Briny, as explained, Compuserv, GEnie and Prodigy, were each private networks. As the Internet arose, those networks patched into it. There was an inevitability to it. Back then compuserv email addresses looked like
98456786@compuserv.com. Later we were able to personalize them.
Text-based is like typing into a chat box, and the menus look like, say, the advanced boot menu Windows still has when you hit F8 on booting. Pictures generally weren't inline, you had to view them separately. To us back then it was all cutting-edge. Most CS services were pay by the hour, and there were stories of people paying $700 in one month when their kids got online after school.
Eph, I still see technology doing an amazing amount of good, but the bad is formidable at this point. Many Americans, too, are very concerned about the direction of our government and society.
Just today I read a story about microwave technology that can locate a beating heart under the rubble of a collapsed building. Great for saving lives in disasters. But I also could see this used to find people for the wrong reasons. It's not paranoia when they're really out to get you.