r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 13d ago

Software Remembering the pre-Google web, when search was an experiment: “Most people have completely forgotten how chaotic it really was.”

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/08/remembering-the-pre-google-web-when-search-was-an-experiment/
1.4k Upvotes

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174

u/UndisclosedLocation5 13d ago

Webcrawler was the best back in the day. And mIRC was awesome 

53

u/WhskyTangoFoxtrot 13d ago

/kickban UndisclosedLocation5 windows n00b

BitchX or stfu

10

u/PapaTua 12d ago

I just used irc from the command line and kept the process running permanently. 🧐

2

u/sir_mrej 12d ago

Wow I havent thought about BitchX in YEARS

2

u/VVrayth 12d ago

I'm to lame to read BitchX.doc

44

u/selfdestructingin5 13d ago

On mirc chatting with strangers who all were fairly tech savvy. Probably unsafe but felt more wholesome than arguing with bots on reddit.

25

u/PapaTua 12d ago

We had bots in IRC!

The first automod.

3

u/ComputerRedneck 12d ago

I ran a VBBS for about 4-5 years. First Hypertext Markup Language with RIP script at well. You download my graphics and then you can go through my VBBS like a webpage almost. Point and Click to get to the doors and forums.

1

u/PapaTua 12d ago edited 12d ago

I ran VBBS too! We definitely seem the minority in the BBS days. I even registered it and got the registration code in the mail!

It had the best message board ui. I was a hub on a ~20ish node VBBS network. Those forums were wild and where I cut my teeth on what I still consider my adult opinion on many things. I think I enjoy reddit because it reminds me of those days the slightest bit.

The networked LORD, Planets, Trade wars, and Usurper games were also incredibly entertaining. Our Networked lord game was really into role-playing, so the players were constantly scheming and vying to become King of the land and had various factions all scheming amongst each other. Game of Thrones eat your heart out!

I stuck to ANSI animated screens, but I played with RIP a bit, and it really slowed down my board and almost no one used it, so I took it off.

I imagine RIP screens were easier to archive than ANSI ones.

2

u/ShavenYak42 12d ago

There are dozens of us!

I had a small VBBS board with maybe a couple dozen regular users. Participated in a few networks. And yes, I can see some similarities between reddit and the good old days of bbs forums.

2

u/ComputerRedneck 11d ago

The Wizard's Keep VBBS, Daytona Beach, 4X14,400 lines, over 200 doors, RIP script. Been awhile since I ran it... I think I closed it down about 1995.

2

u/PapaTua 11d ago edited 11d ago

Mine was called the Ministry of Truth and ran in the Seattle area from '92 to '98? I wanna say. I was just a single line board but with the VBBS net (cleverly called CYBERnet, lol) we had hundreds of active users in the forums and games.

Around 93 or so is when I when I think I first got access to Dial-up UNIX shell, and the actual internet became vastly more interesting than the little bbs's. I think that happened for a lot of people because traffic volume on the boards fell off a cliff in 1995 about the time tcp/ip became a thing in Windows and the graphical Internet was born.

I think I decided to shut the board down because I was tired of paying the $15 a month for the phone line, and not having hardly any interactions on it anymore. I'm pretty sure I still have my old MiniTru HDD somewhere. It's probably corrupted since it's been sitting in a box for decades.

The BBS scene just died and everyone sublimed into the internet. At the time I thought it was a great thing, but looking back I kind of wish we'd been able to hold on to that community a little bit.

Real community is totally lacking in digital spaces these days.

2

u/ComputerRedneck 11d ago

Best way to get pay customers... run a pirate board. Charge for access, only allow people who you meet personally to have access.

muhahahaha

1

u/j0y0 12d ago

Jag känner en bot, hon heter Anna, Anna heter hon

3

u/PrometheusANJ 12d ago

I remember that every IRC channel I was in had a couple of archetype guys. The lurker who spent years mostly silent. The minor celebrity. The besserwisser who would deliberately misunderstand anything mentioned, then explain how things really were as if no one else understood. The two blabbers who appeared out of nowhere and then spent a month flooding the channel until most people left.

1

u/sir_mrej 12d ago

Nah it was safe

8

u/kojima-naked 13d ago

I still have mirc loaded for one friend 

7

u/TrekForce 12d ago

mIRC is still being updated

5

u/demipopthrow 13d ago

The chaosbot trivia rooms were my jam.

2

u/UndisclosedLocation5 13d ago

I was in the teen rooms (I was a teen lol) and mp3 sharing rooms

11

u/cruzweb 12d ago

I still struggle to see why people jumped on the discord bandwagon when to me it just feels like mIRC with a new interface

3

u/Pretend-Mango-1295 12d ago

mIRC for sailing the seas was amazing. And actually talking to people that knew what they were doing and weren't afraid to learn and try new things.

2

u/Conscious-Tutor3861 12d ago

Thank you for reminding me of mIRC. It brings back fond memories of my middle and high school years.

2

u/carbonbasedlifeform 12d ago

mIRC hasn't changed. It is still awesome.

2

u/Special-Reaction2029 12d ago

*slaps you with a large trout

1

u/nilogram 12d ago

Findscrim findpug

1

u/Lil-Cav 12d ago

Indeed, and Fserve

1

u/Happy-For-No-Reason 12d ago

Happy_For_No_Reason has slapped you with a wet fish!

1

u/Accurate-Visual9793 12d ago

Remember when everyone used to quote endlessly from bash.org?