The narration of this is gold.

Agree with everything, well said. Connecting to CompuServe and other users the first time and other such experiences were indeed like magic!

Oh man, same here! Took me 8 months or so to beat Ultima III back in 83 on my Atari 800XL, it felt like a BIG accomplishment :) Remember how they included cloth maps and metal trinkets?

YES, awesome article! I love these kind of posts because many of share similar memories of being amazed by this art even though we were kids at the time. Be sure to pick up any of the Stewart Cowley books if you ever find them, and prepare to lose hours marveling at the incredible works inside.

Same here! Those old Starlogs are a treasure trove of great memories and amazing art. I still have many of them stored away, wonder how much they are worth now?

Aren't those amazing? There's also Starliners by Cowley and Space Wars: Worlds and Weapons with a forward by Chris Foss. Those really fired my imagination as a kid, and still great to pull out and look through once and awhile :)

Yep! He also did Spacewreck and Starliners. Incredible books!

I have 3 such books from the 70s, I think there are more. Spacewreck and Starliners by Stewart Cowley, and Space Wars: Worlds and Weapons with a forward by Chris Foss. All feature AMAZING art, some of which is seen in these book covers.

Seconded! Great article.

LOVED this, thanks for this post, Kelsey. Been online since 1985 and it's been amazing to see the online world unfold as it has. I don't think I'm the only one who sometimes misses those simpler days when the internet was akin to the Wild West.

Great article! My brother spotted one (he thinks) flying over northern Arizona in the late 80s one night, said he saw a large, triangular-shaped object moving silently across the sky and blotting out stars. A test flight from Nevada, perhaps? Freaked him out, haha.

Yep, both of those. My dad tried to convince me those weren't real back in '72 or so, but I wasn't buying it. Pants = peed.

SIGNED. I also remember the tricorder straps breaking and losing a communicator or two. But man was that playset epic! Still have mine tucked away somewhere, it's still in decent shape but took a beating being carried around the neighborhood in the 70s.

The only sword known to have defeated Xusia. LOVED that as a kid, always wanted one :D

I will check that out...do you know if it can be done for a specific person, like the ifttt recipe does?

Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and loaded with in-jokes. This movie is going to rock!

I've been using MB Notifications for a year or so now instead of Facebook's, worth a look!

Whether one is a fan of the films or not, you just have to admit that that was VERY cool :)

Same here, haha. I was a #dalnet guy for years.

Pretty much. I'm sure we'll send them A Strongly-Worded Letter™ stating how much we dislike it, but won't in fact do anything to stop it. Ugh.