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45 years ago CompuServe connected the world before the World Wide Web

On September 24, 1979, Columbus-based CompuServe launched its online service for consumers. Its subscribers were among the first to have access to email, online chat, digital newspapers and the ability to share and download files.

Those options included email, weather maps, stock quotes, online shopping and even booking airline tickets. "But it turned out that what was most popular is not reading reliable news sources, but just shooting the breeze with your friends or arguing with strangers over politics," Tweney said. However, none of these services were able to fully adapt to the huge shift that came with the internet and the World Wide Web, which was a wilder place where anyone could create their own website.

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