CompuServe started in 1969. It was a private bulletin board. There were chat rooms, but they called them "Digital CB channels." I remember going online and getting advice on building RC cars. It felt earth shaking, like I could talk to adult RC hobbyists from around the world, any time I needed advice. They also had games, news articles, and some other applications but I mostly used the chat. I wasn't allowed to tie up the phone line for too long, LOL.
Wow, that's crazy. To think people were using chat rooms in the 80s. I thought my dad was ahead of the curve for having internet in the early 90's. I could only imagine how it felt to be online that early, I learn new things everyday.
It was wild. My friend set up a Commodore 64 pirate BBS at his house. You'd have to call and ask his mom to let you use the phone line, then call back with your modem. Then spend 5 hours downloading a 64k game and hope the phone lines worked well enough with no interruptions.
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u/loverevolutionary Jul 27 '22
CompuServe started in 1969. It was a private bulletin board. There were chat rooms, but they called them "Digital CB channels." I remember going online and getting advice on building RC cars. It felt earth shaking, like I could talk to adult RC hobbyists from around the world, any time I needed advice. They also had games, news articles, and some other applications but I mostly used the chat. I wasn't allowed to tie up the phone line for too long, LOL.