Prodigy "Classic," We're Going to Miss You 82
Ralph Wiggam writes "A heartfelt, if somewhat sappy, article about the upcoming demise of Prodigy Classic. It gives credit to Prodigy for pioneering, or attempting to pioneer, things that history will probably not remember it for. Read the Time.com article here, and on October 1, pour some beer on the sidewalk for an old friend." Prodigy was my first online experience beyond local bulletin boards, back in 300 baud modem days. The original Prodigy was clunky as hell, but it was the first service to put "the masses" online. We knew the end was coming. Now we know exactly when. RIP Prodigy.
sad to see it go, but good riddance (Score:2)
As for missing features, notable were no real-time chat, and no internet email access. I believe internet email was later added, at a cost per message. There was 3rd party software available to make up for many missing features - saving messages to a file, for example. Very clever software indeed. (And very slow).
Then they started charging for email within the $P$ system - I think it was 10c each, with a handful "free" each month. Then, they started charging per the hour, even though they *still* had the banner ads up. That's right, dial into their ancient slow modems, and pay per the hour to look at banner ads and wrestle with their slow system.
It seemed great at the time (until they started throwing more fees at us), but when I finally got net access, I realized how worthless $P$ had been. Now the net is going (or has gone) the same way (although not for the same reasons). The Usenet that once existed is dead, destroyed by Usenet spam, fear of email spam, and the huge influx of clueless newbies who have no desire to learn about a society that existed long before they found out about it. And, ease of access has, of course, lowered the bar, so more people of average to below average intelligence are posting. Sigh. The irony is, a service like $P$ is almost starting to make more sense, something private, where the rifraff can be kept out.
Ahh... so long to *P* (Score:1)
I will somewhat miss *P*, but since I haven't had their service for 7 years now, only for the memories.
BRRX28B siging off one last time.
(Damn, can't believe I still remember that one... )
Time flies like an arrow;
Re:R.I.P. (Score:1)
Anywho, for the next 4 years Prodigy was my life. No kidding. The games were sweet. And I'd learned the art of flame at an early age...Then when I was fed up with Prodigy refusing to upgrade their software in 2 years I started using Prodigy Internet.
But enough about me, eh? Anyone remember their tech support? Nice people. And anyone remember the chat rooms? Heh. They're all dead (not to mention clean) now...
miyax, who's going down with the sinking ship
Re:Ahh... so long to *P* (Score:1)
BRRX28B one last time, I promise
Time flies like an arrow;
Prodigy bills (Score:1)
My final Prodigy bill was $350. Anyone got higher? This is when Prodigy finally got an elite web browser. Then I got Netcom NetCruiser..ahh the IX days.
More Mikkkrosoft roadkill (Score:1)
But alas, Gates and his Winged-Monkeys couldn't get any money out of us for using the service, so it had to go.
The death of the old online world (Score:1)
By 1988, I was calling many, many BBSes, and sometime around then I tried out Prodigy on a friends computer. (By 1989, I would become a SysOp and between 1989 and 1992 I ran a small T.A.G. BBS called Final Frontier in Detroit) I was wowed by the idea that an online service could use graphics, but I laughed at the stupid online ads, the very slowness of it compared to BBSes, and the severe limitations of the system (e-mail limited by the screen for instance).
Still, my thoughts were that Prodigy represented more of the future of online computing. When QuantumLink transformed into America Online, complete with *snicker* GeoWorks interface, it was becoming clear. The popular BBS scene in the Detroit area was starting to center around big BBSes like SOLARIS (not to be confused with Solaris
Then Al Gore uttered the words "Information Superhighway" and the end of the old online world became clear. America Online became more of an ISP than a big BBS, and CompuServe, Prodigy, and others would soon follow.
Prodigy Classic was one of the few links to that old time that we had left. I will miss it. It was a lot of fun.
Re:Pour a 40 for your homie, G (Score:1)
Re:sad to see it go, but good riddance (Score:1)
Re:Old-sk00l online services.. (Score:1)
We've come a long way, baby.
Here's a hint, junior. (Score:1)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
Prodigy wasn't the first online service, nor was it the first graphical service. It wasn't even the first big-bucks, corporate-America attempt to build a commercial/consumer U.S. online service. (Knight Ridder lost something like 50 million dollars on Viewtron long before CBS/IBM/Sears started working on Prodigy.)
Gone but hardly forgotten. (Score:1)
I had no idea what a modem was until I started using Prodigy.
One thing I remember was that back in '91/'92, AOL was so small that they purchased advertising space on Prodigy. Prodigy is also perhaps the originator of the online banner ad.
My first experience with e-commerce was buying things from Sears online from Prodigy. Order something online and they deliver it straight to your door... what a concept.
In late 1994 Prodigy was the first online service to give you this strange new program called a "Web Browser." This was back when Yahoo! [yahoo.com] didn't even have its own domain name yet. I got hooked. When Prodigy started letting people create their own personal web pages, I learned HTML.
In 1995 I "graduated" from Prodigy and signed up with a local ISP. Today I'm doing web/CGI/Linux work for my job, and I would not be there if it weren't for that start I had got on Prodigy.
Really sad to see it go.
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
Re:The death of the old online world (Score:1)
In that period, we started to see Winsock applications (remember Trumpet Winsock for Windows 3.1x?), which gave Windows machines the ability to access the 'Net. A similar thing was also happening on the Macintosh side, also.
But two things REALLY kicked off the arrival of home access to the 'Net: the first was the arrival of a graphical World Wide Web browser, the second was the arrival of Windows 95 with its easy-to-configure Dial-Up Networking with full SLIP/PPP protocol support.
Once Internet access because far easier to do, the days of the proprietary online services and local BBS systems were pretty much over. The only reason why America Online has survived is through sheer willpower and their decision to have close links to the 'Net.
Prodigy ... Blah (Score:1)
As mac lovers, we hated prodigy's interface. It was not a mac application at all - it took over the screen to emulate a PC and had its own interface conventions for everything. There were ad banners on every screen.
I didn't use prodigy much. I prefered BBSs. Shortly before the internet became available to the masses, we began to beta test E-World (apple's online service based on AOL... Long dead AFAIK). As soon as the beta period was over, we used AOL through my dad's company in the event that we needed to find Myst walk-throughs or something.
We were on the internet at this point, so I wonder why we used AOL for that. It must have been 1993 or 1994 when my dad's company got a T1 and set up a dial up system. I was about 8. We were using a 14.4 kbps modem. My dad taught me HTML and basic UNIX, which I practiced on his company's mail server. BTW, we were using Mosaic and MacWeb. When Netscape 1.1 beta came out we installed it and it was pretty amazing. We eventually upgraded to 28.8, and got an ISDN once it became available in the SF Bay area. It took about 6 months for PacBell to get it working.
As for Prodigy, it was never very good. It's slow. They read and censor your email (!). It's slow. There are ads on every page. IMHO it should have been taken down a long time ago. No one who is still using Prodigy Classic can be in their right mind.
(ignore this post) (Score:1)
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The following sentence is true.
Re:R.I.P. (Score:1)
Yup. That's practically how I learned to fix computers (and use them). My crappy, also a Packard Bell, 486 SX 25 was always breaking down and the good people over at Prodigy were always willing to walk me thru. Altough after awhile (it was always breaking) I came to learn that most of the time they didn't know what they were talking about and were breaking the computer more than fixing it.
Great way to learn something tho, actually the only time, is when something breaks. As long as you have the time I guess. =]
Hey I was 10 years old.
One last thing. I remember my mom asking me if she could rent those banners that Prodigy had for her business. Lost revenue stream? Thank god for the web now anyone can have there own friggin' site for as much as it probably cost for one of those banners. That's progress.
P.S. I still have a bunch of the install disks for the old Prodigy. I should sell them on eBAY to see how much someones willing to pay for this (junk) umm I mean piece of history. =]
R.I.P. (Score:1)
Anyone remember the joke in one of the Space Quest games where theres a terminal in one if the screens that is sloooowly loading "Plodigy." I got a kick out of that one, waaay back when. Miss those games....
Sad. (Score:1)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
Not the first (Score:1)
And I get pissed now when my cable modem gives me 8KBps download speed...
Pour a 40 for your homie, G (Score:1)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:2)
Thanks for bringing it up again.
Cheesy Proprietary Services (Score:1)
Anyway, local BBSes were where the real fun was.
*sniff* *sniff* Fond memories (Score:1)
I might still be on it if they hadn't have made the incredibly stupid decision to go from unlimited to limited hourly access.
Gawd, it brings back memories (sniff) (Score:2)
I still remember getting Prodigy in October 1989 (the San Francisco Bay Area was one of the first release sites). For me, it was truly a revolution--I was able talk with people sometimes thousands of miles away, exchanging ideas. Prodigy--despite what a lot of people think--was a major breakthrough in online communications, because it was all menu-driven and easy to use.
What is interesting is that Prodigy's concepts probably influenced the development of America Online (I'm sure people here remember the first versions for the Macintosh and the Geoworks for PC circa 1990). And it may have played a role in developing the World Wide Web--I can hazard a guess that one Marc Andressen (of Mosaic/Netscape fame) may have looked at the basic tenants of Prodigy when he developed the Mosaic browser for the World Wide Web while at the University of Illinois.
Yes, we all know Prodigy's limitations, but its influence on getting home computer users online is immense. In fact, I'd say even more so than The Source or CompuServe, since before 1989 CompuServe was a text-based online service, almost as hard to use as text-based Internet access in those days.
A true pioneer is gone. But then, we've come a LONG, LONG way for the online experience since 1989.
Now for the Jon Katz article (Score:2)
Re:Not the first (Score:1)
The Source and Compuserve (and others) were around before Prodigy, but Prodigy was the first to try marketing the idea of going online to people who weren't already computer hobbyists.
Old-sk00l online services.. (Score:2)
You came along pretty late... Alot of us were on an online service called QuantumLink before Prodigy even existed..1984-1988 or so. QuantumLink was a nationwide online service for Commodore 64 users run by none other than Steve Case of AOL fame.. America Online is what QuantumLink evolved into after the demise of the C64 in 1989 or so... They even kept the same name for the chat room area as they had way back then. "People Connection".
There _are_ older services out there.. Anybody else here remember when Compuserve was a completely text-based UPPERCASE ONLY online service?
Bowie J. Poag
Genie 'classic' (Score:1)
There are rumblings that it may disappear too, though... like end of December.
(There's a running joke that Genie hasn't been turned off because IDT's forgotten about it, and it's generating enough revenue to cover its costs)
They've attempted a web migration every year or so. None of them have been worth sh!t, but the text-based service keeps ticking over.
( SF-ALIEN @ GENIE.COM [asst sysop SFRTs] )
--
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
graphical interface?
-WW
--
Why are there so many Unix-using Star Trek fans?
When was the last time Picard said, "Computer, bring
Re:Now for the Jon Katz article (Score:1)
Bowie J. Poag
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
It cost me a ton of money too.
They really missed the boat by regarding the internet as a source of content rather than the medium it became.
But there were real communities on Compuserve, people coming together to discuss and help each other on topics of mutual interest. The doom community in the Action Games Forum during 1994 is a fairly good example I think. They were friendly and informed (outside the occasional flame war over which editor is best.) Forums like that one achieved a civility that I've rarely seen matched on the internet. Maybe because those paying for their time are less inclined to waste it on mindless flames or disruptive posts?
How was Prodigy at forming communities?
Jim
Prodigy's Best Feature (Score:2)
Now, most today would consider that a step backward -- home delivery via FedEx/UPS is the norm -- but some people (like me) are never home to receive packages. There's actually a new trend toward local businesses like convenience stores acting as delivery depots.
Prodigy always was the Avis of online services -- trying harder, never #1. The stuff they were always flamed for -- like the ads -- is commonplace enough today. (The only difference is that with the web, we have freedom of choice.)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
PC-Link was just another name and interface for AOL for a while, the software came with the Deskmate OS on Tandy machines. AOL was also known as Promenade to Mac users at that time...
RPGC44A@Prodigy (Now if I could only remember my CIS id...)
-Abstrakt
Re:Didn't finish the game. (Score:1)
Even more memories... (Score:1)
Also, anyone else remember the CEO game on Prodigy? This was the game where you could be an executive in a candy, beer, or auto business. Each game lasted 2 weeks - you'd find an open game that was starting that day and join it. Then you'd have to make business decisions for your 'company' - like setting up budgets for advertising, etc, all in an effort to beat everyone else enrolled in your game.
It was a really fun game, but they shut it down a few years ago.... too bad.
T-shirt (Score:1)
Compuserve Livith (Score:1)
Wahhh... I loved those days... 12 and I ruled the world.... and the adults... they really were clue-less... (Explain a JK flip-flop to someone that couldn't understand that you had to turn the dial to play on the VCR for it to start playing! (Top loading with a manual tape mech!!!))
but dad bought me all the gizmos (chips and stuph) and I readily pissed off every teacher from junior high through high school with my "creations"
Anyone out there making librarian tormenters anymore?
Re:Prodigy's Best Feature (Score:1)
> without holding it in their hands >first. And to service the catalog biz, Sears >stores -- which used to be ubiquitous -- would >have catalog depots
> where they would deliver your order.
Excuse me? My grandma bought things before prodigy's investors even knew that diapers existed... Ever hear of MAIL-ORDER?
the net just removed the chopping down trees part.
Q-Link (Score:3)
One of my present-day co-workers was one of the original architects of Quantum's network, and pointed out to me the other day how chat rooms in AOL's People Connection are still limited [min.net] (by design) to 25 people, a limitation imposed some 15 years ago to keep buffers in people's 300 baud Commodore modems from overflowing with data and disconnecting the user. ;>
He also told me how Steve Case was a lowly Marketing Drone in those days.. Case usually kept to himself, unless he was asking to borrow some money for booze.
Those ads pay for Slashdot (Score:1)
Fraudigy (Score:1)
On the bright side, Microsoft seems to be slipping down the same icy slope, though helped along by the winds of distrust.
IBM, Sears & CBS... (Score:2)
All they needed was Chrysler to round out the team.
-Bruce
I remember the *P! (Score:1)
But Sears did have one thing right. As time is showing, networked home computers _is_ the future of catalog sales!
Re:Old-sk00l online services.. (Score:1)
I loved it and the AScii-art wearther maps!
Compuserve had some really wierd things...
I'm just glad that my dad never really had to pay those insane fees they charged! gotta love it when your parents get a company account and leave it at home for kiddies to use! (I was told to stop getting weather maps though... they were costing the company $4.00 each.)
Prodigy, an end of an era. (Score:1)
Re:Fraudigy (Score:2)
actually this whole scare was an example of some anti-prodigy FUD and paranoia.
the info from your hard drive in STAGE.DAT (a cache file for the prodigy code) came about from a bug in prodigy software, and none of this info was ever transmitted back to prodigy.
The bug was a disk cache bug: sometimes prodigy wrote more data to the disk than it had data to write. The result was old information in your cache would be dumped to STAGE.DAT accidentally. But these areas of the file were thought of as "blank space" by the program and were never read.
Prodigy fixed the bug pretty quick.
Prodigee (Score:1)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
eWorld was based on the AOL system software, operated by Apple, and was launched and gone within a year or so, sometime around 1993.
Jay Levitt, AOL mail guy, Q-Link member, 1986 - 1994
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
When I used to try to explain what AOL was, the easiest way was to say "You know Prodigy? Like that."
Re:Prodigy's Best Feature (Score:1)
Re:sad to see it go, but good riddance (Score:1)
Maybe not when you were using it, but P* Classic did get 'real-time chat.' Prodigy chat rooms, in fact, are where Pseudo got its start. (http://www.pseudo.com/)
Re:Prodigy's Best Feature (Score:2)
'the Sears catalog was, of course, the original "online shopping" experience'
which the astute reader will recognize as a bit of irony, there having been no such thing as the internet in the nineteenth century.
Re:Prodigy's Best Feature (Score:2)
I've made points before (here and elsewhere) about how so many net businesses are essentially re-creating things that we've long had in other forms. Like before we had modern grocery stores, there were grocery delivery trucks that would drop off fresh goods at your back door. Now we have people investing US$billions in companies that
Re:Cheesy Proprietary Services (Score:1)
Anyway, I miss them both {and I don't think I ever 'officially' unsubcribed from either}.
Re:R.I.P. (Score:1)
Re:Was it really first? (Score:1)
AAF826