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CompuServe, I Hardly Knew Ye…

I started my electronic wandering here in the mid ‘80s with Compuserve, the first commercially successful on-line service. They finally closed their doors today.

Columbus, Ohio – The original commercially-successful online mail service, CompuServe, has been shut down by its owner, AOL.

The clunky but much-loved service debuted in 1979, offering electronic mail, technical support and moderated technical forums. In 1980, it became the first online service to offer real-time chat online with its CB Simulator. At its height in the early 1990s, the company boasted of having half a million users online simultaneously.

But after AOL bought the company in 1997, the brand was allowed to decline. The current version of the service’s client software, CompuServe for Windows NT 4.0.2, dates back to 1999.

I can’t even remember my user id, I’ve not messed with it for “decades.” Truthfully, I didn’t even know it was still around.  But I did cut my teeth on it learning my way around the precurser of the “IntarTubes!” You had to be careful, before they went to unlimited pricing, you could run up a big bill, real fast.  Using their service taught me a lot.

Goodbye, CompuServe!

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