The internet: Prodigy and Compuserve both certainly started off as proprietary islands. They connected to the internet later, but initially they were entirely distinct. They were networked, certainly, but they were entirely centralised.
And I know the internet _existed_, but it wasn't being generally used for commercial ends. Certainly not before 1989, when the first commercial companies were hooked up to it, starting with MCI Mail.
That's why I'm asking what you mean about "the internet" ... because if you mean the applications and culture and not the transport mechanism, then that all predates the web ... I didn' (and still don't) care what technology is used to get my email from a to b, but RFC822 (email) dates back to 1982 and I was using worldwide email and chat with friends in the UK and the US in the mid 1980s.
So I was replying to the "anything remotely like a commercial internet", which CompuServe, Prodity et al. were.
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CompuServe was successful, commercial and mainstream, as was Prodigy ... so it depends on your definition of "internet".
Just because *you* weren't using it until 92 doesn't mean it didn't exist ...
... and, er, what later poll? I'm sure there is one, but I hadn't seen it when I replied here :-)
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And I know the internet _existed_, but it wasn't being generally used for commercial ends. Certainly not before 1989, when the first commercial companies were hooked up to it, starting with MCI Mail.
The poll is here:
http://andrewducker.livejournal.com/1649761.html
with followup here:
http://andrewducker.livejournal.com/1650033.html
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So I was replying to the "anything remotely like a commercial internet", which CompuServe, Prodity et al. were.