To view cached web pages for information you don't want to go through all that dial-up trouble again, which is less common these days since https refuses offline storage, and the cache easily being filled by megabytes of javascript whatever and fonts to drown out the kb-sized pages a browser cache would retain for a while to make that feature practical in the day.

I also vaguely remember people actually downloading websites using things like HTTrack. So you'd download the entire website you wanted to read and then used offline mode to read that copy without getting connection errors.

jheronimus wrote:

I also vaguely remember people actually downloading websites using things like HTTrack. So you'd download the entire website you wanted to read and then used offline mode to read that copy without getting connection errors.

Such utilities still exist, except that they now often have the option to localize the files (so no connection errors). They also support downloading HTTPS sites and sites requiring to log in 😀

Very practical when you have software documentation sites that require you to log in to read stuff but that do not have a download option...

Ah, the joys of dial-up. Offline browsing was essential to have to keep the costs in check. There was no such thing as "always online" back then. If you needed to go online, you basically had to make a phone call with your modem, and the counter kept counting. 10 cents a minute, or whatever it was (the cost kept going down over the years, but in the earlier days, going online was STUPIDLY expensive.) So you had to get the stuff you needed fast and then disconnect, and with offline mode you could read cached sites without your phone bill exploding.