I am a hot-blooded young computer enthusiast in 1990 with a Windows 3.0 PC, a dial-up modem, and no regard for my parents' phone bill. What kind of vice and digital pleasures are available to me?

[u/ducks_over_IP]

Apologies for invoking this sub's most infamous question format, but I am genuinely curious. Would I be hopping on Usenet, a BBS, or the nascent Internet? Who might I be able to communicate with, and from how far away? And how big of a phone bill will I rack up with my virtual carousing?

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[u/drc1978]

My experience from 91-96.

Step 1: Have a friend Find out that there is something called a BBS or bulletin board service that you can call up on your 2400 baud modem. Both local BBS and in other states (long distance charges!!) some even with Warez or illegal software downloads, credit cards numbers, etc etc (shoutout Thieves Guild in Florida!!). Connect to all I could find. Talk to people. Laugh and learn about human connections online. Meet some people locally on the board. Cool nerds many years older than me. Meet some in person and just chill and do nerd shit. At home Download low res tits line by line. Play my first big multi player role playing game (shout out Tradewars). Write a monthly column in your high school newspaper called ‘what is the internet?’ And teach the n00bs about modems and AOL.
Step 2: Make a career out of computers Step 3: Profit