I’ve own a computer since 1984, but didn’t get online until 1990. I was aware, back in the 1980s, that computers can connect to one another via a modem and a telephone line, but I am pretty sure I didn’t know what an electronic bulletin board or online service was at that time. Perhaps if I had a Commodore 64 I would have heard of the Quantum Link service. Regardless, in 1990 my mother bought me an IBM PS/1 and a subscription to Prodigy.
When I looked at the brochure of Prodigy, my mind was blown. Then I signed on for the first time and quickly realized I could can communicate with people who shared my hobby at the time; model rocketry. I was able to find these hobbyists through Prodigy's bulletin boards. Eventually I would build a close friendship with one of the other bulletin board members and we would email each other regularly with ideas for rocket engine design & fuel.
While I was on Prodigy, I would use their educational materials to learn about what ever tickled my fancy. I also was able to check the weather and play a game called Mad Maze which I may write about some other time.
My mother would eventually get her own IBM computer, but hers would come installed with Windows 3.1 and America Online. She got a subscription to AOL for me and I was hooked immediately. It had features that Prodigy didn't; the biggest at the time being chat rooms. I was amazed that I could talk to several people at once in real time. Like a doof, I would always enter a chat room by saying, "Hi Everybody!" not realizing that the reference I was making would not be understood without the associated audio to go along with it; namely Dr. Nick from The Simpsons. Yeah, I was a nerd then too.
Eventually America Online would allow access to the world wide web. My Prodigy service didn't. Sadly, we had to let Prodigy go... Later Prodigy would offer internet, but by then, I was using AOL full time and local internet service providers started popping up so Prodigy had become extinct.
I have fond memories of the service and will always thank them for introducing me to the online world.