First day on the internet?

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

I was probably among the first generation to learn about computers in school. When I was in the sixth grade, my school got a batch of brand-new Apple IIE computers, and they decided the best way to make use of this cutting-edge technology was to pull a couple dozen kids from the “Gifted & Talented” program, including yours truly, and give them an hour each day to do “computer stuff” — even though neither we nor they really knew what that meant back in 1985.

But we did “computer stuff” like typing in hundreds of lines of code just to watch a little smiley face bounce around the screen or whatever. We also played tex-based games. No graphics, just stuff like typing “go north” or “open the door” or “kill the troll with the ancient sword.” Good times…

Anyway, as the years went by, the computers got a little more

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advanced and there were a lot more practical applications to use. The big jump, at least as I remember it, was around 1990 with the first Windows operating system. Along with DOS, the computer language, this was when I really got into computers, which worked out nicely for me professionally, as I was able to use my PC skills in a world where most adults still thought of computers as “video games.”

Of coutse, eventually everyone had a home computer, and then came the internet.

Sure, the early days of dial-up and the connection sounded like microwaving a robot cat, but it was the internet.

As the online world grew and evolved, eventually we were able to communicate with people all over the world.

Great, right? Well, sort of…

From the arrival of the very first chatrooms and online forums, there have been people who only seem to find joy in being ugly on the internet.

Just peruse any comments section, from YouTube to Yahoo! to Facebook (and don’t even get me started on “X”/Twitter).

The other day I was reading a thread about the TV show MASH, and someone said they prefered one character over the other, only to be relentlessly bashed in the comments. When he asked, “Why is everyone being so mean and hateful about a show we all love?” Someone replied…

“First day on the internet?”