AOL Shuts Down CompuServe

Oracle Goddess writes "After 30 years, CompuServe is all but dead, as AOL has pulled the plug on the once-great company. The original CompuServe service, first offered in 1979, provided its users with addresses such as 73402,3633 and was the first major online service. CompuServe users will be able to use their existing CompuServe Classic (as the service was renamed) addresses at no charge via a new e-mail system, but the software that the service was built on has been shut down. Tellingly, the current version of the service's client software, CompuServe for Windows NT 4.0.2, dates back to 1999."

Comments

Wow this is a day...

[SerpentMage]

I still remember my compuserve address... 70324,1777...

I can't for the live of me remember my pins, or phone numbers, but this ancient email address I have remembered to this day...

Re:Wow this is a day...

[MaxiCat_42]

Yep, Compuserve probably knew more about DECsystem-10s than DEC did. At one point
they even designed their own power supply to replace the DEC one as it was much
more efficient. They designed and built their own disk controllers to use cheaper
(IBM) disks. They had a LOT of them!

Phil.

Nothing new

[YrWrstNtmr]

AOL shut down Compuserv LONG ago, when they bought it. The only thing that remained was the name. The techy goodness that differentiated CS from the mass appeal of AOL was gone.
They even dialed into the same modem bank, with exactly the same phone numbers.

[hanging head] Yes, I had an AOL acct and a CS acct at the same time.

Re:Nothing new

[R.Mo_Robert]

This article is wrong: AOL isn't shutting down the entirety of CompuServe.

AOL simulatenously operated both CompuServe 2000 (the AOL-based network) and CompuServe Classic, as it came to be called. AOL isn't "pulling the plug" on the entire company as this summary says; they're merely shutting down the CompuServe Classic service, which they have hardly touched one bit in the last ten years anyway. There are no plans to shut down CompuServe 2000, and users have the option of migrating to this service.

So, while your comment is mostly on the mark, it's important to note that AOL neither shut down CompuServe when they bought it (they operated Classic simultaneously with the new service for 10 years!), nor are they shutting down the service (CompuServe 2000) to which you refer.

Also, this was announced in April, so it's hardly news, other than the June 30 shutdown date--which already happened.

Migrating from CompuServe

[Anonymous Coward]

Goodbye to what was once an incredibly innovative service...

For any Slashdot readers who need to get a friend or relative off of CompuServe:

Users who are running CompuServe 3 or 4 can export the address book using:
http://www.connectedsw.com/Overview/57262

Users who are running CompuServe 2000, 6 or 7 can export the address book and email using:
http://www.connectedsw.com/Overview/57267

Anyone remember Cubby v. CompuServe?

[Meshach]

The case of Cubby, Inc. v. CompuServe Inc. was one of the first of it kind and set an important precedent for online BBS. In that case CompuServe was sued because they hosted a BBS where defamatory content was posted. The court rules that although CompuServe provided the medium they were not responsible for the content (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubby_v._CompuServe).

Re:Signed up in 1987

[IntlHarvester]

That was the major difference between BBS culture and Usenet/Internet culture. On pre-september Usenet, everyone posted under their real names, their sigs often contained their job titles and phone numbers, and there was a sense of responsiblity because your account was closely tied to your real life.

For the most part, web discussion boards follow the BBS tradition of using handles and discouraging the posting of personal information. However, that doesn't serve the needs of people who want network their real life as opposed to hanging out with a bunch of internet phoneys called "DarthMegaBlade666". So its natural that things like Facebook or LinkedIn appeared.