Though you are older than I, and I joined the internet when it already was the internet, I remember having a book on BBSes and gophers and such, and I feel kinship to all that is described here. The early widespread internet still felt like it.
Ah, Golden Booster, what a cad :P
I think BBSes are more remembered that gophers. I wonder how many remember that... I would telnet in and do everything over a dumb terminal with a green flickering screen. Fun times. Early newsgroups were great too.