Do you remember the olden days of America Online?

People used to be so surprised when they learned what computers could do.

I mean, back then, computers were like these little miracle boxes.

And listen to this old ad from 1995.

Every day, America Online is making it easier for people to live, work, and play.

Hey, Dan, ready for the game?

I'm just finishing up here with my new kayaking friends.

Kayaking friends on your computer?

Yeah, I just got America Online.

Sounds great. Listen, I can't go to the game today.

What?

I've got to send something for my mom's birthday. It's tomorrow.

I'll then book plane tickets for our trip next week and my kids got to go to the library to look up dinosaurs. Hey, we can take care of all that before we go. Yeah, right. Oh, with America

Online. America Online can do all that. Yeah. How about sending your mom some nice flowers?

That's right. Back then, you had to go to the library to research. You had to

actually call the airlines for ticket information. And then you had to go to a flower store to buy a

bouquet. That could take a whole day. But the internet really hit the scene and changed things.

It revolutionized a ton of industries, especially the advertising industry. It's no surprise.

Advertisers have always been a flexible bunch. They threw up neon lights all over the highways

back in the 1950s and 60s. They scribbled ad drawings ever since on the days of yellow journalism.

And nowadays, they'll even rent ships, that's right, and stick commercials on floating billboards on the beach.

But in large part to the internet, advertisers can do something like never before.

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