I have only vague memories of what browsing was like before Firefox, Adblock and Google Browser Sync, but I'm pretty sure it was a lot like getting kicked in the nuts.

Browswer sync will get you fired if you're not careful.

If Browser Sync gets me fired, then good riddance. I wouldn't want to work there anyway.

Yay for Adblock Plus. Oh, and Sage. Ooh, ForecastFox is nice, too...

My only disagreement with this was that I DO remember it clearly. Yes, the antics of the web pained me ... then I was introduced to how it wasn't that web's fault ...

Ditto @ Nick Pod.

I have pretty good memories of the online world ever since I can remember starting.
(Which was using "Telix" on DOS, hooray BBSes \o/.)

Then AOL and it's horrid ass browser, then finding out I can connect to AOL, minimize it, turn on IE (and for a period of time, Netscape), and do so much more (good and bad).

Then came IRC, then Firefox, and now we're here.

Ok, I summarized a weeeeee little bit, but in general I have a good recollection of these things.

Just like everyone else did in the day, if a site is really worth remembering, I will remember its domain. Now I have del.icio.us and Google Reader to supplement, for all of the little, occasionally interesting bits. Browser bookmarks I see as useful for sites one visits regularly, and in many cases the URL is easier for me to memorize than its location in the bookmark folder hierarchy, e.g. shiira.jp instead of Web/Browsers/Shiira. I also use OpenDNS, which lets me define shortcuts: mappings of one-word HTTP requests to arbitrary URLs. Finally, in the edge cases, I've probably still remembered the search string that produces the site as the top hit, leaving only a few seconds. This is further enhanced in Safari/Mac by Inquisitor, since I don't need to click through the results page.

This setup lets me access any page that I've deemed useful within 5 seconds (probably 2 sec. on average), and supports both my affinity for keyboard-centric controls and my concurrent use of several browsers. For many users I realize that this is impractical, but it's proof that Browser Sync is not the only answer.

Also, Adblock!? Would you deprive young bloggers of their ramen lunch just to avoid a bit of marketing? It's everywhere else in the world, so why try to hide from it here?

Oh, forget that last comment. I found the claim for it.

I just learned about browser sync. (Would have been very useful when I changed jobs).

Cool.

I have CLEAR memories of browsing before Firefox, and it was like getting kicked in the nuts.

I remember Internet Explorer 2, which could only have one window open at a time, and could only do one transfer at a time... whether that transfer was a download (no progress bar... just wait until the status bar doesn't say "Reading..." anymore) or a page-change.