45 Years Ago CompuServe Connected the World Before Www

Friday, September 27, 2024

Silicon Valley has the reputation of being the birthplace of our hyper-connected Internet age, the hub of companies such as Apple, Google and Facebook. However, a pioneering company here in central Ohio is responsible for developing and popularizing many of the technologies we take for granted today.

Posted by lamplighter at 07:33 PM | 6 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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... A listener submitted a question to WOSU's Curious Cbus series wanting to know more about the legacy of CompuServe and what it meant to go online before the Internet.

That legacy was recently commemorated by the Ohio History Connection when they installed a historical marker in Upper Arlington -- near the corner of Arlington Center and Henderson roads -- where the company located its computer center and corporate building in 1973.

The plaque explains that CompuServe was "the first major online information service provider," and that its subscribers were among the first to have access to email, online newspapers and magazines and the ability to share and download files. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-09-26 09:18 PM | Reply

Yeah, back in the day, I was a member of CompuServe (or CIS, as it was known back then. CompuServe Information Service..

My first days participating in an online message board.

I learned a lot back then.

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-09-26 09:21 PM | Reply

Wow. I spent a fortune playing British Legends.

#3 | Posted by REDIAL at 2024-09-26 09:33 PM | Reply

Woo.

Mr. Bell sez: "Yeah, whatever."

#4 | Posted by Angrydad at 2024-09-27 09:17 PM | Reply

We take for granted how connected everything is today. It's affected all of us, culturally, psychologically and physiologically. For better and worse.

#5 | Posted by sentinel at 2024-09-28 10:39 AM | Reply

Re 5

The Singularity cannot be stopped.

Though I do like the recent trend in restricting smart phone usage in our public schools.

But it feels like too little too late.

#6 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-09-28 04:04 PM | Reply