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The ageist comment seems unnecessary. I've been on the 'internet' since the 80s as well, but I don't think of the internet really taking off until the 90s, so I understand what the author's comment was conveying.

> The writer must be 12.

Not a useful insight. Compare to me starting a comment with something like "The parent commenter must be an octogenarian." It doesn't actually add anything to your thesis.

> The last transition, in 1989, is squarely in the middle of the information age.

I, and others I'm sure, would argue that 80s were in the earlier half of the information age, especially if we mark it not by time but by number of systems built.

Dunno -- I'm still emotionally scarred from dealing with JIS, S-JIS, EUC, etc. in the early 90s. Anyone else remember Ken Lunde's fugu book....?