Yeah, I really regret not getting this before it changed it's message board policy. They came out eventually with another plan $30 for 30 hours of message boards. Well, what could I do, I was 15 back then, no car, no job. I wonder if the code for it still exists. I'm kind of a nostalgia fan, an emulator of the service would be cool
Of course this Prodigy commercial seems absurd because of the seemingly primative technology, but then, the internet was barely in it's infancy at that time. By the standards of the late '80's, this was groundbreaking.
This is an antiquated system by today's standards that charged users by the hour for service. Could you imagine just how irate people would get today if they had to carefully watch the clock and pay for their Internet service for a fee of something like $3.95 an hour?
@collegeman1988 That was for the message boards, when they changed the policy of June of 93 (I got it in August of 93) and later chat. Well, they are kind of bringing it back, Cable internet providers do have some bandwidth caps that you can't go over without paying more
I used to have Prodigy, Compuserve and AOL and there was an hourly fee for all three. I remember having some serious bills. My mother used to scream at me for clogging up her phone line.
@pandaKrusher But, who else didn't? AOL was like $5 an hour for everything, not just message boards, Compuserve was pretty much the same, Genie maybe? But that had very few users.
Yeah, I really regret not getting this before it changed it's message board policy. They came out eventually with another plan $30 for 30 hours of message boards. Well, what could I do, I was 15 back then, no car, no job. I wonder if the code for it still exists. I'm kind of a nostalgia fan, an emulator of the service would be cool
thesnare100 1 week ago
Of course this Prodigy commercial seems absurd because of the seemingly primative technology, but then, the internet was barely in it's infancy at that time. By the standards of the late '80's, this was groundbreaking.
Timbrock1000 9 months ago
Santa brings the gift of another monthly financial obligation.
TheIntolerantAtheist 1 year ago
waaaay long b4 internet memes and youtube! :P
girlstorm09 1 year ago
Ah yes I still have this commercial on a tape from 1989. From the other comments here, sounds like it's good I missed out on Prodigy! ;)
NeverDoubt1 1 year ago
@NeverDoubt1 It depends, you wouldn't if you got it before 93 when they starting charging $5 an hour for message boards
thesnare100 3 weeks ago
@thesnare100 Ah, gotcha. Pretty unbelievable nowadays.
NeverDoubt1 3 weeks ago
I remember shopping at Egghead
JesdaG 2 years ago
This is an antiquated system by today's standards that charged users by the hour for service. Could you imagine just how irate people would get today if they had to carefully watch the clock and pay for their Internet service for a fee of something like $3.95 an hour?
collegeman1988 2 years ago
@collegeman1988 That was for the message boards, when they changed the policy of June of 93 (I got it in August of 93) and later chat. Well, they are kind of bringing it back, Cable internet providers do have some bandwidth caps that you can't go over without paying more
thesnare100 21 hours ago
Waldenbooks? Do they still have those?
Xzeleous 2 years ago
I remember this was the 'original' Internet. used to use my old 8088XT to go 'online' back when
80stvfan09 2 years ago 3
I used to have Prodigy, Compuserve and AOL and there was an hourly fee for all three. I remember having some serious bills. My mother used to scream at me for clogging up her phone line.
upinflamezzz 3 years ago
remember when they started charging for emails after you hit the 30 a month limit? FUCK SANTA!
duxflame 3 years ago 2
I'm still angry over Prodigy charging hourly rates for message boards. Fuck you, Santa.
pandaKrusher 3 years ago 6
Yeah, I remember that. That was when everyone started leaving Prodigy. Charging for message boards--that sounds so insanely stupid, even back then.
Pwntage 3 years ago 2
@pandaKrusher But, who else didn't? AOL was like $5 an hour for everything, not just message boards, Compuserve was pretty much the same, Genie maybe? But that had very few users.
thesnare100 3 weeks ago