It is often described as such. I was 13 when I got my first dial-up. With all the free time and excitement I had, it was very easy for me to get into, and certainly more fun than whatever today's internet is.

So to be honest, I do not understand the common slander and mischaracterization of the utterly vibrant pre-2000s Internet, in all its beauty and awfulness.

Best I could think of is the dropped connection whenever someone picked up the phone in your home.

you had to read stuff