In December 1996 I built my first paid website for The Bank of Elk River in Minnesota. That early habit of sitting down with a new technology, figuring it out, and then teaching it is why I'm still learning AI out loud in my mid 70s.
Henry GrinerA T1 line, Netscape, and a computer lab
In 1995 I was a student at a community college in Minnesota. The campus had just gotten a T1 line. That's a telephone line, not cable, and it brought the internet onto campus. The wiring was already done before I started there. I made a point of using every break I had to get into the computer labs and find out what this "internet" thing actually was.
At that point it was Netscape and gray backgrounds. There was no online store. No checkout page. Nothing that would look like a website business today.
That timing mattered to me. Through the fall of 1995 and into early 1996, more businesses were starting to use the internet, and I was still in those labs, learning from the ground floor.
Within a year I was teaching internet classes in the continuing education department. Not long after that, I built my first website. It was for The Bank of Elk River, and it was my first paid site. It launched in December 1996.
I didn't know then that I would spend the next three decades helping people get comfortable with new technology. I just knew I wanted to understand this new tool, and then show other people how to use it.
Thirty years of building, then a new wave
I kept building after the first bank site. Over the next 30 years, I built over a hundred websites for other clients. In the summer of 2022, we moved to Tennessee, and at the end of 2022, I closed my agency business.
Now I'm in my mid 70s, and AI is the new wave in front of me. I try the tools. I make mistakes. I write down what works, so everyday people don't have to start from zero.
I started using AI tools in early to mid-2024. I began with Bard, which is now called Gemini, and then ChatGPT, first to help with writing and images. The pace has been faster than the internet ever was. New tools show up every few months.
If you feel a little behind, I understand that feeling. Almost everyone who is using these tools in a serious way started recently. The starting line is closer than it looks.
Why the jump felt familiar, and what's different
Every big technology wave has a season when most people haven't touched it yet, and a smaller group is already in the lab trying to make sense of it. That is what 1995 felt like in those computer labs. That is what the last couple of years have felt like with AI.
What's familiar is the work itself. You sit down. You try something. You get stuck. You try again. Then, if it starts to make sense, you turn around and explain it in plain English.
What's different is the speed, and what the tools can do. A website in 1996 was a page on a screen. Today's AI tools can write with you, look things up, and help with video. The jump is real. The habit of learning out loud still works.
I had 30 years online before I started with AI, and I still had to sit down and learn it like anyone else. You don't have to be a tech person to take a first step. You need a clear path, and someone who will walk it with you.
That's why I keep sharing what I learn. I'm not interested in sounding like an expert on a stage. I'd rather be the person a few steps ahead, holding the door.
If you want a simple place to start, my free AI training is at aiforhumans.biz. If you'd like a step-by-step way to put a Grok Bot helper to work, the Grok Bot Starter is at ai4h.us.
FAQ
When did you build your first website?
In December 1996. It was my first paid site, and I built it for The Bank of Elk River in Minnesota.
How did a 1996 bank website lead you to AI?
I learned early to sit down with a new technology, figure it out, and then teach it. That's the same habit I use with AI in my mid 70s.
Do I need a tech background to start with AI?
You don't have to be a tech person to start. A clear first step and a little guidance are enough.
Have a blessed day,
Henry