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I only ever used Compuserve at work, for community tech support for certain products. Was it really the hive of scum and villainy it has a reputation for?

• hedora 3y ago
  In its heyday, it was apparently like the well, but for suits. It was extremely expensive per hour, but you could get financial feeds (news and stock tickers). There were forums and stuff too.
  • Exoristos 3y ago
    I've heard more along the lines of a proto-4chan.
    • b112 3y ago
      There were many functions, I remember an encyclopedia, stock tickers, basically "apps" of a sort. And there were message boards too, which were a free for all. But then, so was/is IRC, and newsgroups, and so on. Reddit likely, even now, has far more questionable content.
    • jghn 3y ago
      Not really, at least not in the 80s/early 90s. People were paying ~$20/hr to be on it. This kept riffraff fairly low. There were a lot of analogues to other internet things. There was a "CB simulator" that was like IRC. There were Special Interest Groups for all sorts of topics. Each one had its own message board, chat room, file share. Online games, including some multiplayer options. News feeds, stock information, more. Outside of the cost, it was pretty sweet.