Did you know that the president of the united states might possibly have his henchmen reading everything you say right now? Even your Private Messages. Ooooo. He might be. Does that scare you? That's one thing you might not have known.
How about, back then during off-peak hours, it used to be $2-8 an hour to be online and during peak hours, $8-15? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! - N
Before delving off-topic in response to the last couple of post, I too, would like to commend James R for the outstanding job he does as a moderator. I also appreciate the professional knowledge he shares with some of us less-informed members who are attempting to learn a little physics. But that doesn't mean I won't let it be known when I question a generally accepted mainstream philosophical interpretation of an observed event. Ahh yes, the early days of the internet. Prodigy and CompuServe were two of the first services offering on-line connections, at least here in the United States. Prodigy was generally considered the service for the home user, and CompuServe was directed more towards the professional user and universities. My first provider was Prodigy, using a 486x2 based intel processor and Windows 3.1. This was before the Pentium 60 and Pentium 66 were introduced in 1993. One still had to learn a little of Microsoft's DOS language to use Windows 3.1. What a person generally connected to were text-based bulletin boards. Prodigy was the first in my city to offer a local dial-up number. But Prodigy began as a low-fee based service with unlimited access. Those charges Neildo referred to were probably long-distance charges by the telephone company because no local number was available for access, or possibly CompuServe service as I didn't use CompuServe until years later and am not familiar with their early fee structure. Prodigy launched as a nation-wide service in 1988, after beginning as a regional based service in certain areas in 1986. Prodigy offered a local dial-up number in my city in 1991 or early 1992, I can't remember which. But, yes, there was on-line service in the late 80's, although not the full internet experence until the mid 90's or so, about the time Windows 95 was launched.
Yeah, I used Compu$erve. Back then it was something like $15-30 for 2-10 hours per month, then an ungodly by the hour charge after that which also depended on what time of the hour you used it. And this is when I started playing games online (mainly text-based ones, but also Doom on Kali) so it wouldn't be uncommon to have $500+ monthly online bills, heh. Thank god AOL joined in the fray as it dropped the price down to $1-3 an hour and then eventually unlimited access in the late 90's forcing others to do the same afterwards. Needless to say, I quickly switched to AOL and then to cable once that came out. Yeah, I used to love Windows 3.1 and DOS, heh. I held out for so long to not have to switch to Windows '95 until games started requiring it. I didn't touch the Pentiums till they reached 90mhz (lol) because back then there was that stupid problem and scare of them not being able to process a certain mathematical computation or something silly like that so people thought they were doomed. But yeah, I loved my 386 and 486. The same with old school modems where you had to actually dial in directly to a computer with their phone number if you wanted to play with another person. But oh man, once Kali came along and you could *gasp* [[play with more than one person]], it was heaven from there. God bless the internet. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! As for JamesR, it's kind of annoying when I see him lock certain threads right off the bat, but I understand why he has to do so and I give him props for sticking with it even though others may not like it. Someone has to take care of it and he is the one. - N
My first Pentium was the 90MHz also. I skipped the Pentium 60's and 66's because of the alledged heat problems. Back then, all I heard was that the first generation Pentiums were melting all over the place.
I love Doom! My mom didn't, she deleated it off of my PC. Is internet still billed by the hour? I wouldn't know, that bill isn't sent to me.
Heh, I love Doom too! Me, my sister and these two girls who lived across the road used to have some pretty fun lan sessions with it, though I never played it online. And no, internet is normally not billed by the hour anymore (I don't think). I'm pretty sure most people have permanant connections.
Internet in fact is billed by volume of data, or it just has a fixed amount for each month. I do not think other methods are used in Europe and North America anymore. And just to contribute to the original use of this thread: I agree to all the good aspects of his moderation mentioned in previuos posts, keep up the good work. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yeah, I think they based Wolfenstein 3D off of him which later turned into Doom, which later was played online! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! - N
Yes I'd say you're right Dreamwalker, however I happen to have unlimited download Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!. Which is nice.
i pay 19.95 a month for dail-up. unlimited downloads. high speed wireless will be available the first of the month for a extra 10 bucks. i have to admit that i like the internet. i also like sciforums and their jack booted moderators.
Is James R resident Nazi? Yea. happy? now let him be in peace dude...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!...hes been here for centuries now... oh btw, i lost track, who strted this thread? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Rick
