CompuServe was the place for tech support (Reply #23)

In the discussion thread: I remember the Internet back in the early 1990s. [View all]

Fri Dec 15, 2017, 03:04 PM

csziggy (31,433 posts)

23. CompuServe was the place for tech support

Many companies had message boards where users - often professionals supporting businesses - could interact with technical personnel from major tech companies to find answers.

I hung out on the CompuServe message boards for years. The per minute charges were crippling, but most of us used a wonderful program called TAPCIS (The Access Program for the Compuserve Information Service) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TapCIS). Tapcis allowed users to go online for short bursts - a typical session would let you download message headers and replies to your previous messages. Then you would mark the headers you wanted to read, write replies, go back online, retrieve the marked headers and upload your replies. You could take you time offline, reading threads and writing replies to those, then go back online to upload all those.

Rather than spending hours online reading threads live, I would spend a few minutes a day online with TAPCIS and reading and replying offline. It saved me hundreds of dollars.

Sometime after AOL acquired CompuServe, they upgraded the archaic servers that used the software that TAPCIS could access and the program no longer worked. There is still a community of TAPICS friends but it no longer very active so far as I know.

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64 replies	Author	Time	Post
I remember the Internet back in the early 1990s. [View all]	TygrBright	Dec 2017	OP
I remember those Prodigy discussion groups!	kentuck	Dec 2017	#1
Yeah, *P was where the cool kids hung... LOL... n/t	TygrBright	Dec 2017	#3
Once again, going BACKWARD...to Make America Great Again.	Atman	Dec 2017	#2
Those who won't learn from history... n/t	TygrBright	Dec 2017	#4
We can always use teletypes again!!! I used to use them to load small programs into mainframes. n/t	RKP5637	Dec 2017	#30
I think you mean punch cards	infullview	Dec 2017	#50
Nope, punched tapes with programs loaded into a teletype tied into the mainframe. The	RKP5637	Dec 2017	#53
Blast from the past	Clarity2	Dec 2017	#5
You could do online shopping on Compuserve	DBoon	Dec 2017	#6
Yeah, *P had online shopping basic and premium. n/t	TygrBright	Dec 2017	#7
My wife and I met through a Prodigy singles ad.	trackfan	Dec 2017	#8
I Was There, Too!	Leith	Dec 2017	#9
I was on GEnie and Delphi.	hunter	Dec 2017	#10
Yep, I still have a legacy AOL account, too.	TygrBright	Dec 2017	#12
I still have a legacy AOL email acccount too	steve2470	Dec 2017	#17
You are a true nerd's nerd, I worship you haha	steve2470	Dec 2017	#19
I remember those horrible AOL per minute charges shudder the bad old days	steve2470	Dec 2017	#11
I used GEnie and Compuserve	MineralMan	Dec 2017	#13
I never knew about GEnie but I used Compuserve briefly	steve2470	Dec 2017	#15
I used Compuserve until about 2000.	MineralMan	Dec 2017	#18
Right. While I don't miss the prices, I miss the excitement so much! I trhought I was the only one	lunamagica	Dec 2017	#21
me too, it was very exciting! nt	steve2470	Dec 2017	#25
You're never the only one.	MineralMan	Dec 2017	#26
It opened a whole new world. It was a fantastic feeling. But I thoulght I was the only one for whom	lunamagica	Dec 2017	#29
Then you probably read some of my articles in PC World.	MineralMan	Dec 2017	#32
I'm sure I did!	lunamagica	Dec 2017	#33
I probably did too!	blaze	Dec 2017	#38
Compuserve had tons of discussion forums.	MineralMan	Dec 2017	#39
My Dad (and I'm 63) was a SYSOP	blaze	Dec 2017	#47
Yep. Prepare for a comeback.	TygrBright	Dec 2017	#14
yes it will	steve2470	Dec 2017	#16
... guess we'll have to go back to shortwave radio, all become hams, and hope they don't jam the	RKP5637	Dec 2017	#34
I remember how expensive AOL and CompuServe were	lunamagica	Dec 2017	#20
Neither Prodigy, Compuserv, AOL, nor GEnie started out as part of the internet	FarCenter	Dec 2017	#22
CompuServe was the place for tech support	csziggy	Dec 2017	#23
I used that program too! I remember how excited I was when I logged on	lunamagica	Dec 2017	#31
TAPCIS was certainly a wonderfu program back in those days	csziggy	Dec 2017	#35
I was a TAPCIS user too!	blaze	Dec 2017	#41
I think I was up to 1200 baud by the time we started with TAPCIS	csziggy	Dec 2017	#44
This is still one of my favorite	RandomAccess	Dec 2017	#61
I remember putting the phone handset on the cradle	Egnever	Dec 2017	#24
I also remember	pecosbob	Dec 2017	#27
Maybe we can go back to the ARPANET! I used to use with with Telnet in the 70's , a terminal,	RKP5637	Dec 2017	#28
haha I would have to learn some things :) nt	steve2470	Dec 2017	#36
LOL! Like always keep a tube tester handy when working on an ENIAC computer with 18,000 tubes! Yep!	RKP5637	Dec 2017	#51
wow I feel bad for that guy! nt	steve2470	Dec 2017	#52
Imagine how hot it got in there. One problem was enough cooling so solder joints did not melt!!! n/t	RKP5637	Dec 2017	#54
wow...more feelings for the poor guy! job security I guess nt	steve2470	Dec 2017	#58
Marty! We're going Back! To the Usenet!	JHB	Dec 2017	#37
None of those were the "internet"	fescuerescue	Dec 2017	#40
Back then it looked like Freepville's website looks today.	lpbk2713	Dec 2017	#42
Oh my. The 'Good Old Days'	Stonepounder	Dec 2017	#43
I remember ZORK!	NewJeffCT	Dec 2017	#46
I remember when Prodigy started charging on a per email basis	NewJeffCT	Dec 2017	#45
We had a Leading Edge computer	Marthe48	Dec 2017	#48
I guess we could go back to dial up bulletin boards.	Kablooie	Dec 2017	#49
K&R	stonecutter357	Dec 2017	#55
I used compuserve in the early days	Mosby	Dec 2017	#56
Remember how terrible the Internet was in 2015, before "net neutrality"?	PoliticAverse	Dec 2017	#57
I still use my CompuServe email address.	Basic LA	Dec 2017	#59
Ever wonder why that pricing structure didn't survive?	brooklynite	Dec 2017	#60
Netcom!	kwassa	Dec 2017	#62
Hand In the Air: Veteran of more than a few $400 months on AOL.	Stinky The Clown	Dec 2017	#63
What I expect from Ajit-Net	ThoughtCriminal	Dec 2017	#64

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