10 Internet problems of the 90s that kids nowadays will never understand

Look out here comes the Millennium Bug!

Author: Laura ThorntonPublished 26th Mar 2020
Last updated 15th Apr 2020

We remember the good old days, when families had just one desktop computer with dial-up tones ringing through the house, so here at MFR we've gathered some of the Internet problems of the 90s that kids nowadays will never understand.

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How many of these can you relate to?

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Privacy wasn't a word associated with the Internet

PCs weren't subtle pieces of equipment that you held on your lap. These massive pieces of machinery often sat in the corner of the busiest room in your house for everyone to gaze upon/fight for the next turn. Sweet internet nothings was definitely not a wise idea.

All your downloaded information had to be saved onto floppy discs

They broke easily, and didn't store much information. Plus they were called 'floppy disks'...not quite as cool as 'USB stick'.

Internet cafes were cool

Powerhouses of browsing. Not a cup of coffee in sight, but the name still sounded cool.

Who can forget the end of the 90s and 'The Millennium Bug'...

3...2...1..."oh, all the computers seem to be fine." There's no denying the millennium New Year's Eve party had a little extra excitement but it really was an anti-climax.

Loading webpages would take ages

Images would appear on screen very….very….slowly. All our cat memes these days wouldn't be quite so funny if we had to wait 17 minutes to see them...


Internet time was a precious commodity that had to be bartered for

10 minutes for you… 10 for each one of your siblings/parents. Under no circumstances must you exceed your time.

There was one PC in the whole building with Internet access

THE PC WITH INTERNET. Glowing in the evening light like a UFO and whirring like a Formula One car. It was beautiful.

If you wanted to use the phone, you had to disconnect.

"Muuuuum, PUT THE PHONE DOWN!" This caused rows. BIG rows.

10. Connecting to the internet had its very own theme tune

Remember that dial up tone? Music to our ears.

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