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Remember that sound, that like staticky, buzzy sound before a website would load, the anticipation

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of waiting for an image to like slowly pixelate onto your screen?

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Well, that's where we're headed today, back to the early internet in Germany.

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Like we're time traveling to witness the digital revolution firsthand.

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Yeah, and forget about those, you know, those dry corporate accounts of, you know, how it

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all happened.

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We're going way more granular, like digital archaeology.

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We've got these four online resumes from the late 90s.

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Each one is like a window into the lives of the actual people who were building the web.

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Our digital pioneers.

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Yeah.

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Okay, so instead of like a history book, we're holding a time capsule, right?

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So what kind of picture does it paint?

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A fascinating one, full of surprises.

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You know, take our first subject, Lars.

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In 1986, I mean, most people were still trying to figure out how to like program their VCRs,

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right?

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But Lars is writing code.

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And not just any code, assembler, see, these were the foundational tools, like hammering

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together the internet's first frames.

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Wow.

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And what's even more interesting is he started as an electrician.

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I mean, that's quite a jump, going from rewiring a house to, you know, wiring the digital world.

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It really speaks to the allure of the early internet.

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This wasn't just some like tech thing, it was a cultural movement, it was drawing in

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people from all walks of life.

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And each one brought their own like unique perspective.

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And Lars, with his hands on experience, well, he wasn't just coding, he understood the physical

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machinery behind it all.

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Right.

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And he wasn't content to just stop there either.

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In 93, just as the internet is taking off, boom, he sets up his own company.

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Talk about being in the right place at the right time, but also recognizing an opportunity

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and just, you know, going for it.

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His resume even mentions consulting on internet access.

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Can you imagine?

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Today, that's like calling the phone company.

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Back then, it was like having a direct line to the digital gods.

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Totally.

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It was a specialized skill for sure.

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A sign of the times.

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Like the same goes for setting up servers and building firewalls.

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I mean, think about it.

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Every email sent, every web page loaded, all of it relied on this new infrastructure.

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And Lars was on the front lines building it all.

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It boggles the mind that this was all being figured out in real time, you know.

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But Lars wasn't just about the tech either.

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He also worked with Humboldt University.

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So he's bringing this whole new world to academia too.

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Oh yeah.

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Universities were like hotbeds for early internet adoption.

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Some of the first to build out those early networks to see the potential for research

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and communication.

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And Lars was there bridging that gap between, you know, this cutting edge tech and those

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hallowed halls of academia.

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A digital ambassador.

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I love it.

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Okay.

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So we've got Lars, the electrician turned tech wizard entrepreneur.

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Now let's talk about Matt.

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Unlike Lars, he came from more of a design and publishing background, which makes me

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think about that, you know, that clash between the old and new worlds.

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Definitely.

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Matt worked at Bauwelt.

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It was an architecture magazine, so imagine him surrounded by layouts and fonts, the smell

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of fresh ink, very analog.

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Yet he jumps head first into web development in the mid-90s.

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So it's not even just a career change, it's a cultural shift, a head-on collision of those

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two worlds.

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Yeah, he's bridging the gap, translating that visual language of print to this new digital

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campus.

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Exactly.

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And you can see it reflected in his skill set, too.

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Filemaker databases to organize all this information, online shops.

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This is when e-commerce was in its infancy.

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He even built a Java chat for an art house.

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Okay, hold on.

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A Java chat for an art house.

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That's amazing.

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It just seems so niche.

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But also, it shows that people were already experimenting with how to use the internet

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for creative expression, you know, and for building community.

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It's a perfect example.

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Even in these early days, the internet wasn't just about, you know, ones and zeros.

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It was about connecting people with shared passions, whether they were discussing the

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latest tech or, you know, debating abstract art.

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And what's interesting is the range of Matt's clients.

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You got Documenta X, which is like this huge art exhibition, to something called Fanwelt,

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which sounds like, I don't know, maybe a precursor to all of today's social media platforms.

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It just shows how rapidly the internet was, you know, infiltrating all these different

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sectors.

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No longer confined to just universities and tech companies.

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It was becoming a tool for artists, for fans, for communities to connect and share their

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work.

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But it wasn't all, you know, groundbreaking tech and avant-garde art.

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Yeah, it was like the internet was becoming this, like this ultimate Swiss army knife.

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What?

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Useful for everything.

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It wasn't always a smooth ride though, was it?

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Take Step, our next digital trailblazer.

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His story seems to be a little less about the tech, like the technical wizardry and

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more about the human side of all of this.

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Absolutely.

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Yeah, while Lars was out there, you know, laying cables and Matt's designing these digital

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experiences, Step is thinking about the people actually using this stuff.

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His resume really emphasizes this, understanding user needs.

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And what's interesting, teamwork.

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It's like this subtle hint that, you know, as websites got more and more complex, it

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wasn't just about lone programmers in their basement anymore.

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Right.

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Like it was becoming much more of a collaborative effort, kind of like, well, kind of like what

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Step experienced as a bandleader.

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Exactly.

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Coordinating all those different musicians, understanding everyone's strengths, bringing

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it all together in harmony.

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That requires, I mean, that's a whole other skill set.

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And maybe those band practice sessions weren't that different from those early, you know,

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web development meetings.

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I love that.

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I love that analogy.

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You need someone to conduct the orchestra, make sure everyone's playing in tune in sync.

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And as those early websites went from, you know, static pages to more interactive experiences,

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well, that need for coordination, for someone to bring it all together, that just became

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even more crucial.

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Yeah.

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And that's where Step's focus on conception, contact, and accrues comes in.

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I mean, he wasn't just like, you know, heads down building websites.

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He was thinking about that bigger picture, you know, the strategy, the communication,

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how to actually like talk to clients, the business side of things.

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So he's really got his finger on the pulse, like he sees how this whole internet thing

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is changing the market.

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This isn't just some passing tech fad.

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This is huge.

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This is like a fundamental shift in how we communicate, do business, everything.

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Totally.

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He even has this little like list of buzzwords in his resume, push portals, web TV.

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I mean, some of those ideas, they age like a fine wine and others, well, not so much.

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Web TV.

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Wow.

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Talk about a blast from the past.

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It's almost endearing now to look back and see how they were trying to predict where

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all this technology was headed, you know?

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But that's part of it, right?

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That's how innovation works.

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You try things.

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You miss sometimes, but sometimes you hit the jackpot.

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Exactly.

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And you learn from both, right?

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The hits and the misses.

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But okay, here's where it gets really interesting.

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Remember that combined resume, the one with Lars, Matt and Step all together now?

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Oh yeah.

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That's right.

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They joined forces.

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It's like they formed their own little like digital dream team, a mini digital agency.

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So what can you tell us about that?

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Like what prompted this strategic move?

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It's brilliant.

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Honestly, imagine you're a business owner in the late nineties.

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You've heard of this, you know, this internet thing, you know, it's important, you know,

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you need to do something about it, but it's all just a little, you know, overwhelming.

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And then you see this resume.

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They've got it all system administration, programming, databases, training.

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They even had e-business, which remember that was still a pretty new term back then.

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They looked into a crystal ball and said, yeah, we can handle it all.

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Building your website, helping you make money online the whole nine yards.

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Exactly.

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It was like this comprehensive package, this united front of expertise, which I mean, that

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must've been incredibly appealing, especially in those early days where, you know, nobody

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really knew what they were doing.

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But what I find the most telling is the inclusion of, get this, team building coaching.

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What do you make of it?

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Do you think they were already seeing those like growing pains, you know, within these

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young internet companies?

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Oh, it's very likely.

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I mean, you're bringing together people from all these different backgrounds, electricians,

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designers, you know, even musicians and band leaders, all trying to navigate this new world

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together.

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And with any rapidly growing field, there are going to be challenges, communication

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breakdowns, misunderstandings, how to collaborate effectively, how to manage everyone's expectations.

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Yeah, they were ahead of their time in a lot of ways, recognizing that building a successful

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company, especially in this new digital world, it wasn't just about, you know, who had the

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best coding skills.

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It was about people and how they work together.

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Absolutely.

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And, you know, we can't forget about that, you know, that really simple, but kind of

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powerful call to action at the end of that combined resume, mail me, call me.

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It's so direct.

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Right.

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It really speaks to like the directness, the urgency of those early days of the internet.

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I mean, forget about your, you know, your slick marketing campaigns and all that.

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They were just like, we're here.

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We're building the future.

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Let's talk.

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It's a breath of fresh air.

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Really?

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That raw entrepreneurial spirit.

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Yeah.

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So, okay.

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As we zoom out, as we return from our deep dive into the world of, you know, 1990s German

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internet pioneers, what's the, I don't know, what's the biggest takeaway for you?

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What surprised you the most about all of this?

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You know, it's so easy to like romanticize the early internet, look back with these rose

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tinted monitors, you know, but these resumes, they paint a more, I think a more nuanced

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picture.

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Yeah.

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There's that excitement of the new technology, that entrepreneurial energy for sure.

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But there's also this really clear sense that these guys, they were grappling with the unknown,

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hearing it out as they went along, adapting constantly, because that landscape was changing

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so fast.

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It's like they were building the plane while they were flying it.

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Exactly.

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And what's really remarkable, I think, is how much their backgrounds, those different

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backgrounds, you've got the electrician, the designer, the musician, the bandleader,

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it really shaped how they approached building this thing, building the internet.

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You know, they weren't just coders, they were problem solvers, they were communicators,

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they were collaborators, each one bringing their own unique skills to the table.

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It makes you wonder, what skills from back then, from those early days, are still relevant

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today?

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I mean, is it all just about coding languages and algorithms, or are there, like, broader

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lessons to be learned?

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Oh, the technical landscape, I mean, obviously it's changed dramatically, but those core

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skills.

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Yeah.

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Right, problem solving, critical thinking, being able to, you know, design with the user

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in mind, teamwork, being able to adapt and learn quickly, I mean, those are timeless.

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Those never go out of style.

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It's not just about, like, mastering the latest app or coding language then.

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It's about embracing that same spirit, that curiosity, that adaptability, that willingness

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to just roll up your sleeves and collaborate that really fueled those early internet pioneers.

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100%.

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And you know what?

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Who knows, maybe someone out there listening to this right now, they're feeling inspired

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by these stories and they're ready to take that leap themselves to shape the next chapter

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of the internet.

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What a thought.

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A digital baton being passed on to this whole new generation of innovators.

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I love it.

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And on that note, I think we'll wrap up our deep dive into the early days of the internet

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in Germany.

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From dial-up modems to like the birth of e-commerce, it's been quite a ride, wouldn't you say?

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Absolutely fascinating.

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A good reminder that this digital world that we take for granted, it was built by real

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people with their own unique stories and challenges and triumphs.

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Couldn't have said it better myself.

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And a big thank you to you, dear listener, for coming along on this little adventure

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with us, this trip back in time.

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And until next time, keep exploring, keep questioning, and you know what?

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Keep that spirit of the early internet alive.

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See you in the digital ether.