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.
no subject
So I was replying to the "anything remotely like a commercial internet", which CompuServe, Prodity et al. were.