When the Wall fell, popular culture rose to a new level of social relevance. Wind of Change? More like a tsunami! The Nineties washed over the increasingly globalized media landscape in a tidal wave of catchy tunes, cult movies, TV series and show stars. FACES rolls up the decade – and publishes an encyclopaedia on the age of grunge, girl groups, GZSZ and – the Internet.
Pipipip! Chrzrchrrrrrr! Tatütatüüüü… No, that’s not the sound of a dying reed sparrow. It was the lure of the Internet at the time when it opened its doors to young people. Spearangelweit.
Cell phones are still a luxury for tech nerds: a cell phone costs a month’s salary, and the bill – don’t ask! Exactly, the age when Clearasil Romeos dependent on pocket money went through hell on the way to their dream date: they had to call their Julia on a landline phone – with the risk of mommy or daddy picking up.
Until a new technology overcomes this test of courage: hotmail (*1996) and ICQ (*1996) for the communicative, LAN baller games like Delta Force (*1998) for narrow-gauge soldiers – and search engines like Altavista (1995-2013) for all those who are in danger of getting lost in the digital jungle. The 56k modem paves the way into a new era. With ISDN, even the telephone line is relieved again.
Phone book, conspiracy theories, party photos, all just a mouse click away. Soon Napster (*1999), the MP3 piracy, will go into operation. But while the music industry has long been searching in vain for a way to use the Internet more or less profitably, young people are surfing the new wave virtually in unison. At first, this happens at a very leisurely pace. To be precise: at 56 kBit per second.
