Feature 3 - The old internet
Feature 3

The old internet, rebuilt inside a focus app

By the Focus98 team · Updated

Remember when the internet was somewhere you went? In Focus98 you buy a dial-up modem, connect, and a whole small web opens up, sized for an 800 by 600 screen.

Getting online

The first modem is a dial-up one, and it changes everything: the shop opens online, software downloads instead of coming by mail, and Dial-Up Networking appears in My Computer. Faster modems download quicker and run more downloads at once, and later eras bring broadband, Wi-Fi and, by 2010, fiber.

NetVoyager

Your web browser comes with the modem, with Back, Forward, Home and Reload, a location bar and bookmarks. Its home page, FocusOS Online, links to everything on the in-app web:

  • FocusMart: the online shop for parts, programs and music.
  • FocusOS Help Online: the full manual, with an index and search.
  • FocusPedia: a small encyclopedia of 100 articles about the 2000s.
  • FocusWiki: 50 articles of focus tips, techniques and good habits.

"Best viewed with NetVoyager at 800 x 600", of course.

NetVoyager showing the FocusOS Online home page
NetVoyager and FocusOS Online

The not-so-good old days

From the Chroma 2005 era, spyware can take over the browser and bounce you to other sites every 15 seconds or so, and viruses turn up now and then. A pop-up blocker and a firewall keep them away; a scan gets rid of them.

Why it's in a focus app

Because the old internet had an end. You went on, did a thing, and logged off. Focus98 is built around that rhythm: a computer you sit down at, use for a job, and leave.

Note The web inside Focus98 is part of the app. It doesn't browse the real internet.

Questions and answers

Is the browser a real web browser?

No. NetVoyager shows the small web inside Focus98: the shop, the manual, FocusPedia and FocusWiki.

Does it play the dial-up sound?

Not yet. The modem, Dial-Up Networking and download waits are all there; the screech isn't.

What came after dial-up?

In Focus98, broadband in 2001, Wi-Fi in 2005 and fiber in 2010, each with faster downloads.

Focus98 is coming soon to Google Play. Free to start, no ads. Get early access

More features

See also: all guides

Feature 3 The old internetFocus98 User's Guide