The internet was not always the ubiquitous, fast, and easily accessible resource we’ve come to expect today. Even the earliest ISP founders like Pete Ashdown of XMission in Utah didn’t believe it would truly “catch on.” However, the internet of the early 90s defied everyone’s expectations, and user adoption exploded, setting the foundation for the internet-powered world of today.
In a recent episode of the Serial Port, entitled “How To Start An ISP (like it’s 1993)” the team sits down with Ashdown to learn just how he built one of the first ISPs in the United States. They also track down one of the first “must-have” pieces of equipment Ashdown used, the Sun SparcClassic. In this first of a multi-part series, they begin their journey to recreate an ISP of the 90s. Check it out: