#8BitWeek #Atari
Before the internet, before AOL, before Compuserv, even before the dialup BBS, there was "PLATO" - a remote terminal based research, education, and real-time gaming system built in 1964, into which you could connect with a modem, and use it to learn from hired tutors, chat remotely, or play adventure games.
Problem is, the system included a hardware terminal that had to be installed in your home, and the fee for that (even in 1978!) was $1,000 per month, which only the incredibly rich, or institutional buyers, could afford.
In 1984, Atari released a terminal emulation for PLATO on cartridge that, combined with a 300 baud modem connected to an Atari 850, gave you access to a substantial subset of PLATO's functionality, right from your own home, for the low, low cost of $5-per-hour -- and before you chuckle, recall that CompuServ and GEnie were charging similar hourly rates in the 80s as well.
I was a Junior in high school at the time, and my father was an electrician. So, the price was still just a bit too far out of reach for what it offered (or, what we only dimly understood it to offer). Why should anyone have to pay $5-per-hour to use a computer he already paid for? You can get all this at the library, right? Well, that would be the questions my father would ask.
Anyway, here's a review of the package in Antic Magazine from 1984 -- with screenshots!
https://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n3/platorising.html
