Memories of the Early Days
::sniff::
I can’t help but get a little sentimental when I read about AOL being kicked to the curb by Time Warner. Boy, I spent a lot of time on AOL back in the day. That’s where I got my start in web development, in fact. Those were the days.
My memory gets pretty fuzzy, though, when I try to remember all of Lincoln’s early online opportunities. I do remember that over the years I acquired about a dozen Lincnet e-mail accounts.
What else went on in Lincoln’s earliest days on the intertubes? I’m sure some of you have some great memories to share.
The Comments
Fletch says I, too was an early May 29, 2009 at 7:59am
I, too was an early AOL adopter. Used it for years, and thought it was the bee’s knees. Seems to me at one point I paid nearly $20 for about 5 hours a month. Good lord. I was even a beta tester for them. It seemed like heaven when they went to anytime access, but it would take me up to an hour to dial in.
I dabbled with LincNet as well. Wasn’t there a BBS called FlightLine or something like that around here? The first online stuff I did just predated the popularity of the WWW. I was a Prodigy user as well.
Nikkidemas says BBSs May 29, 2009 at 8:26am
I remember all of the local BBSs like LincNet, Metro, and HackerHouse. Cyberspace BBS was the bestest!
Ophelia_Payne says RE: BBSs May 29, 2009 at 11:44am
I have to agree with Cyberspace.. and the midnight Saturday get togethers at Perkins
HerrChin says RE: BBSs May 31, 2009 at 8:48pm
You ARE in the old school if you were on HackerHouse! I’m best friends with the gent who ran that out of his parents’ basement
But the real question...did you play Bordello on HH? 
Ophelia_Payne says RE: BBSs May 31, 2009 at 8:59pm
or TradeWars on CyberSpace or Metro
My husband worked as a SYSOP on Metro.
Nikkidemas says RE: BBSs May 31, 2009 at 10:22pm
I think I tried Bordello but that was a LOOOOONG time ago. I do remember chatting and playing a lot of hangman on Cyberspace. Did I mention I’m lame?
Buffmeat says CompuServe May 29, 2009 at 8:28am
I still remember to this day, the maddest I’ve ever seen my dad was when I left the computer connected to CompuServer over night. I think it was tied right to his American Express and I just left it on. I really thought he was going to kill me
Mr. Wilson says RE: CompuServe May 29, 2009 at 8:34am
And justifiably so!
How many lawns did you have to mow?
Buffmeat says RE: CompuServe May 29, 2009 at 9:42am
Like you, it lead to my career, but at the time I just had to stay away from him and not ask for anything!!
beerorkid says my first email addy set May 29, 2009 at 9:29am
my first email addy set up by my now in-laws was . Had a 1.4. modem and was hooked. Got DSL right when it came out and my mom had to cosign.
Nikkidemas says MOmmmmm!! May 29, 2009 at 10:12am
I remember getting so mad at my family for picking up the phone when I was in the middle of something online…
West A Dad says Ahh, the good old days.. May 29, 2009 at 11:33am
Remember any of the stories about trying to cancel your AOL subscription and the customer service rep would try to talk you out of it? That was me. I was up to four months free at one point. I had to tell the bank to stop payment to AOL for the automatic withdrawl. Then they started calling the house. Good riddance.
Dave K says I remember like it was May 29, 2009 at 12:27pm
I remember like it was yesterday the first time I logged onto Prodigy. I didn’t believe that I was really hooked up to the ‘internet’, so the first thing I did was look up some baseball scores. Sure enough, they were up-to-the-(minute?).
AOL followed shortly therafter. I was enamored by the chat rooms and instant messaging. We guarded our time online quite closely, and all hell broke loose when my brother racked up an $80 bill. We had AOL for several years and its legacy lives on for me—I still use my AOL moniker for several different things, and when I create a login for something it’s usually my default.
The news about AOL sparked some nostalgic thoughts for me, too. I actually didn’t even know AOL was still in business.
Fletch says I forgot to add - May 29, 2009 at 1:03pm
I forgot to add - I was so enamored with it, I bought a bunch of AOL stock. Yes, please don’t ever rely on my stock advice. I bought AOL (pre TW merger) for $110 a share, just prior to a stock split.
My logic was sound - people were at that time still madly jumping to the internet, and a high percentage of people chose AOL because it was “for dummies.”
Then they had the bright idea to buy Time Warner, and it’s been crap ever since. To think that I sold Berkshire Hathaway stock to buy AOL stock is still puzzling to me today. Yikes.
Mr. T says RE: I forgot to add - May 29, 2009 at 6:26pm
How can you live with yourself? LOL.
I’ve been eyeing some Baby Berkshire B since its down like 2k from its year highs.
Joe says Sad as it is I May 29, 2009 at 9:56pm
Sad as it is I remember a BBS back in the 80s run by a guy named Scott Barney who took freewill donations, and I wrote him a check. He was part of the idiot duo that killed Candi Harms.
hbrogan57 says RE: Memories of the Early Days June 1, 2009 at 4:30am
I remember a BBS that was operated just off of 10th and Washington I believe. Used to go by that house and purchase “credits” for playing poker and the like. ALong with the VERY limited downloads available. Back when a simple 1 meg file was considered HUGE!!!!
Does anyone remember what the name of that BBS was????
Nikkidemas says RE: Memories of the Early Days June 2, 2009 at 10:19pm
That would be the Cyberspace BBS, mentioned above.
One of my first bf’s bought me “credz” there. How romantic!