The (weird and wacky) history of the internet 

But how did we get from clunky dial-up tones to high-speed broadband that lets us stream entire TV seasons in one go?  

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and relive the big (and bizarre) moments that made the internet what it is today. 

1969 – The first internet message...   ... and the first internet fail. The U.S. Department of Defense sends the very first internet message, a very cyrptic “LO” . They meant to type “LOGIN” but sent it too early. We’ve all been there, right?  

1971 – Email is born   Ray Tomlinson sends the first email, kicking off decades of unread messages and questionable chain mail scams. 

1991 – The world wide web arrives   Tim Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web, proving that the internet isn’t just for scientists—it’s for everyone (including your grandma on Facebook). 

🔎 1994 – Yahoo! takes over   Before Google, there was Yahoo!, the go-to search engine for asking important questions like, “Why is my Tamagotchi always dying?” 

📱 1997 – Google is born (with a dubious first name)   Larry Page and Sergey Brin create a search engine called BackRub. Thankfully, they rethought the name, and Google takes over the world. 

📡 1999 – Wi-Fi goes public   Messy cables are replaced by wireless internet – and a new era of connecting to the internet at coffee shops is born! 

🪲 2000 – The Y2K bug  

A big year that signalled a big problem for our calendars... Internet nerds unite to solve the issue of how you got a computer to read ‘00’ as ‘2000’, not ‘1900’...  

💬 2004 – Facebook launches   Mark Zuckerberg introduces The FaceBook (now just Facebook), and soon, everyone is poking each other and posting cryptic song lyrics as statuses.  

📹 2005 – YouTube’s first video   "Me at the Zoo" becomes the first video ever uploaded, paving the way for cats, viral challenges, and hours of procrastination. 

📱 2007 – The iPhone revolution begins   Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone, putting the internet in our pockets and making sure we never have to make eye contact in public again. 

📸 2010 – Instagram arrives   A place for filters, influencers, and way too many brunch photos. 

🎶 2016 – TikTok takes over   Vine dies, but TikTok picks up where it leaves off, fuelling dance trends, viral pranks, and a whole new kind of internet fame. 

🤖 2023 – AI gets smart (but not too smart)   AI tools like ChatGPT change how we work and interact online. No robot overlords (yet), but we’re keeping an eye on them... 

The dearly departed, always in our hearts.  

💀 Ask Jeeves (1996-2006)   

The butler who knew everything (until Google showed up). 

💀 MySpace (2003-2008)   

The OG social network, where picking your top 8 friends could start actual drama. 

💀 MSN Messenger (1999-2013)   

The birthplace of cryptic away messages and endless nudge wars. 

💀 Vine (2013-2016)   

The six-second video app that left us too soon. 

Zip back in time with us as we remember how we used to entertain ourselves – before we spent every evening scrolling and streaming...  

💿 Before Netflix, there was LoveFilm   

Instead of popping out to Blockbuster to pick out a film, LoveFilm would send you DVDs in the post. Didn’t get much better than that...  

📟 Before WhatsApp, there were pagers   

This little beeper couldn't fit more than a few characters on screen... But if you had one, you were either a doctor on call or just really cool in the 90s. 

📖Before Amazon, there was the Argos catalogue   

Was there any better retail therapy? Flicking through a giant book to pick out toys, gadgets, and Christmas presents.  

🐍 Before Candy Crush, there was Snake   

What made the Nokia 3310 the most desirable phone in the 2000s? Snake. You can still download the game from the App Store today, but it’s just not the same in HD and full colour...  

It’s fair to say, the internet has come a long way—from dial-up to full fibre, from MySpace to TikTok, and from email to AI. But what’s next? Hopefully better, faster, full fibre broadband that can keep up with everything the internet can throw at it.   

And your best bet? Ridiculously fast full fibre from Cuckoo. See if we’re in your area to start your switch today 🚀