27 September, 2009
As I was looking through my archives earlier I spotted the date on some of my earliest HTML files—August 1994.
They date back to when I came up with the Bowerbird Cafe, a web journal that rambled through food, poetry and anything else that caught my interest.
This was in the days before the term “blog” had made its appearance, when having a web journal was invariably seen as the preserve of “nerds”.
I’ve maintained a web journal, or blog as it became, ever since, taking it through a number of metamorphoses until it evolved into its current state.
Having said that, my online writing actually dates back even further as my first forays into public musings were on various BBSes and Usenet way back in 1981.
My then high school had a computer lab with an assortment of Apple IIs and DEC VAX/VMS remote access terminals with acoustic couplers that allowed connections to ACSnet and CSIROnet.
One of the delights of the system was, like today, that people had little or no idea of who you were in real life.
Most of the people using the net in Australia at that time were university academics and they tended to assume that everyone else was too.
The advantages when doing history, physics, chemistry and maths assignments were immense provided you were careful to cloak your questions along the lines of “I’m considering setting an assignment…”.
I was also able to compare notes on my interests at the time, particularly coin collecting, sailing, climbing and shipping, with a much wider circle of people than would have otherwise been the case.
Of course, almost everyone in the more developed and connected parts of the world now takes if for granted that, with a computer and internet access, you can find hundreds of other people that share the same niche interest.
But in the early 1980s when computer connectivity really started to roll out and again in the mid-1990s when the web exploded, it was a revelation to gain ever faster access to ever more information and ever more people.
So when I pulled up those old files, it was quite amazing to consider that this blog has been 15 years in the making and it leaves me wondering what it will be like in another 15 years…
For a sample of some of those older posts, scroll down and in the right-hand column you’ll find the Archives drop-down menu.
Yes mate, I remember your Commodore 64 (I think that is what it was called). As time progressed I was pleased to see your interest develop. My interest, well I can do the basics, to my satisfaction, and continue to be surprised by the impact the computer has had and continues to have on our modern world.
The big thing for me is the ability to keep in contact with family effectively and quickly, wherever they may be.
Another impact is the effect on the medical world.,e.g. a recent hearing check demonstrated to me the advances made in such basic health care, as the results are automatically illustrated and clearly understood thanks to computerisation.
Congratulations Stoney, I remember reading some of the old Bowerbird Cafe writings, and especially using your recipes. Still doing that to this day.
Wow.
I dialed into my first BBS in 1989, I think, after hours at work.
Whoa, holla, old-timer. Do they let you out of the home often?
I’m a n00b, having only been blogging since 2002, although I did do something along the same lines way back in 1996, although it hadn’t really been invented yet and I used PINE email instead.
…and it’s taken me all this time to find you! Either I’m slow beyond belief (possible), or blogging ain’t all it’s cracked up to be (probable). Take your pick, but in either event I look forward to catching up on 15 years of (your very own) history.
Hi! Just wanted to let you know I nominated you for the Kreativ Blogger award. I LOVE reading your blog!
Wow, 15 years… how do you keep inspired and inspring!?
HDR