So CompuServe officially died this week – it was the first big online service here in Germany and allowed newbie’s like to go "on" for huge amounts of money.

Sometimes I spent about 1.000 or 3.000 Deutschmarks per month for that bloody service. If I remember correctly my ID was 10015,1352 – it’s almost exactly the amount of money CompuServe ripped off me.

I loved the service and it’s text based interface – and worked quite well with my speedy 12.800 modem.

On CompuServe I discovered all the basics of online lifestyle and communities: forums, eMail, Chat, user profiles and downloads.

CompuServe died a long and miserable death – like AOL (who actually deserved it). But both actually were victims of the openness and their own ignorance to adapt to it.