Jeez, where do I start?
I started with Prodigy (we called it P* for shorthand). Back then the Big 3 were Prodigy, CompuServe, and then AOL. I was using a modem that ran 2400 or 9600 baud max (that's 2.4k/9.6k), which was pretty quick for the day. I also went on local BBS's (bulletin board systems; that's where the "BB" comes from here) that connected way down to 300 baud. Prodigy later sold me a whopping 14.4k modem for only $150! After 14.4k came 28.8k then 33.6k then 56k by the late 90's, and that's pretty much where dialup maxed out. (All those speeds were theoretical, never actually attained)
I first got online with Prodigy too, back in 1990. It was on an 8088 based computer with 640K RAM, 40MB hard drive, and 2400 baud modem. I remember when I bought an Intel 486 computer a couple years later with Windows 3, 4MB RAM, 120 MB HD, and 9600 baud modem, I thought it could never get any better than that. lol In the early to mid 90's I ran a BBS in North Jersey for several years until the internet killed all of them.
