CompuServe was founded in 1969 as a computer timesharing service and introduced its first online service in 1979. It offered email, integrated internet access and over a thousand moderated forums where subscribers with shared interests exchanged messages and files, and it reported approximately 2.8 million subscribers to its interactive service in 1997.
CompuServe was a subsidiary of H&R Block until its 1996 initial public offering. It later became an America Online service, still reporting roughly 2.8 million members as of June 30, 2000. AOL notified remaining subscribers that “as of June 30, 2009 the CompuServe Classic service will no longer operate as an Internet Service Provider.” The compuserve.com domain now serves an advertising-supported news portal operated by AOL rather than an online service.
Fuentes
- 01.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CompuServe Corporation Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1997. Source for the 1969 founding ("CompuServe Incorporated was founded in 1969 as a computer timesharing service and introduced its first online service in 1979"), the approximately 2.8 million CompuServe Interactive Service subscribers as of April 30, 1997, the "over one thousand managed forums," email and integrated internet access, and H&R Block's prior ownership.
- 02.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. America Online, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2000. Source for CompuServe operating as an America Online service with approximately 2.8 million members as of June 30, 2000.
- 03.
Shaer, M. (2009). CompuServe Classic, a relic of the dial-up days, finally bites the dust. The Christian Science Monitor. Source for the closure of CompuServe Classic and the quoted AOL notice: "as of June 30, 2009 the CompuServe Classic service will no longer operate as an Internet Service Provider."