As far as I'm concerned, the downfall of little blinking lights on the hardware that showed you the status of what's inside, was the beginning of the making-shitty of the entire internet and computing world.
I started with an 1200 baud Commodore 1680, then upgraded to a SupraModem through a BBS sponsor program. USRobotics pioneered these, but other manufacturers followed suit on. Basically, if you ran a BBS and displayed a banner ad for the modem, you could buy it (the modem) at a pretty reasonable discount.
It worked really well for years, especially after the initial ROM upgrade (which came supplied not as a flashable update you could download, but as ROM chips that you had to physically swap out).
Supra, like USR, supplied upgrades as well, in the form of a motherboard swap.
I did always want a USR Courier; there was something to the big, black, red LED-lit badassery that was appealing to my teenage self, but the Supra had a little green matrix that told you the status of the session, which was really nice.
I was so excited when I got the 1200 because I could no longer easily read faster than the BBS output. I always wished I had a Hayes though, because back then the red LEDs were so damn cool. 🙂 😎
I always envied the Compuserve folks - the most "online" I got during my C64 days was QuantumLink (which would go on to become AOL) - Compuserve was real internet to me for a long time, but I was never a customer. More or less the same as I felt about Prodigy.
I couldn't find a picture, but my 2400 baud modern was a Prometheus, it was tan and had a slightly upward facing face. Designed for your phone to sit on top of it.
RJ11 clips into the back. There was a time when you had to plug in a handset but it was gone by the mid 80s, as a direct connection to the wall allowed for higher speeds than a hand fitted coupler could.
27 Comments
CubbyTustard@reddthat.com · 21 pts · 2y
indepndnt@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y
I don't remember what S37/S10 might've been but the M0 turned the speaker off and the DT tells it to start dialing?
CubbyTustard@reddthat.com · 6 pts · 2y
indepndnt@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y
Nice. Now I can go play Legend of the Red Dragon and TradeWars 2002!
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y
remember wondering which protocol was best for your download? god that was a thing....
mozz@mbin.grits.dev · 12 pts · 2y
As far as I'm concerned, the downfall of little blinking lights on the hardware that showed you the status of what's inside, was the beginning of the making-shitty of the entire internet and computing world.
doublejay1999@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y
Damn right. We sold our souls to a little black mirror in your pocket
psvrh@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 2y
An official Hayes one? No.
I started with an 1200 baud Commodore 1680, then upgraded to a SupraModem through a BBS sponsor program. USRobotics pioneered these, but other manufacturers followed suit on. Basically, if you ran a BBS and displayed a banner ad for the modem, you could buy it (the modem) at a pretty reasonable discount.
It worked really well for years, especially after the initial ROM upgrade (which came supplied not as a flashable update you could download, but as ROM chips that you had to physically swap out).
Supra, like USR, supplied upgrades as well, in the form of a motherboard swap.
I did always want a USR Courier; there was something to the big, black, red LED-lit badassery that was appealing to my teenage self, but the Supra had a little green matrix that told you the status of the session, which was really nice.
jordanlund@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y
Hayes was the gold fucking standard...
shamrock@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y
I have three of them at work that I still use daily.
cloudless@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 2y
What do you use them for? Still maintaining a BBS?
shamrock@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 2y
Dialing into security alarm systems that are still connected via POTS lines. They’re certainly on their way out but there’s still plenty out there.
dcoe@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y
I think it’s still in the attic. Now, all I need is a landline.
RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y
And a server to call
MechanicalJester@lemm.ee · 5 pts · 2y
Ha Ha nice try but you're not tricking ME into admitting that I played Tradewars 2000 using that thing!
octopus_ink@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 2y
Hah, no one alive back then is going to miss spotting that. I knew it would say Hayes before I clicked. 😁
My first modem: https://www.pagetable.com/?p=1644
And my second: https://www.pagetable.com/?p=1647
I was so excited when I got the 1200 because I could no longer easily read faster than the BBS output. I always wished I had a Hayes though, because back then the red LEDs were so damn cool. 🙂 😎
RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 2y
I remember getting my 9600 baud modem. Compuserve was smoking with one of those!
octopus_ink@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 2y
I always envied the Compuserve folks - the most "online" I got during my C64 days was QuantumLink (which would go on to become AOL) - Compuserve was real internet to me for a long time, but I was never a customer. More or less the same as I felt about Prodigy.
cloudless@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 2y
They look like parallel ports!
octopus_ink@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 2y
It was a versatile port. You could connect standard parallel devices with physical adapters, but it had other uses as well.
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/User_Port
I have everything but the monitor in my basement. One of these days I need to get mine running. :)
holycrap@lemm.ee · 4 pts · 2y
I kind of regret getting rid of mine years ago. You really don't know in the moment what will be nostalgic and what is trash.
indepndnt@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y
I couldn't find a picture, but my 2400 baud modern was a Prometheus, it was tan and had a slightly upward facing face. Designed for your phone to sit on top of it.
IanAtCambio@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 2y
Where do you put the hand set?
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y
RJ11 clips into the back. There was a time when you had to plug in a handset but it was gone by the mid 80s, as a direct connection to the wall allowed for higher speeds than a hand fitted coupler could.
IanAtCambio@lemm.ee · 4 pts · 2y
Aww. I was just pulling your leg. My earliest modem was a 9600 baud with those rj11 plugs.
Knasen@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y
Still regret selling mine.. Ah those were the days
doublejay1999@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y
Dreamt of a Hayes! Can’t remember the ones I had. V42bis .
Then I wanted the US robotics courier that got 9600 with compression!
Davel23@kbin.social · 2 pts · 2y
I had a 300 baud modem that connected to my Atari 800's second joystick port.
eran_morad@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y
billwashere@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y
Used one, hell I still have one on a shelf at work.