I'm old. The internet I grew up on was we got an IBM PC the 2nd year they were out. Arounf '82 or so. The first online thing I could use was compuserve to look up stock quotes semi live and you paid by the hour. The faster your connection speed the more you paid. I used a 110 baud converted teletype modem. Then a few local BBS connections. Imagine nowdays paying by the hour to be online. 110 baud is about 1/3 of the speed of the modem in the movie war games.
Fidnonet and messages were sent at night between nodes when long distance rates were cheaper. I'm sure there were pedos trying to pick up kids then as well, or maybe just ask them how to use a computer.