Before Everyone Was Online - The History of Chatrooms, Bulletin Boards, IRC, and the Glorious Art of Waiting for a Reply #1007978

Before everyone was online, getting a message from another person could feel like a minor technological miracle.
There were no smartphones buzzing every few seconds, no permanent group chats, and no expectation that everyone should answer immediately. Instead, early computer users connected through bulletin board systems, dial-up networks, chatrooms, and Internet Relay Chat—often through telephone lines that seemed personally offended by the existence of computers.
Before Everyone Was Online traces the fascinating history of online conversation, from early bulletin boards and dial-up communities to IRC, chatrooms, instant messaging, and the beginnings of the always-connected world.
Along the way, the book explores how people discovered strangers with shared interests, created online communities, invented usernames and digital identities, moderated chaotic conversations, exchanged files, and learned the strange social rules of communicating through a screen.
This is a history of technology, but it is also a history of waiting.
Waiting for the modem to connect.
Waiting for a page to load.
Waiting for someone to come online.
Waiting for a reply.
And, occasionally, wondering whether that person had simply disappeared into the mysterious void known as “AFK.”
Using publicly documented history and accessible explanations, the book examines the technologies and communities that helped transform computer communication from an obscure hobby into an ordinary part of everyday life.

From BBS message boards and IRC channels to the rise of instant messaging, Before Everyone Was Online tells the story of the surprisingly complicated journey from “Is anyone there?” to “Why haven't you replied? I can see that you're online.”
A nostalgic, informative, and occasionally mischievous history of the years when being connected was something you had to actively make happen.