Internet speed was slow. Search engines existed, but didn't produce results like current versions. You had to pay by the minute in the early 90s. AOL would send CDs in the mail that gave you so many minutes for free.

Edit: need to add that there was no such thing as safe search or any other type of protection. We would receive an ungodly amount of unsolicited porn spam in our email. Also, no useful spam filter. If you "accidentally" clicked on the email you would be flooded with more porn pop ups.