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Prodigy "classic" to shut down due to Y2K problem 43

Posted by CmdrTaco from the end-of-an-era dept.
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. "
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Prodigy "classic" to shut down due to Y2K problem More

Prodigy "classic" to shut down due to Y2K problem

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  • 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!

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  • This is going to hit those 7 people really hard.
  • 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.

  • heh (Score:1)

    by drwiii ( 434 )
    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.
  • 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.

    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. ;-) (What can I say? I was 10 at the time.) I stuck with local BBS's instead after that.

    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!

  • Of course they care if it compiles...
    They couldn't possibly release *source*, could they? :-)
  • Too bad they aren't doing a way with the whole service, and AOL, and CompuServe, and...
  • 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......
  • 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!

  • BBSes (Score:1)

    by gavinhall ( 33 )
    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.
  • There was a Microsoft developer forum there for a long time. Even when MSN came out, the Microsoft developer forum remained on CompuServe for quite a long time afterwards until microsoft.com got their act together.

    Kris

    Kriston J. Rehberg
    http://kriston.net/ [kriston.net]

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