|
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
July 5, 2009 - 10:23 P.M.
So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Cyber Cynic
If you were lucky enough, as I was, to go to a technically-advanced school or work for a high-technology company in the 70s and 80s, you had Internet access. For most of us though the only way we had to go online was via an online service like CompuServe. Recently, after 30-years of service, CompuServe closed down. I'll miss it.
I was fortunate to be on the Internet starting in the late 70s, when I was at school, West Virginia University, and later at my jobs at Goddard Space Flight Center. But, when I was at home, I had to use a 300-baud Hayes modem like everyone else in those days to go online. So, I became an early user of online services And, by the early 90s, I was writing a column about them for Computer Shopper, back in the days when that publication was a 1,000+ page giant on magazine stands.
In those days, everything that we now think of as being part of the Web, was only available in far smaller, text-based portions on online services like AOL, BIX, CompuServe, Delphi, GEnie, and Prodigy. Today, only AOL remains in a form that any time-traveling user from 1992 would recognize.
I liked all these services. Well almost all, it was never easy to warm up to Prodigy with its slower than slow speeds even by 1200-baud bound standards and its clunky interface. But, of all them, I liked CompuServe the best.
Long before social networks like Facebook and Twitter enabled us to keep in touch with each other, many of us were being talking with each other all the time on CompuServe's Forums. To this day, I think CIS' (CompuServe Internet Service) Forums were the best online discussion areas I ever had the pleasure of using.
In no small-part that was because while the online software itself usually worked well, it had an open API (Application Programming Interface) so that you could use off-line readers like TAPCIS and Golden Compass. These made it possible to maximize your online conversations without running up huge telephone and online service connection bills.
One of the invisible changes that the early 90s' switchover from online services to the Internet brought was the end of hourly connect time charges. If you didn't watch out, you could easily run up hundreds of dollars in connect charges a month. CompuServe made it possible for savvy users to get the most from the service for the least amount of bucks.
Today, the Internet is much cheaper than the online services ever were. And, you can do things with the Internet, like watch televised baseball; play elaborate games and video-conference, that we never dreamed of in those days. You know, though, both then and now I get more done and more pleasure out of 'talking' with people online in e-mail and in online discussion groups.
So, good-bye CompuServe, your day is done, but your core virtue, enabling people to form communities and make and maintain friendships over the miles, remains in a thousand different forms today.
This is 72441,464 signing off for the last time.
|
|
| |
|
Senior Crew
Posts: 188
Location: Manassas, VA | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Yes compuserve was the original information source. Before the web had all the free content, belonging to compuserve allowed you to find most of that available. Even the manufactures posted their drawings, upgrade kit info, or software patches on compuserve.
The modem rates increased frequently but were still awful slow.
I subscribed to the computer shopper for a while. There was a great amount of info available in the pages. but, unfortunately their advertise motivation precluded any index or page numbering system to find the info.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane (and also for all you do for our community).
Joe P |
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 1006
Location: NE Florida | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
I recently cranked up a modem connection on my Macbook at my brother's house (boondocks, no high-speed internet).
Connection came up at 28,400 - much faster than the old 300 or 1200's we used then.
But I'd rather have bowel surgery in the woods with a stick than use that modem again. The current websites with lots of graphics takes forever-minus-one-year to load a page. One page. I did get my email, then signed off and put the modem away.
Wow.
OBTW, Prodigy stunk at any speed, even if it were free.
Coyote
Edited by Coyote 2009-07-07 7:33 PM
|
|
| |
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
My first internet 'connection' back in 1990 or so, (mind is fuzzy), was at 1200 bd and I was jealous of my friend who had a 2,400 bd modem!!!! |
|
| |
|
COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Back in '92 or '93, when I started working for the company I eventually retired from there were two people that had a Compuserve account and would occasionally logon to do whatever they had to do...At the time our company had only 1 pc, which had all sorts of things hanging off it to be tested by different people...We were running Digital terminals then. When we converted over to pc's you should have heard the screams from folks who were used to the programs they used from Digital. We usta call the terminals Dec or Deck terminals. Wasn't too long after that that Digital went belly up. Before you know it everyone had a windows based pc sitting on their desks and compuserve pretty much went by the by. |
|
| |
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
I have a Digital sitting on my desk for a game computer right now. I remember when we bought it and how "powerful" it was and we were the envy of all..... LOL. Don't even have it plugged into the internet now but some really nice old favorite games you can't find anymore. |
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 338
Location: Oak Island, NC | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
My first experience with online access was through AOL back in 92, but I quickly switched to Compuserve. Compuserve was by far the better service, faster and with the computer geeks on the boat, frankly cooler than AOL. I can't really say I miss going online that way, but it was fun back then. Both services could be damn aggravating trying to access, with limited phone numbers and abilities to sign on. I remember AOL getting in trouble over that when they offered unlimited access for a flat rate. That forced them to go back to limited access for a while.
All in all, I like my method of getting online much better now, although I'm considering trying AT&T's mobile broadband to allow better portability. |
|
| |
|
COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
rjs2005 - 2009-07-08 7:52 AM All in all, I like my method of getting online much better now, although I'm considering trying AT&T's mobile broadband to allow better portability.
Chuck, I'd check with others that have AT&T Mobile, about AT&T's ability to deliver the services you expect to receive. Their G3s mobile service for the Apple iPhone does not come close to allowing certain apps to be activated because AT&T's vaunted G3s service doesn't exist for these particular apps and is still rather slow....Caveat Emptor, is all I'm saying!
|
|
| |
|
Mess cooking
Posts: 36
Location: Longview, WA | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
I don’t know ‘nuthin’ (and have witnesses that will verify that) but last weekend I wound up with a busted car in Packwood Washington. My old Helio phone had G3 all the way up highway 12 and in Packwood. I asked my son to come get me. He and his new I-phone lost all service not far south of Enumclaw (he came down the east side of Mt. Rainier) and did not get it back until we were about half way back to I-5 from Packwood. I’m not sure that he is completely satisfied with AT&T at the moment.
|
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 338
Location: Oak Island, NC | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Joe, I actually am a customer of AT&T wireless, and have been for a few years now. I'm definitely down on them as compared to when i was a Cingular customer. I don't use an I-Phone, so I can't speak to that, but where I work AT&T is pretty much the only show in town. Verizon service is effectively non-existant here, as well as Sprint. I don't know about T-Mobile. I do plan on doing more research before I make a decision, though. Thanks for the much needed advice and opinions!
|
|
| |
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
I've been with T-Mobile since they bought VoiceStream and haven't had any beef with them. |
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 2253
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Interesting thread; I remember the days of CompuServ and Prodigy. On a separate but related item; does anyone remember the operating system that was in the running against DOS? I remember back in the early '80's when nobody ever heard of MicroSoft that IBM was going to determine who the next millionaires were. If you bet on DOS you came up in tall clover. I'm still working so you know I didn't buy in early
|
|
| |
|
COMSUBBBS
Posts: 2672
Location: New Jersey | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Damn Doc you are one hell of an old phart to remember all that olde stuff. Like my kids would say, "that must have been back in the olden days". |
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 264
Location: Harrison, NJ | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
"Way back when" (late `80's early `90's) I started with Prodigy; went from there to GEnie, then to CompuServe and then to AOL, where I stayed for quite a while.
I *really* liked GEnie & CompuServe. However, at the time, Windows was coming into its own and neither GEnie nor CompuServe had a windows interface, so off to AOL I went, where I stayed until I finally converted to broadband from my cable company (Comcast).
GEnie had some really good science fiction forums. Many science fiction writers maintained forums - Jerry Pournelle comes to mind. We could discuss books, plots etc. with the authors. As a science fiction fan i really enjoyed it. Also the creator of the TV show "Babylon 5" posted and discussed with the fans. As a result, he incorporated many suggestions from the fans. As an homage to the forum, the "coordinates" for the Babylon 5 Station were taken from the "address" of the Babylon 5 forum.
Compuserve was pretty good, too. It was my first introduction to Internet email. At the time (early `90's) the Internet was just beginning to take off.
At the time I was USSVI New Jersey North Base Secretary & Base Newsletter Editor. I used email to get articles, etc. from the members for our newsletter. After the newsletter was put together, I used email to send the newsletter to another member for printing & distribution. It worked really well.
Later I moved on to AOL and did all my Base and later National Secretary work from there.
Thanks to all of these online services (and a tip of the hat to Ron Martini) , USSVI grew from around 1000 members to the well over 13,000 members that we have today.
IMO, these online services changed the way we do business, communicate, etc. The world will never be the same. |
|
| |
|
Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: Here you go....
A Short History of MS-DOS
Known variously as Seattle Computer 86-DOS, IBM Personal Computer DOS, and Zenith Z-DOS, MS-DOS was developed by Seattle Computer Products for its 8086-based computer system. The MS-DOS history is intertwined with the general development of software for 8086-based computers.
In May 1979, Seattle Computer made the first prototype of its 8086 microprocessor card for the S-100 bus. There were brief discussions with Digital Research about using one of Seattle Computer's prototypes to aid in developing CP/M-86, which was to be ready "soon." Although Seattle Computer was considering using CP/M-86 when it became available (expected no later than the end of 1979), there were only two working prototypes of the 8086 processor card, and it was felt that both were needed in house. Therefore, there wasn't one free for Digital Research.
Microsoft had already started a strong 8086 software-development program. The firm was ready to try the 8086 version of Stand-Alone Disk BASIC, which is a version of its BASIC interpreter with a built-in operating system. During the last two weeks of May 1979, this BASIC was made completely functional using the hardware that Seattle Computer provided for Microsoft. Seattle Computer Products displayed the complete package (8086 running disk BASIC) in New York the first week of June at the 1979 National Computer Conference. (This was the first-ever public display of an 8086 BASIC and of an 8086 processor card for the S-100 bus.)
Seattle Computer shipped its first 8086 cards in November 1979, with Stand-Alone Disk BASIC as the only software to run on it. The months rolled by, and CP/M-86 was nowhere in sight. Finally, in April 1980, Seattle decided to create its own DOS. This decision resulted just as much from concern about CP/M's shortcomings as from the urgent need for a general-purpose operating system.
The first versions of the operating system, called QDOS 0.10, were shipped in August 1980. QDOS stood for Quick and Dirty Operating System because it was thrown together in such a hurry (two man-months), but it worked surprisingly well. It had all the basic utilities for assembly-language development except an editor. One week later, Seattle Computer had created an operating system with an editor, an absurdity known as EDLIN (editor of lines). A primitive line-oriented system, it was supposed to last less than six months. (Unfortunately, it has lasted much longer than that as part MS-DOS.)
In the last few days of 1980, a new version of the DOS was released, now known as 86-DOS version 0.3. Seattle Computer passed this new version on to Microsoft, which had bought non-exclusive rights to market 86-DOS and had one customer for it at the time. Also about this time, Digital Research released the first copies of CP/M-86. In April 1981, Seattle Computer Products released 86-DOS version 1.00, which was very similar to the versions of MS-DOS that are widely distributed today.
In July 1981, Microsoft bought all rights to the DOS from Seattle Computer, and the name MS-DOS was adopted. Shortly afterward, IBM announced the Personal Computer, using as its operating system what was essentially Seattle Computer's 86-DOS 1.14. Microsoft has been continuously improving the DOS, providing version 1.24 to IBM (as IBM's version 1.1) with MS-DOS version 1.25 as the general release to all MS-DOS customers in March 1982. Now version 2.0, released in February 1983, has just been announced with IBM's new XT computer. |
|
| |
|
Senior Crew
Posts: 184
Location: ConroeTexas | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Whats this I hear about Google going to go into compitition with Microsoft???????
The beagle doc
|
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 419
Location: Anchorage, Alaska | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Doc,
It's a new operating system designed primarily for netbooks (for now).
|
|
| |
|
Old Salt
Posts: 419
Location: Anchorage, Alaska | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Doc Gardner - 2009-07-08 2:40 PM ... does anyone remember the operating system that was in the running against DOS?
That would be CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) the operating system from which DOS was ripped off. It was standard on my DEC Rainbow computer and also on that old Osborne (the first portable PC) I used to lug around.
Edited by Park Dallis 2009-07-08 4:54 PM
|
|
| |
|
Master and Commander
Posts: 2253
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: RE: So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
Thanks, Park; I knew somebody would remember it.
I used to use a "DecWriter" back in the late '70's and it was great fun to tease the secretaries where I worked. We were linked in with ADP who had a timeshare computing division and the decwriter would always respond back with whatever you typed in. We used to scare the stuffing out of our staff by typing in "Destroy Employee X personnel file" and it would type it back. They would freak out until we typed in "restore etc" and it would respond with the same command. Took them about a week to figure out we were "messing" with them.
I couldn't threaten them with shot records anymore so I had to think up new ways to ping on people I worked with.
 |
|
| |
|
Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 602
Location: Visalia, Ca. | Subject: Reports of CompuServe's Demise.....
Are a bit premature.
The Compuserve Dial-up ISP has been closed, but Compuserve is still up and running as a web-based system. All the forums and features are still there, you just have to have your own internet access to get there.
All of the Classic Compuserve users were given the option to upgrade their email service to AOL mail, retaining their Compuserve email addresses, which I did. (AOL bought Compuserve and Netscape several years ago.)
I first joined Compuserve in 1982, and with a hiatus from 1985-1988 while I was on sea duty, I have been a member for over 25 years. I started with an Apple II+ and a 1200 bps modem, worked my way up through the Apple models (IIc, IIE, IIGS) then to Macs. I am currently running a PowerMac G4 and an iBook G4, with an ATT DSL connection.
I do use Windows machines at work and at the FRA branch, but I find my Macs are easier to use. YMMV.
I was also a member of AOL until they dropped all support for non-Windows Operating Systems.
Compuserve Ain't Dead, you just can't dial straight in anymore.
Donald L. Johnson
70524.1023@Compuserve.com
Edited by Donald L. Johnson 2009-07-09 9:48 AM
|
|
| |
So long CompuServe, nice to have known you
