Throw Another Device on the Dung-Heap of Discarded Technology

When I got my Macintosh Quadra 650 in 1993 or so, I picked up a 14.4 Supra FaxModem with it. This seemed pretty speedy to me, since I was used to the 9600 (or was it 1200?) baud modem that Joel and I used to dial in to Georgia Tech from his VT220 (yes, a real DEC VT220 terminal!) at our off-campus house.

Then in 1995 or so, when I was Mr. Telecom man, I got myself a Motorola BitSURFR and an ISDN line. I was hot shit! Man, look at me, dialing up at 64k! Never mind that it took about 45 seconds to sync up, and didn't really seem all that much faster once I was dialed in. I paid my $60 per month, and was happy to be the early adopter.

A few months later, Joel's brother Brad one-upped me. He got the BitSURFR Pro, so with channel bonding he had 128k. Golly.

Well, I wasn't going to stand for that. I signed up for BellSouth FastAccess ADSL as soon as it was announced. It took a few months, but one day last year I got the call. They were ready to install it. (You can read about that experience here.)

Now I'm moving out to the 'burbs, Marietta, Georgia. They have ADSL and cable modems in my area, but they're either not in my neighborhood yet, or they're just too expensive. I'm going to have to down-grade.

Man, this is tough.