18 May
2009
18 May
'09
10:06 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-
bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ethan Dicks
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 1:55 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: Nostalgic technologies article
On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 4:34 PM, Mark Tapley <mtapley at swri.edu> wrote:
And what were those mysterious IDs? CompuServe was run on DEC PDP-10 systems, and these
IDs were standard DEC user IDs! In the format [group, user], this ID structure was used
across many DEC OS products, including TOPS-10/20, RSX-11 and VMS. It's a shame he
didn't mention (or know?) that.... -- Ian
Hello all,
? ? ? ?FYI&D, an article on MSN tech & gadgets describing "25
Computer
products that refused to die".
http://tech.msn.com/howto/articlepcw.aspx?cp-
documentid=19017036&page=1
Nice.
.
Compuserve
This section mentions "Wow" and calls it "a faux-AOL that the company
shuttered within months of its 1996 release -- I can't believe that
anyone misses it or is looking for it.". I never used Wow, but when I
was working at AOL/CompuServe in 2001, I worked directly with some
folks who were part of the Wow launch a few years earlier. Their
comments were, um, uncharitable. Apparently few people liked it,
inside the company or out. I still have a couple of Wow mousepads,
the only useful remnant.
The article also says "For those of us who were CompuServe users back
when its user IDs consisted of lots of digits and a mysterious comma,
it's a depressing fate." I haven't memorized my old PPN, but I do
have it in easy reach at home on the subscriber label of ancient
copies of "Online" magazine.