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There seemed no way anything could possibly go wrong. But the service got into trouble before it ever opened. Prodigy’s designers assumed that members would spend most of their online time viewing advertiser pages, news, and related “passive” offerings. And so the system was designed with minimal long-distance usage in mind. It seemed impossible, but the backing of Sears and IBM made it real. Unlimited access to this bounty cost just $12.95 per month - no per-minute charges to worry about. Plus, Prodigy was the first online service to give members multiple user IDs. These boons were unheard of. Prodigy was a big hit, especially to those new to the online world, because it had smooth NAPLPS graphics and was easy to use. People who had ever been online were attracted by national TV and magazine advertising. And they were thrilled with what they found on Prodigy: news, weather, references, and sports reports bulletin boards e-mail and advertising, one unobtrusive ad on nearly every page. But no downloads and no chat. But it didn’t matter most members had never seen anything else. It was the pre-Web online service that succeeded in spite of unbelievable blunders like censorship and taking away services that it had offered for free. But millions of people have fond memories of Prodigy because it was their first online experience. Prodigy was one of these premium services. You either used a local BBS, where all communication stayed local unless the sysop was connected to a network like WWIV or Wildcat, or you used a paid service with nationwide reach. But before everyone got connected to the Internet, people who wanted to go online had to do other things. The Internet is one of those things that it is hard to remember what it was like not to have around. Guest contributor Michael Banks gives a look back at Prodigy’s tortured journey. Like many child prodigies that share the name, Prodigy started off with lots of promise, only to wind up being a disaster. One of the early online destinations before the Internet was Prodigy. Guest contributor Michael Banks gives a look back at Prodigy's tortured journey. Like many child prodigies that share the name, Prodigy started off with lots of promise, only to wind up a disaster.

Prodigy: The pre-Internet online service that didn’t live up to its name

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