Dial Up. Yeah I know the sound and I know the time it took to load anything with. But it’s something I won’t ever miss having. I would much rather be on a 1MB connection if I had to choose between that or dial up ever again. I also hated how easy it was to be kicked off, if anyone called the phone, you were off it in seconds.
In the late 90’s, the technology was incredible tho. The little machines were fucking monsters. A few years ago I’ve got a few portables from that era and even with antiskip disabled, it’s super hard to make some of them skip. With it enabled, it’s probably impossible without the device falling apart.
It’s also interesting how even despite obvious abuse and shitty shipping, those things work perfectly. The cheap plastics and close to zero weight would suggest they wouldn’t last a month, never mind 20 years.