like to tape on a VCR! :D
Videos like yours are what keeps RUclips great and true to its original purpose.
Facts 💯💯
Too funny! Remembering my WebTV and Talk City Chat! LoL
Wow totally forgot about Talk City!
Talkcity Indiana-flirts!! LOL
That a/s/l tho 😂
Was a vibe back in the days
God i remember talkcity. Then my teenage mind being blown it was part of this thing called irc.
Ok my turn lol. 14 years old, saved up all my Christmas money from 1996 and bought one December 26th when Sears opened back up after the holiday. $329.99 for the Magnavox plus another $69.99 for the keyboard. 33.3 kbps modem. Later upgraded to the Magnavox Plus. That feeling when you logged on and an announcement for a new update was available, oh man. The internet was so new and getting on it was like an exploration. I even remember my username, Mykull. Oh those were the days. Thanks for posting this. To cure my nostalgia craving I even bought a new unused Webtv remote on ebay and keep it next to my other modern ones as a joke.
Haha I'm thinking if you didn't have a keyboard you could use the remote.
Am I right?
@@nickhill8612 Yes it was similar to the kind of onscreen keyboard like ROKU boxes have now (the webtv one was better, the ROKU one is pretty bad)
get a dreamcast and a dreampi and a custom dreampi image that connects t webtv redialed (wtv revival service) then you can use web tv in the modern day ( you can also do it on a web TV box)
I loved it. I made webpages, chatted and watched movies. I had a scanner, printer and could hook my video camera to it. The Plus, let you record on your VCR. People always said "get a computer". I said "it is a computer!" I miss it. The same people that made it, developed the X-box. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, what a trip down memory lane. I had my WebTv from August 14, 1997 (my first day ever online, my first day on the internet) until 2009. Got my first laptop in 2010. I even sold items every week on eBay with my WebTv, taped RUclips videos with my VCR from WebTv (in 2007 and 2008). All of my first chat and first emails were done (for 12 years) using WebTv (I had the wireless keyboard). My WebTv took upgades several times and I switched from the standard unit to the WebTv plus model sometime in the early to mid-2000s (somewhere in the 2002 to 2005 period). Thanx for making this video.
My brother met his wife on Talkcity chat, they are still married 21 years later
Hard to explain how much I loved webtv, had it for many years and got so much out of it. Love to see this video and it brings back a feeling of innocence and newness. I especially loved the webtv email client, it was so intimate. Right at this very minute I have my computer setup like webtv. I am sitting back in an armchair with my feet up, compact keyboard in lap, using a 32" TV for a monitor.
asl check! Thanks for posting this and having the foresight to record it -- Brought me down memory lane. I had WebTV during that same time frame and at 14 it was my first introduction to the internet. I still remember hours spent building a fan webpage on Geocities using HTML and direct linking images, haha.
It was my first internet too, only I was 30. I remember there was also an "email bomb", where you could send a certain code to another webtv user that would cause their machine to shut off. It would turn back on, so it didn't damage anything, but if the person was mad enough to report you, webtv could kick you off. I only used it on my brother, who was the one who showed it to me.
Lol email bombs... I remember that. Remember the bomb that would cause the unit to dial 911?
And Talk City chat room bomb that would bomb the room with OoOoOoOoOo
Omg talk city 😮 miss these days
Damn those were good times!
20 yrs from now there will be a vid of someone using a weird slow device called a “smartphone”. And we’ll get nostalgic. Miss webTV.
Miss my webtv. Made friends with a wonderful lady. She even came to my state for a visit. RIP Cheryl.
Oh man, memories! This was my first exposure to the internet. I used to say the little city the loading screen was traveling to was Circuit City, haha! Now neither than nor WebTV is around anymore. :( Good times.
This is nostalgic and I didn’t even have a WebTV box! But I do remember them being sold in stores!
Hey that's true.
I actually still have my webtv and the keyboard after all these years! Couldn’t throw it out. So many memories on there
Wow I wonder if it still works.
@@nickhill8612 The service was shut down in 2013 sadly, but some people have been making emulators so you can host your own WebTV server.
Same, that bad boy is in the attic.
@@zeroturn7091 If you have a Pi and a USB modem, you can actually hook it up to a recreation server. If you don't want to pull your box out just yet, there's even an 'emulator' of sorts available that acts pretty much like a Plus box, albeit missing some features due to limitations. If you really wanted to, you could host your own mini WebTV server using some software known as minisrv.
@@nyakase
Hey that's cool.
Thank you
oh my....oh my my my. It's been 23yrs since I had a WebTV. Thanks for the blast from the past!!
Dang! That really was some fantastic forward-thinking there Sir! Very nice demo of how that WebTV experience was. Great piece of history. I myself never had this but it's cool to see it in action. I had a new IBM PC from mid-1997 myself.
OMG! I really forgot what the “connecting” screen looked like. WebTv was my life. Sad. Lol
I remember when my mom and dad took my door off my room because of it. Not sure why they did anymore, but I know it was cause of WebTv. And how I ran their telephone bill up to $1200.00 talking to my “friends” 🤣 thanks for this!!
TalkCity friends?? Lol that was me too 😂
Holy shit!!! I know the nickname Dracbaby3!!! It's been ages!!! Who would've thought I'd actually see someone I knew on this vid?
Good LAWD does THIS bring back memories! My first internet - 1990s. Actually, I loved it - stretched out on the couch surfing the net. It was a cool concept - sorry it didn't last.
Yes we had it made back then lol.
Wish WebTV was still around I would go back in a heartbeat. TalkCity and Angelfire websites I made so many IRC for chatting. The good old days when chat was all about just meeting people all over the world for fun and no drama. Coming home from work and seeing the red email light on was always exciting. Spending friday night straight through dinner sunday chatting, surfing the web and making IRC with music playlists. Heck this nickname was one I used on WebTV and now ever since 2001. I wish I was still 30 lol. RE2Master, BiPolarPoet and InsaneJesterOfTC were other WebTV only nicknames. Nothing lasts forever except the memories.
Funnily enough, there are modern servers and even an 'emulator' of sorts available, if that's the kind of thing you're looking for.
Those were the days...
I had webtv 98-99. Thanks for the memories!
WebTv was awesome, thanks for the great memories. Simpler times, and great technology for the times. I remember surfing the web on my WebTv and my 27” Sony Trinitron.
This brings back some late 1990's memories. Sad that Microsoft ended WebTV, but it and TiVo, started the trend of Smart TVs on today's market.
So cool! Thanks for video. I loved I could record straight to VCR, with my all in 1 tv combo. This was so easy. Simple.
Not gonna lie, when I saw this in my recommended I thought it was some analog horror/ARG video or something (since most VHS recordings on RUclips are either one). But nope, it's actually a genuine VHS recording of a WebTV session, straight from 1999.
The place where I created a webpage for the first time. Even though ppl called all damn day and broke my connection 😑
Haha hahaha yes
Tony Brown I made my first webpage using this also. All from html lol. If I remember correctly I used angelfire to host it for free.
Bruh, you literally be EVERYWHERE on RUclips lol, I never thought I would also see you on a WebTv video too lol
Bought a ton of memories! Had one from 1998 until 2000.
Hi. I hope all is well. I'm an intuitive empath and for some reason I had the drive to click on your name to check out your channel. I'm glad I did. Your very talented. ✌🖖👍
Mercy! The memories this brings back… chatting with friends on webtv and making pages on talkcity 😂
What a wonderful video to see!!! I had webtv for 8 years, from 1999 to 2007, and I still miss it today! Started quite a few relationships in the chat rooms, some leading to long term. Thank you for the wonderful memories :-)
I had a WebTV as a teen and I would get so mad if others got on it! 😂
That was wild that you recorded this so long ago. This is such a nostalgic video! I never had the fun of using webtv myself (much) but a couple of my friends did and I had a good time using it briefly when I would visit them. This was in '99, and I was 17. I was already a veteran of the internet from my parents at basic-ass computer from 1995 onwards, but I know if we'd had a web TV console in the house I would have been all over it. It felt like a huge privilege to be able to do all these things in '99, and on your TV no less! Lolol
Little did we know how smooth and feature-rich phones and smart TVs would become.
I definitely get nostalgic memories of old tech and early internet all the time. Old school chat rooms were wild. I remember setting up at least five in-person dates from people I met in local chat rooms between '98 and 2000. Thank god none of them was an SO or a crazy person. I don't know if I even thought about the safety risks. To my credit most I met in public first but a couple I remember going straight to their apartments and meeting them at their front door. I guess Im fortunate they were all normal and not a SP or a SK lmao. We always think were bulletproof when we're young.
Thank you for taking me back to being a kid.
Oh my god Talk City lmao. This brings back memories thank you.
thank you for this you have taken me back to when i was 9.
talk city was so much better than these dating apps
BRYAN MANY OF US FROM TC ARE STILL AROUND BUT ON FB THERES A GROUP CALLED i lived in talk city once upon a time
theres Talkcity Coffeehse old friends
theres Talkcity Local Ft Lauderdale
theres Webtv/Talkcity
theres Talk City
the main group fourm im in and have been since like 1998
the tc courtship crew (a vast majority of us are still and have been friends on fb sice we registered on fb
@@RecoveryRay word?
Talk city 😂
fiRsTcLAiMs was my name on the chat.
@@firstclaims30 I had several lol actafoolbry, itzbryanfbaby, crazy boy Chris lol
@@RecoveryRay Wow now that's cool!
1999 and my first experience with the internet was WebTV. That music makes me smile, thanks for this!
Oh how I loved my webtv. I really miss it. It was a great way for an older guy to prepare for getting that first computer. I had several web pages back then that I made with the help of my webtv. Thanks for posting!
I used to LOVE webtv. It was so... peaceful.
First introduction to the internet as well. Early 2000. Used to hang out in Talkcity chat almost always, alot of fun times.
10:05 Oh jeez, I remember the Realplayer G2 fiasco. Realplayer more or less had a monopoly on streaming audio/video services at the time, so whenever a website started requiring the G2 version of Realplayer, the site was more or less broken on WebTV because WebTV never released G2 update for their boxes. It was one of the things that made me drop WebTV and sign up for a regular internet provider for my PC in late 1999. It was good for the three years I used it but I definitely could tell that it was starting to lag behind as websites were starting to become more complex.
12:20 The inability to read PDF files was another thing that a lot of WebTV users complained about as well.
What a wonderful memory! Thank you for posting this!
Mundane things that happen during the passage of time can be really fascinating sometimes. Who could have imagined that this person's brief, completely ordinary visit to the internet would go on to be watched by other people, years later, more than 40,000 times.
I had WebTV from early 1997 to 2010! Like you, I got a Windows 98 computer at the end of 1999, but kept the WebTV subscription until 2010 for the convenience of basic websurfing from the couch or the bed with the remote.
MrHmg55 this still worked in 2010!!?
Not on much of the web, but basic news and sports sites still worked, as did Wikipedia. IRC chat worked well, too. By then, though, it was incapable of handling any of the audio or video formats used for streaming. I believe the plug was finally pulled on the service in 2013.
@@MrHmg55 You can't play you tube videos on the first Web TV system. I stopped using my Web TV in 2008 because I got a computer.
@@urofan
I remember my mom finally getting a computer after we used web tv forever lol.
The 90’s were the best
Man this brought back some memories. Such a cool little device.
That intro music while connecting brings back memories
I had one of these and loved it. It was so simple to use even for a Technology Idiot like me! I graduated High School in 1976, there were NO Computer courses even at the local College! The only computer our town had took up an entire building! I never even saw a Video Game until I was in Japan later that year in the Navy! I had the Web TV for probably 7 years before I let everything expire.
I had webtv. Man this really hits me. Even though you couldnt do everything a computer could do i had fun with it
Damn this really was a huge part of my early internet days in childhood.
So glad you share this with us. This was very monumental even if no one considered it that way.
No java support. Why I wasent interested .and why this has such a cheap price tag. Of course if indidnt have a computer back then I might feel differently about its worth
@@shonc8338 You gotta remember, this wasn't for people who even knew or cared what Java was. This was for the people who otherwise, would have never gotten onto the Internet at all.
The only reason I remember this was because my uncle who stayed with our family for several years used to use WebTV for a brief period. Despite being a toddler, the logo and the connecting screen is what led me to finally put an end to what was a long 2 decades rest on what was this memory! I recently rediscovered this last year and shared it to my uncle and he suddenly just remembered it! 😊
Holy crap I remember that "connecting" road in the beginning! That was as far as my family ever got because none of us could figure out how to make it actually work.
You just had to plug it into a phone line and let it dial the 1800 number :P
@@SKCro. Lol, really? Technology was harder back then.
@@INeverWanted2010 Yeah, that's actually all you had to do... unless the box was used already and had someone else's local number already stored, but the box would ask you if you had moved numbers every time you unplugged it and plugged it back in :P
@@SKCro. I think we did get it used, between that and my parents being technologically challenged I'm sure it was a user error. We ended up getting a Dell preloaded with Windows XP years later which worked much better 😂
My first internet experience back in 1997. The home shopping club advertised this and I thought WOW it looks so cool. So I bought it form crutchfiled for $350 dollars the Sony Terminal. And later a keyboard and the printer adapter.
Hard to believe it's been that long ago lots of memories from this I was a Talk city chatter from 2000 to 2003 had lots of great times on here!
A late 60' Fender Princeton Reverb amp for only $365? What a steal! I can see why you saved it!
I still have my webtv and keyboard with the original boxes. Like yourself, my aunt and my mom decided to buy this for their kids prior to getting a computer. The sound with that introduction was my favorite. I used this to browse the web for beanie babies and join chat rooms. Thank you for this video.
If you want to re-experience what it was like to use WebTV, there are modern servers and even an emulator available that let you hook up your box and (sorta) access the internet from WebTV once again.
@@SKCro. Tho you need a raspberry pi
@@elenaalinagavril122 not if you have a landline! There's an access number you can set your box to dial so it can access the revival server (although it isn't as stable as using a Pi).
@@SKCro. Thanks for the info
@@SKCro. Michael MJD used a raspberry pi
I bought one of these before I bought a desktop computer, that was around 1997-1998. The only dial-up number I could get was not local, so I ended up with a huge long distance bill. Of course I didn't know that at the time. I remember the chat rooms, being able to watch some videos and how slow it was to bring up web pages, but after about a month I returned it to the store. I think I paid like $100 for it. Several months later I bought a computer and that was that.
You savage monster 😂😂😂😂 the late 90s just came screaming back and slapped me in the face
I think my face just melted from nostalgia. System Core memory unlocked.
This just transported me back in time ⏲️
I loved WebTv. Imagine now having it with cable. I used it on an all-in 1 tv with vcr. Could record any thing.
Yes! Wild how far we have come
This video has been very helpful in my current WebTV efforts, big thanks for uploading
Are you doing a research project on the history of webtv? Please tell me you're trying to re-create it :)
@@4444Rosemary Actually I am trying to recreate it. Been combing through tons of videos, screenshots, and even documentation that came with the box to try and find out as much as possible
i Loved my old webtv
years later!...lol..we thought this was so cool and fun..made many a custom skin and sites...chatted with so many people..it was simple...but you could still do so much stuff
Yep,I had this back in '99. Lol!!! My father couldn't afford ... As usual technology. This was like the poverty version for the internet,but I was happy enough. Didn't last long. Maybe a couple of weeks we had Web TV,cause my father said 'he can't afford it.'
I bought this in 1997. I knew absolutely nothing about computers or internet speeds or anything. I sure got a hard lesson in the following 4-5 years
I think that the WebTV was decades ahead of its ideas, which were revolutionary, because it served as a blueprint for the smart TVs we have now being sold right now. I wouldn't write it off as either being a complete commercial flop or even a financial failure either due to Microsoft buying MSN TV in 1997. Microsoft was still making money with the introduction of Windows 98, the original Xbox in 2001, and even Windows XP as well.
WebTV ahead of its ideas--I so agree!! 48" monitors were unheard of then, but was accomplished with WebTV! I always said that about the Palm Pilot. Pen computing didn't catch on as they had hoped. Now look! I loved them both!
You forgot about Office, which also is money cheat-code.
This belongs in a museum!
I used webtv for years, great video!
I remember mine was one of the premium versions of webtv that could stream mp3, it was unbelievable
Hello Alison in PA, I miss you! As best I can remember I got the web TV in 1994. I thought it was fantastic!
This thing and meeting people from the local chat rooms got me laid so many times.
Haha haha
BEST Comment.
This jingle and click sounds STILL play in my head.
Funny! I also had the Philips/Magnavox version of Webtv that I bought(along with the cordless keyboard) in 1997. It was such a neat device. I also moved on from it in early 1999 by buying an Emachines Etower 300 with the mighty Celeron processor, Windows 98, and a whopping 3.2 gigs of hard drive space. Downright primitive compared to the Acer desktop I have now, but totally mind-blowing back in the day. This vid brings back some good memories. Thanks!
Yay! I had this from 1998 Sep 30 to 2001 Jun 16. My 1st time ever online.
I miss WEBTV! I wish it was still around!
Good to see even in the 90s the online experience was checking a few store items, lounging in a chat room for a bit, and idly scrolling through posts lol
Damn, my old family home had this. What a nostalgia trip, besides this, the only other relative that had early internet like this was my uncle.
Webtv wasn't my first exposure to the Internet, but it's the one I remember the fondest growing up.
This brought on a flood of memories! Thanks for sharing!
My father loved the chat room for old cars. He would spend many a late night chatting away about Corvettes.
That sounds like an extremely Dad thing to do 😂 nice
I spent all of my time in Discuss Forums (1999-2000).
I had this too This is Crazy how long it been and look at us Now.
12:13 WebTV having lacked support for PDF, and I imagine it also lacked support for Flash, Shockwave, and RealVideo as well.
lol you must be young
@@RecoveryRay
Well, I never got to experience it first-hand as I never lived in the US or anywhere else where it was officially available.
It had... basic Flash support (think Flash 3 or 4, probably), but not much else.
I wish I'd known you could record your browsing with a vcr. I used to absolutely love my webtv. Mostly because I could lay in bed while reading whenever my back was hurting to much. Later I was given a PC but it just wasn't as easily accessed when laying down. Now I have 2 Lenovo yoga tablets 8" & 10" . They actually beat webtv in convenience.
My cousins family had this back in the day, I thought it was the coolest thing ever back then.
Damn I miss this
Omg... 1997, chilling at 3 am on talkcity
Every damn time I see Talkcity on any of these, I flip my shit. Talkcity by way of WebTV was really where I got my start. And I remained a loyal Talkcitian until it's inevitable demise and restructuring into the now idiotic Delphi Forums.
WOW now this brings me back!
yes ebay like it was back in 1999
I purchased an original WebTV console back in December, 1997, while on assignment in Winchester, VA. I quickly learned of the existence of WebTV Plus, and managed to purchase one after the New Year, 1998. Best
Investment. Ever. My family and friends constantly complained that they could never reach me on my landline. Well, yeah, that's because my WebTV was almost always online...! "Either email me on my "XXXXXX@webtv.net" address, or leave me a VM on my (exorbitant) cellphone...!"
I actually got to the point that I was a frequent contributor to the "newbies" help list. I loved my WebTV Plus, and used that thing until I got a reliable PC back in 2001...!
That's right people had to email you to get you to pick up the phone, hilarious memory!
Bruh I so remember....i used to love the loading music, I remember I think I was like 9, 10, or 11, my high school Auntie had this, wow crazy how you can just hop online with a blink of an eye....damn man 😢
If you did not have your WebTV connected to a surge protector you would lose whatever it cost to buy one. It happened to me twice!
Sure enough! It cost me a pair of them also.
Another thing was to call the phone company and have them disable the long distance capability of your phone account, so that you could never accidentally connect to an internet connection that would be a long distance charge - remember people getting 800.00 phone bills and no relief?
I use to love WebTV! :-)