A Classic - CompuServe Shuts Down
Friday July 3, 2009
The CompuServe Classic online service, famous in the 1980s for its popular online communities and groundbreaking Internet services that pre-dated the World Wide Web, was officially shut down this week by its owner America Online (AOL).
Starting in 1979, CompuServe functioned as a dialup Internet service provider with its own sophisticated software to manage things like email, discussion boards, and online shopping. Its services have since been replicated and improved upon many places online, but CompuServe maintained a nostalgic quality for those who were members in the heydey. Early users enjoyed the network via 300 bps (then often called baud modems that are incredibly slow by today's standards but rarely complained.
The legacy of CompuServe lives on, however. The next time you look at a GIF image on a Web site, for example, note that CompuServe created that format.
Having worked for CompuServe in the early/mid 1990’s, I remember the service and culture fondly.
The quality of the service and content was unrivaled (yes, I am biased) and I was saddened to see management run the service
“into the ground.”
When I switched on-line to unlimited, for some reason it didn’t take, and I received a bill for over 200 hours for one month. When I complained, they got snarky, and never did adjust my bill. I left immediately, and told them I would be on-line with somebody else as they folded. Serves the crooks right.