Memories of the Early Days

By: Mr. Wilson on May 29, 2009
::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.

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Fletch
May 29, 2009 at 1:59PM

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
May 29, 2009 at 2:26PM

I remember all of the local BBSs like LincNet, Metro, and HackerHouse.  Cyberspace BBS was the bestest!

Buffmeat
May 29, 2009 at 2:28PM

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
May 29, 2009 at 2:34PM

And justifiably so!

How many lawns did you have to mow?

beerorkid
May 29, 2009 at 3:29PM

my first email addy set up by my now in-laws was .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  Had a 1.4. modem and was hooked.  Got DSL right when it came out and my mom had to cosign.

Buffmeat
May 29, 2009 at 3:42PM

Like you, it lead to my career, but at the time I just had to stay away from him and not ask for anything!!

Nikkidemas
May 29, 2009 at 4:12PM

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
May 29, 2009 at 5:33PM

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.

Ophelia_Payne
May 29, 2009 at 5:44PM

I have to agree with Cyberspace.. and the midnight Saturday get togethers at Perkins 😊

Dave K
May 29, 2009 at 6:27PM

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
May 29, 2009 at 7:03PM

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
May 30, 2009 at 12:26AM

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
May 30, 2009 at 3:56AM

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.

HerrChin
June 1, 2009 at 2:48AM

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
June 1, 2009 at 2:59AM

or TradeWars on CyberSpace or Metro 😊  My husband worked as a SYSOP on Metro.

Nikkidemas
June 1, 2009 at 4:22AM

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?

hbrogan57
June 1, 2009 at 10:30AM

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
June 3, 2009 at 4:19AM

That would be the Cyberspace BBS, mentioned above. 😊

One of my first bf’s bought me “credz” there.  How romantic!

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