The Source
More info
- Creator
- William von Meister
- Released
- 1979–1989
- Owner
- Reader's Digest (from 1980)
One of the first commercial online services for home computer owners, launched in 1979 and shut down by its biggest rival a decade later.
Source Telecomputing Corporation, founded by entrepreneur William von Meister, opened the service in 1979 with member-to-member email, chat, wire news, stock quotes and bulletin boards. Access ran over the Telenet and Tymnet packet networks, so subscribers could dial a local number. Pricing was a sign-up fee plus an hourly rate, cheaper in the evening — a network for people with both a computer and patience.
Reader's Digest bought a majority stake in 1980, and The Source spent the 80s competing with CompuServe without ever getting as big. In 1989 CompuServe bought the subscriber list and switched The Source off. Von Meister, meanwhile, had gone on to found Control Video Corporation, whose remains eventually became AOL.