4 ms·

Yeah I noticed CompuServe was just $5/hr, plus your call charges I guess.

by rb808 7y ago

ghaff 7y ago
So something like $10-$15/hr in current currency. And, yeah, depending on if it were a local call, phone charges could add to that considerably. You tended to use scripts and programs to download, work offline, and then upload.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
StanislavPetrov 7y ago
In the mid 80s Compuserve used to cost $6/hr at 300 baud but they would charge you $12 if you connected at 1200 baud.
- ghaff 7y ago
  I didn't remember the exact numbers but, yeah, you connected at slow speed if you were going to do something interactive like chat and "high" speed if you were just going to download/upload and disconnect.
philiplu 7y ago
Sure, but they’ve got the Colossal Cave Adventure game on there, and there’s always one more twisty little passage to explore, and before you know it, you’ve blown through $100 in connect charges, even though you’re a poor college student. Not that I’d know anything about that, I swear! I miss the 80s, too. Such a great time to get in on the ground floor of the technology wave. And spend money I couldn’t afford to spend.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > Such a great time to get in on the ground floor of the technology wave. I coulda been a billionaire if I'd done things slightly differently!
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    There must be quite a few people on HN for who that holds.
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      Yup. I was hardly unique in utterly failing to recognize opportunity.
  - Koshkin 7y ago
    Being Bill Gates, John Carmack or Steve Jobs is not “doing things slightly differently.”
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      In the 70's, I worked for a small company that made custom single board computers for various customers. In doing so, we had developed all kinds of software for our own use, like assemblers, linkers, debuggers, etc. All first class stuff. I even designed, built, and programmed video drivers for monitors. We had EVERYTHING needed to build an Apple II. Everything except being able to see what was right in front of our face. One of the other employees (Hal Finney, you might have heard of him) wrote a BASIC interpreter that fit in a 2K PROM. We did nothing with it. Never occurred to us that it was worth anything. So what do I do? I go into the compiler business, which paid well, but had zero prospects of big money :-)
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      John Carmack is special. He's a programmer's programmer. He did so much I never could have done. I never think "I coulda written DOOM!" But BASIC, DOS, etc., were fairly straightforward. The magic there was recognizing the opportunity. Maybe I would have failed to execute that properly that as a businessman, who knows, but failing to see the opportunity was where things went into the ditch. Note that Jobs took a while to learn how to run a business. The Apple II made so much money it gave him runway to learn.
      - 7y ago

Yeah I noticed CompuServe was just $5/hr, plus your call charges I guess.

by rb808 7y ago

Yeah I noticed CompuServe was just $5/hr, plus your call charges I guess.

So something like $10-$15/hr in current currency. And, yeah, depending on if it were a local call, phone charges could add to that considerably. You tended to use scripts and programs to download, work offline, and then upload.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

StanislavPetrov 7y ago

In the mid 80s Compuserve used to cost $6/hr at 300 baud but they would charge you $12 if you connected at 1200 baud.

ghaff 7y ago
I didn't remember the exact numbers but, yeah, you connected at slow speed if you were going to do something interactive like chat and "high" speed if you were just going to download/upload and disconnect.

philiplu 7y ago

Sure, but they’ve got the Colossal Cave Adventure game on there, and there’s always one more twisty little passage to explore, and before you know it, you’ve blown through $100 in connect charges, even though you’re a poor college student. Not that I’d know anything about that, I swear! I miss the 80s, too. Such a great time to get in on the ground floor of the technology wave. And spend money I couldn’t afford to spend.

WalterBright 7y ago
> Such a great time to get in on the ground floor of the technology wave. I coulda been a billionaire if I'd done things slightly differently!
- jacquesm 7y ago
  There must be quite a few people on HN for who that holds.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    Yup. I was hardly unique in utterly failing to recognize opportunity.
- Koshkin 7y ago
  Being Bill Gates, John Carmack or Steve Jobs is not “doing things slightly differently.”
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    In the 70's, I worked for a small company that made custom single board computers for various customers. In doing so, we had developed all kinds of software for our own use, like assemblers, linkers, debuggers, etc. All first class stuff. I even designed, built, and programmed video drivers for monitors. We had EVERYTHING needed to build an Apple II. Everything except being able to see what was right in front of our face. One of the other employees (Hal Finney, you might have heard of him) wrote a BASIC interpreter that fit in a 2K PROM. We did nothing with it. Never occurred to us that it was worth anything. So what do I do? I go into the compiler business, which paid well, but had zero prospects of big money :-)
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    John Carmack is special. He's a programmer's programmer. He did so much I never could have done. I never think "I coulda written DOOM!" But BASIC, DOS, etc., were fairly straightforward. The magic there was recognizing the opportunity. Maybe I would have failed to execute that properly that as a businessman, who knows, but failing to see the opportunity was where things went into the ditch. Note that Jobs took a while to learn how to run a business. The Apple II made so much money it gave him runway to learn.
    - 7y ago