🌎 Some nostalgia for you guys

[sean]

This brings back SO many memories. Especially knowing that AOL shut down their dial-up service in September of this years (weird to think it was still available in 2025).


Or getting these in most stores and stocking up so you'd never run out of hours.

 

[TerryP]

AOL chat. Got a few stories. Some, would shock a few here.

Got into the Internet business through them...still have my first AOL address. And, get this. No spam. It's all business, still.

 

[Krimson]

AOL chat. Got a few stories. Some, would shock a few here.

Got into the Internet business through them...still have my first AOL address. And, get this. No spam. It's all business, still.

Those chats were some crazy places

 

[TerryP]

Those chats were some crazy places

OH damn! I'd argue it was the beginning of what we know as Internet porn today.

It's amusing how AOL got away with that and NO ONE would put a disc in their computer they got in the mail today. I did some work for a lady almost 20 years ago who tried to market her food company by giving away DVD/CD's. I told her, "if you don't put it in their hand, and volunteer to watch it together, you won't get a return." They didn't...and they didn't. Everyone thought, "virus, scam."

 

[sean]

OH damn! I'd argue it was the beginning of what we know as Internet porn today.

It's amusing how AOL got away with that and NO ONE would put a disc in their computer they got in the mail today. I did some work for a lady almost 20 years ago who tried to market her food company by giving away DVD/CD's. I told her, "if you don't put it in their hand, and volunteer to watch it together, you won't get a return." They didn't...and they didn't. Everyone thought, "virus, scam."

Hell you can't find a computer with an optical drive in it; unless you special order one. Apple stopped selling their external SuperDrive in 2024. And I haven't had an optical drive in my PC for well over a decade.

But I do still have a small box of disc-based video games (maybe 10 or so), though. And I MAY have a few CDs in a box, somewhere. Not that I have any way of playing any of them.

But movies are a different story. Disc-based movies are still a BIG thing as there are lots of people who won't make the transition from physical to digital media (and I understand why). I used to be that way, but now everything I watch is digital-based. At one time, I owned several hundred VHS tapes. And when DVDs became prevalent, I owned close to 1000. Then blu-rays came, and I owned 600+. I got rid of all of my VHS tapes except for a couple box sets that are collector's items, now. I got rid of all of my DVDs except for a few box sets. And I got rid of most of my blu-rays except for a few box/collector sets. But they're all stored in boxes, now. The last disc-based media I bought was 2 video games. And I bought them that way simply because 1 was a collector's edition and the other was because I had the 1st of the series on disc and I wanted to keep it the same (and if they come out with a 3rd game in the series, I'll probably buy it on disc, as well).