From: nogogo@nogo.go   
      
   Gavin wrote:   
   > On Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:23:37 -0700, Steve B   
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   >> That must have absolutely sucked.  At least in the US at the time, I   
   >> got X hours for a flat fee.   
   >   
   > In 1999 I was starting to make American friends on the internet, and   
   > they couldn't understand why I was concerned about how long I stayed   
   > online, or why I had to wait until a certain time to come online.   
   >   
   > In Britain, dialing your ISP was the cost of a local phone call: about   
   > 5 pence per minute in the daytime, and about 1.5 pence per minute   
   > after 6pm and at weekends.   
   >   
   > That's why a lot of people in Britain would wait until 6pm before   
   > getting online. I remember those 5pm blues... the long dull hour when   
   > I really wanted to use the internet, staring at the clock, waiting for   
   > 6...   
   >   
   > Maybe that's why usenet worked so well in those old days. I could hop   
   > online in the daytime for about two minutes - 10p, ouch! - to download   
   > that day's ATVRD messages, then go offline, then spend all afternoon   
   > writing and replying, then hop online again to post my messages - 5p,   
   > ouch!   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > Gavin   
      
   I know I've left this reply a bit late! (: but...   
   I first got on line in 1992/3 with a 2400 baud modem.   
   It was a long distance call to our ISP.   
   Bellingen (NSW) to Brisbane (QLD). About 350K as the crow flies.   
   I don't remember exactly how much it was, but something like 60   
   cents just to establish the call.  Then, closer to a cent a   
   second, than 5 cents a minute.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)