I know. I shouldn't be on dial-up anymore. So you get on-demand internet and I get more whiskey. Priorities.
Any case, I was just dialing up aol... I know, I shouldn't be on aol. See above... er, whatever. I had the modem sound up and my iTunes up and running "Pink Houses." As the modem started, the pistons fired, and the turbines of free speech began to spin to the sounds of modem and "Ain't that America, for you and me," I became more excited to be connecting to the internet than I ever recall.
As I raised my arms in victory, I identified a lost opportunity for ISP's in the day when dial-up was king and our great land was in love with Toad the Wet Sprocket and Home Improvement. "They" should have found a way to replace the modem sound with a theme song for their ISP. The aol one is obvious, although late at night as the nation was dimming its lights for another few hours of sleep, the theme song should have changed to "America" by Simon and Garfunkel. I don't know what Compuserve would have used. Prodigy should probably have used a Prodigy song, though I don't know that "Smack My Bitch Up" would really have been considered "customer-friendly."
Perhaps this missed opportunity was the true reason for the dot-com bust.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You bring up an interesting point. Which band best represents the post-Nirvana mid-90s? Toad the Wet Sprocket or Hootie and the Blowfish? I'll have to think about that one.
OK, I figured it out. While Toad lends a voice to inadequacy felt by Gen Xers, Hootie represents that bright-eyed optimism ushered in by the dot-com boom.
Post a Comment