Slashdot Mirror
Prodigy "classic" to shut down due to Y2K problem
thrusto writes "A story on CNN from the AP claims that Prodigy "classic" online service will soon shut down to avoid impending Y2K problems. Prodigy Internet customers will not be affected. "
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
I guess we'll all have to go to AOL... I think I'll kind of like it. Its so easy, no wonder its number one!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
--------------------------------
Not all who wander, are lost.
I used to do electronic forum support for a large company and we had to monitor forums in several online services. I came to realize that there are 3 circles of Internet Hell, where the clueless go to rot for eternity.
At the highest level was Compuserve. Its usership was the most clueful of the lot. The most enlightened Compuserve users could perhaps escape to the Internet one day, winning salvation for their souls. The rest of them were damned to pay way too much for the service, but it wasn't too painful as the forums were relatively clueful and the content was generally good.
At the next lower level was AOL. The damned of this regon rarely had a clue. The more clueful of the AOL users could sometimes escape to Compuserve but had very little chance of ever seeing the Internet. Most of them thought their service WAS the internet. AOL is the cybernetic equivalent of a crack hood.
At the absolute lowest level were the Prodigy users. These people were the truly damned, too illiterate to even manage the AOL simplified interface. The Prodigy interface (Which I was forced to use for a week when our usual Prodigy Person went on vacation) absolutely made my flesh crawl. It was slow, it was klunky, you had an arbitrarily small message limit that made my job very painful. If AOL was a cybernetic crack hood, Prodigy was a cybernetic trailor park, full of inbred freaks living 20 to a trailor. God help us if any of these people escape to the Internet when they close the service down.
This is going to hit those 7 people really hard.
Switch the . and the @ to email me.
Prodigy Classic? Wow, I hate to admit it but that brings back a few memories. First time I ever used a modem. But that was back in 1991. Shortly thereafter I discovered the wonderful world of BBSs.
I just wasn't aware that the old style of Prodigy service still existed.
Does compuserve still issue its users octal logon ids? To me, this is a sign of old, crusty hardware still pushing the electrons around and more likely to be subject to year 2000 problems.
Or they could do what Quantum Computer Services did with their C64 Quantum Link service. Offer lifetime memberships for a couple of hundred bucks and use the money to start AOL, into which the lifetime memberships would continue.
I've had a free AOL account this way (since I never go over the 5 free hours each month) since 1994! Q-Link member since 1986!
Well, that's one way to handle your Y2K problem -- "No mas! No mas!"
My dad (drwii on Q-Link) supposedly has a free AOL account for life since he was one of the original beta testers of Q-Link.. Not that he uses it, though.. He's signed up on my ISP, which, incidentally, was started by a guy who was one of the original engineers and alpha testers of Q-Link's network and would be a multi-millionaire if Quantum hadn't fudged on their contracts. BTW, Steve Case used to hit the bottle on a regular basis.
The classic Prodigy service was the web and Flash animation before the web and Flash even existed. Links that you could click, pictures drawn with vectors, even banner ads--they were all standard on Prodigy in 1990, using only a 1200 or 2400 baud modem, on any 286 or higher with EGA. It was truly amazing for its time.
Of course, the web is the obvious migration for these people, but I'm still really sad to see it go.
If only M$ would take a hint from Prodigy Classic and call it quits before Y2K arrives, the next century will be much more prosperous for everyone.
No, Apple Online IIRC was mostly just a dial-up support center.
AOL was started by Steve Case in 1983 as "Quantum" or "Q-Link", originally for Commodore 64s. Later it became available on PCs using the old GeoWorks (no relation to geocities!) GUI that many pegged as superior to fledgling versions of Windows. I think any Mac version came *after* this PC version, but long *before* a Windows version.
When the service was renamed "America Online", the online kings were CompuServe and Prodigy. Everyone laughed. I know. I was one of them....
This is because Compuserve (was) based on the
Glorious PDP-10 computer from DEC. The login is
a PPN, or Project/Programmer Number. The first
number is like a GID, the second is a UID.
This was the TOPS-10 monitor. The PDP-10 was the
greatest computer ever built - Some are even still
running today.
The paranoid in me wonders if Compuserve doesn't simply want a convenient excuse to jetison "classic."
I'm sure it's membership is declining, profits are falling, and corprorate management is eager to jetison old cargo.
-Puppetboy
CSI now has regular user addresses, too. I'm not sure what the current policy is, but last I checked you get issued the octal address automatically and can then go to a forum to get your 'normal' address.
;-) (What can I say? I was 10 at the time.) I stuck with local BBS's instead after that.
I, too, have fond memories of Q-Link. When I first got my C=64 modem back in 1986, I became a member. Only lasted 2 months, as the bill I incurred the second month was about a year's worth of allowance.
I used to be a big ASCII art practitioner on there, back before it was called ASCII art. Even got to host a couple of trivia chats. Downloaded lots of great software and games. All of this with a 1200 baud modem stuck in the back of the keyboard!
Ah, the memories. . .
Are there any Q-Link fanweb sites around? I remember seeing screen shots off of an emulator once, but that's about it. I wonder if AOL remembers the big Q. =)
-Augie
By the way, the online service you're thinking of was eWorld. They were very heavily based on AOL, actually. It was all right from what I know; I never joined but I played around with the client a few times. Either way it only lasted for about two years, then Apple shut it down. It was never all that popular anyway.
Posted by gruv:
WOW! I saw it once at a friend's house. How repulsive. The first time I had ever heard of the $19.95 for unlimited use thing. But it was severely unstable and buble-gummy in the interface. I shrieked in horror and fled...
I very happily ran Prodigy with an 8088 and a 12 inch CGA monitor. I think I saw it on a 286 once, and it really did not seem to make all that much of a difference to me.
They're only shutting down Prodigy Classic, the legacy service with the ancient UI. They've spent the last couple of years reinventing themselves as a more standards-based ISP, and this service is called Prodigy Internet. I know a couple of the developers there, and they're a pretty sharp bunch of people.
I say, kudos to them for finally ditching the lame duck, and pushing forward with the real deal. Wouldn't it be great if AOL or CompuServe offered you the ability to access their services with standard protocols such as POP, IMAP, NNTP, etc? Prodigy Internet allows you to do that -- and yes, you can use Linux with their service.
So before all you lamers start trashing Prodigy, get all the facts. Prodigy Internet is the only one of the 'traditional' online services that has fully migrated to a standards-based service.
Oh, by the way ... KDE SUCKS!
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
You're really not helping to improve the image of trailer-trash with spelling like that...
You sound like you're drunk, did you just park your RV?
Of course they care if it compiles... :-)
They couldn't possibly release *source*, could they?
I know a couple NetWare admins that are still on Compuserve. Apparently there's some special Netware stuff that still compuserve only.
Actually I believe Apple funded AOL early on, and for a long time owned 25% of it. They sold a couple years before the Internet exploded.
There was an Apple ][ client at the same time as the C-64 client.
dood rip was the shit
Notice that proprietary tools are being blamed. The reason Prodigy had graphics on 1200bps modems was because it used the advanced NAPLPS protocols. NAPLPS is a data presentation standard which includes variable-resolution geometric graphics with the maximum resolution exceeding that of a glossy magazine page.
Not only did Prodigy not open up its comm programs and protocols so others could improve the interface, nobody made an Open Source NAPLPS library. I worked on three projects which could have used NAPLPS, but none of the libraries were affordable nor repairable.
Poof. Good ideas, bad implementation.
I remember using the cool-at-the-time GEOS version of AOL. Of course GEOS never took off, and who can blame it, when AOL was the 'killer-app.'
Wasn't the -original- or 'classic' Prodigy actually the
end result of a failed teletext system from the early 80's?
Wow...it really IS the end of an era, if that's the case...
Just like the title says I have it on my old Commodore 286. The amazing partabout that computer is that a TI-92 is more powerful than it, but of course it doesn't have the impressive 20 Mb HDD and VGA screen.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't AOL buy out Compuserve, or was it Prodigy or perhaps both.
If you're curious what the protocol can do. Here's the (Linux-capable ;) Web-browser plug-in for viewing NAPLPS (North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax) images.
http://uclsun.ucl.co.jp/naplps/plugin- e.html
pedantic diatribes are far more annoying than a laid back attitude in posting
You really want to know? Here goes: There was this little service called AppleLink. Just like all of Apple's names then, AppleThis and AppleThat and AppleWorks and AppleCrap, in DoubleCaps. (at least it's better than Micro$hit's trademarking of words from the dictionary) It was mainly for developers, and it lasted until a couple years ago. I think (and hope!) that it's not still around, because it was pretty expen$ive.
Then there was AppleLink PE (Personal Edition) - a totally different service, graphically based, etc. Ran initially on the Apple II, might have been on the Mac as well. Apple ran a series of ads with the slogan "Break into Apple corporate headquarters." The fine print included this: "General Services is provided to you by Quantum Computer Services, Inc. Just so you know."
Apple realized this was too much for them so they sent the whole thing off to Quantum. As I remember, Quantum merged a couple services they had into AOL.
eWorld was much later, from 1994 to its thankful demise in 1997. It was run by AOL (fka Quantum) on AOL's servers but with an Apple branding.
Too bad they aren't doing a way with the whole service, and AOL, and CompuServe, and...
Yeah using MSDOS on my 286 and spending $8.95 a month to discuss college football into the wee hours of the morning.
Take your own advice and get all the facts before trashing something. Perhaps you're the one who needs to grow up.
Provide facts as to why KDE sucks or get lost.
Banner ads sucked then, they suck now- they ate bandwidth at 1200/2400 baud just like they do at 56k. But beyond the eye candy, all you had was email and verrry nominal forums. It was kind of nifty, but bbs service was free with no ads- and no censorship.
My parents ran it on monochrome- it supported Hercules MDA.
Gregm
No disrespect to Miguel de Icaza and the GNOME boys, but:
Don't make me send Matthias Ettrich over there to kick your tale! mmmmmmm....LyX......
Umm... Are you forgetting AppleLink in hmmm... 1988 and er... The WinCIM disaster we all used in the early 90's. Prodigy was a joke then and still is today.
Yep, that was me too... how old was I then? 12 or 13 years old! I used to chat on the 'Infocom Interactive Fiction' bulletin board. But luckily those days are gone, because it was really a piece of shit compared to the beautiful anarchy that is USENET. Where else can one find alt.look.at.me.i.am.a.fish ? Prodigy is DEAD! YAY!
"... I declare our city to be a free and independent state to be named Tri-Insula!" --Fernando Wood, Mayor of NYC 1861
I guess we've all gotten immune to the AOL propaganda... which is either a good thing, or a really bad thing.
Posted by Reverend Chuck:
There's at least 10 or so posts reminiscing over the "good old days", of finally getting off Prodigy and going to BBSes. Where the hell are they now? They were fun! They were good! They looked nice in console mode, and didn't suck bandwidth! WHERE ARE THE LOCALS!? I am now going to shave my armpits. When I come back, there'd better be a flourishing BBS scene.
I must say, I love the way it kind of like drew itself before your eyes. It also seems like it would be REALLY fast on modern hardware.
Kris
Kriston J. Rehberg
http://kriston.net/
Kriston
Although I'm a little bit afraid to admit it, I paid $8.95 a month for unlimited service at prodigy. That was before my local university gave us slip access to the web. At that price it was good for it's time. To get that price though, I tend to remember paying for a year's worth in one lump some. When they change their pricing I left. I checked out Genie and then went to CompuServe. CompuServe had private people programming and selling their own forum browsers in order to save online time. Left CompuServe shortly after for the regular ISP. Always considered AOL was for neophytes and I guess that's why it became popular. It still is for neophytes. For nostalgic reasons, I hate to see Prodigy go. Though I would never join any kind of content service again.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, myself and a lot of friends used to run BBSes in the used-to-be-510-now-925 area code in the Bay Area, California. Almost all of them are long since gone, as well all migrated to the net as calls declined. Eventually we ourselves moved to the net, as well as Linux. Now, Linux provides some pretty amazing features. IP Masquerade is one of them. It allowed someone with a 28.8 modem to hook up more than one computer to the internet. Even more amazing, the extra computers could be any operating system. Now, anyone knows that the best BBSes ran under OS/2. Whether they were OS/2 native or DOS native and ran in an OS/2 dos box, they were still great for multiline BBSes that needed a good multitasking operating system. What am I getting at? A friend of mine hooked an OS/2 box to his IP Masq system and ran a telnet BBS. I'm sure many of you have heard it before, but for those that haven't, IT'S TOTALLY POSSIBLE! Now of course he has a cable modem, and it's even faster. There are many pages out there on how to do it. If you want to bring back BBSing, that's a good way to start. And remember, a 486dx2/66 with 32mb and OS/2 Warp multitasks great. That's what the BBSes were made to run on anyway. FIND SOME JUNK COMPUTERS AND PUT UP QUALITY MULTILINE TELNET BBSES! The world will thank you.
BTW, there are many good pieces of BBS software for Linux as well. Who knows, maybe you could run a dos BBS under DOSEmu!
Don