Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (
More info?)
On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 11:59:47 GMT, John in Detroit
<Blanked@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>Well... A bit of history:
>
>Back before there was AOL there was a company called (if I spell it
>right) Quantum Communications. Their service, which was started using
>seed money from Commodore Business Machines, makers of the very popular
>Commodore 64, was called Q-Link, and if you were a commodore user it WAS
>the place to be. PC's not welcome, in fact PC's could not log in, only
>C=64's. The software was Playneet by the way, re-skinned.
>
Yes, I remember that now. I had Q-Link. for awhile I didn't know it
had anything to do with AOL then.
>It was great, they had dang near everything I wanted in an online
>servie, Shopping mall, Encypoedia (Comptons) Forums or Special Interest
>Groups (not unlike Usenet) They never gatewayed to the internet though.
>
>At the end for their first year, even though they were the fastest
>growing service on the planet, they needed some expansion cash, So they
>sold annual and lifetime memberships, I purchased annual (All I could
>afford) but would have gone lifetime if I could have... Several of my
>friends did.
>
>Then, about a year and a half later (One Halloween in fact) They pulled
>the plug, changed their name and today are kown as America Off Line.
>
>Of course you can't AOL with a commodore 64, got to have a Poor Computer
>
Although I once heard that somebody got internet access (including
email, usenet, web) working on a C64.
>Well... Just cause they did it once, don't mean they are going to do it
>again, right... Actually, right.
>
>However... Even before Q-link there was another service, this was a pure
>teltext service (all plain text, no html, no fonts, very little
>formatting ) called COMPUSERVE,
That's the other one I had then (it was all text, when Q-Link has
graphics).
> It was owned by H&R Block the tax
>folks. While H&R Block owned it they made some major changes.
>effectively locking out my C64 and forcing me into PC's (Minimum was an
>80286 or actually an NEC-V20) But this service was, if anything, even
>better than Q-link, for one thing, in it's glory days I coudl access
>with ANYTHING capable of sending text, A VIC-20,
"VIC-20: The Worlds' First Color Computer For Under $300". Of course
"under $300" was $299.99. I got mine for $268 and it was the first
computer I owned.
> C-64, IBM PC, Texis
>Insturment Silent-700 Teletype/printer, CRAY super computer, since
>Compuserve only delat with ASCII, and 7 bit ASCII at that, ANYTHING
>could access it (They did have libraries and a standard "Trick" for
>doing 8 bit library stuff) Bit pricy at 30 dollars an hour day and six
>at night
Unlimited access would be nice, but then there was America OFF Line.
>but hey, Man was it flexable, They had all the services I've
>listed above and much much more, Gateways to MedLine, MicroNet
>(Telephone number database, very useful for a police dispatcher) and
>more. And the single greatest collection of forums anywhere
>
A command Line. I always liked command lines better than this menu
stuff. Makes it look more like you're controlling the computer rather
than the other way around.
>Well, in a 3-way deal H&R block sold COmpuserve, lock, stock, computers
>and modem network to AOL, which then re-sold the communications (modem)
>network to MCI-WOrldcom so they could pay H&R Block for the deal.
>
>So what did AOL Web Properties do with Compuserve?
>
>Well... Let's just say it's not so nice any more, Dial up is possible,
>Just, for forum access (I used to be able to use an offline reader, a
>quick couple of mintues connected, and it was all on my computer) and
>you need a "recent" browser. Lots of ads, graphics, and the like that
>are a total waste of time It is now "Just another web page"
>
>And of course that 80286 can't go there, an 80486 sx25 is likely going
>to not make it, Windows 9x or NT equivlent is necessary (or LInux or Mac
>though Mac users are reporting issues)
>
Once I heard that the purpose of Windows was to sell computer
hardware.
>now, undestand that in a manner of speaking I work for these fools
>(Actually I work for the membership in a couple of forums helping to
>manage message flow... A job that is much easier now that there is a
>fraction of the message flow there used to be)
>
>So... Do I like AOL NO
>
>Will I ever install their software on my computer YES, it is part of
>the windows install package, Will I delete it as part of the post
>install clean up YES I use Trillian for IM and don't do AOL other than
>http
/community.compuerve.com forums (That url may not work, or it
>may default to forum centeral, I don't know, I always add a slash and a
>web tag like this
http/community.compuserve.com/sflit
>
A large number of programs will put AOL icons on your desktop (even
when the program you meant to install has nothing to do with AOL).
Sounds like an invasion of privacy.
>Mark Lloyd wrote:
>> On Fri, 01 Apr 2005 21:09:49 GMT, John in Detroit
>> <Blanked@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Mark Lloyd wrote:
>>>
>>>>BTW, one of that last type was the AOL commercial comparing the ham
>>>>and tuna sandwiches. I found that interesting the FIRST time. However,
>>>>that was JUST the first time. Considering THAT, I got another one of
>>>>those AOL CDs with Wednesday's paper. Looks like somebody thinks I
>>>>don't know much about AOL.
>>>
>>>Some years ago I purchased a PC-Magazine which had an AOL 3.0 disk
>>>bundeled with it... The 3.0 on the disk label was in the 3:00 position
>>>(Right side of disk) so you can guess what I did with it
>>>
>>
>>
>> Floppies could be reformatted for something else. I had no shortage of
>> blank disks during the time AOL sent floppies.
>>
>>
>>>Took it to a science fiction convention with the label "For counting up
>>>the hours waiting for a connection to America OFF line"
>>
>>
>> I did use AOL for awhile, that's how I know I don't want to anymore.
>> That was during the time they had that "America OFF Line" problem. Of
>> course, that was far from the only problem with AOL.
>>
--
Mark Lloyd
has a Replay 5xxx
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com
"The idea that there is an invisible being who
created and still runs this old universe is so
childish, so obviously contrived, that it is hard to
believe anyone with even a modicum of education can
still fall for that scam."
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