Try Google Terminal: Back to the 80s
👇 Scroll down to start the experience!
Quick Facts
Access Google via a BBS‑style terminal: dial‑up tones, ASCII art, and command‑line search take you back to the 1980s.
N. Landsteiner
2012
Available on elgooG
Try the Easter Egg
How It Was Made
The Core Idea
Google Terminal is an unofficial interface experiment by N. Landsteiner of mass:werk. It imagines Google as if it had arrived through a bulletin board system, with a dial-up connection, a command prompt, and search results drawn in terminal text.
The project was published in 2012 and later carried a small historical note of its own: after the Google Search API shut down in May 2016, the live search path gave way to preserved cached examples.
Inspiration and Development
The idea nods to Squirrel-Monkey.com's video "If Google were invented in the 1980s." The joke is simple and easy to picture: take the familiar act of searching Google, then send it backward through the sound, pace, and glowing screens of early home computing.
The Easter Egg Experience
What Stands Out
Start the page and the terminal behaves like a tiny old computer waking up. A modem handshake crackles, a Google BBS tunnel appears, and the prompt waits for your query.
The interface keeps the period details close: color, monochrome green, monochrome amber, optional scan lines, a virtual keyboard, keyclick sounds, and a DOS-like path that makes every search feel typed in by hand.
How It Works
Type a search term at the prompt, then follow the numbered results as the terminal prints them onto the screen. Since the original live API is gone, this preserved version leans on cached result sets for its working examples.
You can also open the Tools menu to change the display mood, bring up the virtual keyboard, or add scan lines for a stronger CRT feel.
How to Try It
- Click the button above to open Google Terminal.
- Wait for the BBS login and modem sound to finish.
- Type a query at the prompt, then choose a numbered result or return home with option 0.
- Use Tools to switch color modes, show the keyboard, or turn scan lines on and off.
This is not an official Google product. It is a playful mass:werk interface piece, preserved here so the BBS version of Google can still be tried in a modern browser.
For the companion experience, visit Google Images Terminal, where image results are turned into ASCII-style previews.
Final Thoughts
Google Terminal turns an ordinary search into a short dial-up sequence: the line connects, the screen glows, and the cursor blinks at the prompt.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Google Terminal?
Google Terminal is an unofficial 2012 mass:werk project that imagines Google as a 1980s BBS terminal.
It gives the search page a dial-up entrance, a command prompt, terminal colors, scan lines, and keyboard-style controls.
The original live Google Search API is no longer available, so this preserved version uses cached examples where needed.
How do I use Google Terminal?
Open the page, let the terminal connect, type a query at the prompt, and follow the numbered options. The Tools menu lets you switch display colors, show the virtual keyboard, and toggle scan lines.