Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bluelake]

Wow, memories...

When I returned to Korea in '89, public Internet was still a few years away. I still found plenty to do. I spent a lot more time at my job during the day and with my wife and son at night. I had a computer in my house and played around with it all the time (even without an online connection). We could call internationally with direct dial (back in '84, when I first lived here, calling was only by operator and was horrendously expensive), and I did use my fax/modem to fax letters to my folks in the States, but not more than that. I also did a lot of reading and spent time outside.

In the early 90s, an international Internet gateway was set up. A computer sci prof, and friend of mine, at the university where I taught was instrumental in setting it up. He gave me a university Internet account and it was one of the early ones in Korea. I had to dial up the university server (1200 baud modem) and everything was typed in on the command line. To do anything, one needed to work with the server's Unix system. It was a whole new world with many strange commands to know. I had frequent cut-offs and often the server would be down and wouldn't let me connect; the tech support at the university (grad students) was tired of hearing from me. I made another computer (no university-supplied computers at the time) and took it to my university office; it was still dial-up, but the connection was usually better.

Later, I signed up with Chollian, a dial-up Internet service, but one was charged by the minute, so I didn't stay on very long at one time. It was some time before I got a GUI, so my online time was devoted to e-mail and newsgroups, for the most part.

I learned how to code in HTML and set up KOTESOL's first Internet site. I also set up a BBS for them (run out of my home), but only had a handful of members use it, so it died a fairly swift death.

Those were the days!

[El Bandito]

[bluelake]

[T-J]

Internet was hooked up in '96 a year after we were married. Got my first cell phone about the same time. Neither really affected social interactions here as most of my friends had neither.

It may just be the nostalgia talking but relationships just seemed closer, more real back then when you were more dependent on real face time.

I remember friends just stopping by, knocking on the door. Rarely done now that cell phones are so ubiquitous.

Does anyone remember sending or receiving 8282 or 1004 on their 삐삐?

[KimchiNinja]

It's fantastic to be the people who remember what life was like before the internet. Future generations will have no idea!

I think it was college, around '94 when I first did an email (my roommate had a computer and we played Doom). Found emails odd, text on a screen from someone you don't know, I think I was selling something, hard to make any sense of it.

Basically I'm with Prince on this one -- the internet is over. It will go on, but it ain't cool.

[Died By Bear]

[yodanole]

With actual people, reading newspapers and, later, beepers.

[bluelake]

[T-J]

[Weigookin74]

[bluelake]

[El Bandito]

[Ginormousaurus]

[T-J]

12535 = 이리오세요.

505 = S.O.S help

I'll explain the other two later. Give you a chance to work them out.

[El Bandito]