> ... and things like Cron jobs ... didn't exist Funnily enough: i once maintained a site for a client whose hoster implemented cron jobs as client-defined URL

> ... and things like Cron jobs ... didn't exist Funnily enough: i once maintained a site for a client whose hoster implemented cron jobs as client-defined URLs, which could point to your CGI or PHP scripts. The provider would hit the URL (which was presumably private) on a cron-style schedule, providing a castrated semblance of cron jobs.