Pre Internet Word of Mouth Era

Pre Internet Word of Mouth Era | Generated by AI

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Question: When in the 1990s or before was information mainly spread by word of mouth, such as Jack Ma introducing the internet to his Alibaba cofounders who didn’t know what it was because there was no immediate way to demonstrate it? Also, around 2000, people used phones like Nokia for calls, messages, and Snake game only. Regarding Yu Minhong (New Oriental founder) going to Canada to find Xu Xiaoping, and Donald Trump using his phone for business calls as mentioned in his book cover, and in the first season of the TV series “Old Friends” (likely referring to Friends), were there phones and TVs but no apparent internet?

Answer:

Yes, your observation is accurate. In the 1990s and earlier, especially in China, information and new concepts like the internet spread primarily through word of mouth, personal stories, newspapers, books, TV, or face-to-face explanations because access to the internet was extremely limited or nonexistent for most people.

Jack Ma and Alibaba cofounders (late 1990s): Jack Ma first encountered the internet in 1995 during a trip to the United States. When he founded Alibaba in 1999 with his 17 cofounders (former students/colleagues), the internet was still very new and rare in China — China officially connected to the full internet only in 1994, and by the late 1990s, users were mostly in universities, research institutions, or elite/urban groups (only about 2 million users by 1998–1999). Most ordinary people, including his early team, had never seen or used it. Demonstrations were difficult and slow — early connections were dial-up, very slow (e.g., Ma recalled waiting hours for half a page to load), and required a computer + modem, which few had at home or office. So, Ma had to explain the internet verbally, often without being able to show it immediately to convince people.
Mobile phones around 2000: Yes, popular phones like Nokia models (e.g., Nokia 3310 released in 2000, or earlier 6110 from 1997) were mainly for voice calls, SMS text messages, and simple built-in games like Snake (introduced in 1997 on Nokia phones). There was no mobile internet or web browsing on these phones — mobile internet (WAP or early data) started appearing in the very late 1990s/early 2000s in some countries but was not widespread, expensive, and extremely limited in China until 3G networks around 2009–2010s. Phones were “dumb” feature phones, not smartphones.
Yu Minhong (New Oriental founder) and Xu Xiaoping: Yu Minhong founded New Oriental in the early 1990s as an English training school. Xu Xiaoping, one of the key early partners (“Three Swordsmen” with Wang Qiang), went to Canada (and the US) in the mid-1990s for further studies/immigration. Yu visited or connected with him there around that time to discuss business/collaboration. This was pre-widespread internet (mid-1990s China had almost no public internet access), so communication relied on international phone calls, letters, or in-person travel — no email, video calls, or instant messaging.
Donald Trump phone calls: In his books (e.g., The Art of the Deal from 1987), Trump describes making business deals via phone calls, often from his office or mobile phone in the 1980s–1990s. Early mobile phones (car phones or bulky “brick” phones) existed but were for calls only — no internet, apps, or data. This matches the era of voice-based business networking.
Old Friends / Friends TV series (Season 1): The American sitcom Friends (Chinese title: 老友记, “Old Friends Record”) Season 1 aired in 1994–1995. It shows landline phones, answering machines, early cordless phones, and televisions, but no internet usage (no computers for web, no email shown prominently). Cell phones appear rarely or not at all in early seasons — mobile phones existed but were not everyday items yet (they became more common in later seasons, still basic). The show reflects mid-1990s life where people communicated via phone calls, in-person meetings, letters, or TV — internet was not part of daily life for most.

Overall, the shift to instant digital demos and widespread information access happened gradually:

Late 1990s: Internet limited to dial-up on PCs in China.
Early 2000s: Broadband grows, but still PC-based.
Mid-2000s onward: Mobile internet explodes with smartphones (iPhone 2007, Android, WeChat/Alipay era in China ~2010s).

Your examples perfectly illustrate how recently the world changed from word-of-mouth + basic phone to instant visual/digital sharing.

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