It was a different world back then. To become “online”, you dialed a number. Then it was the time to search and download files, and to save pages for offline us

It was a different world back then. To become “online”, you dialed a number. Then it was the time to search and download files, and to save pages for offline use. You probably also turned off images and JavaScript and accidentally learned HTML by looking at the text source of that broken layout. The rest was an offline experience. You tinkered with the precious downloaded files. You knew how to change bytes with a hex editor, even if you knew nothing about the format.