CompuServe Classic, the initial on-ramp to the information superhighway for a generation of Americans, has died. It was 30 years old. Cause of death was the rise of broadband and the World Wide Web.

CompuServe's current owner, AOL, confirmed the passing. In a message sent to subscribers, the company urged customers still dependent on cheap dial-up services to move to a surviving version, CompuServe 2000.

In the early days of the Internet, CompuServe was the premier service in the 1980s for people who wanted to share files and conversation as well as corporate customers looking for ways to connect their offices. By the early 1990s, before the dawn of the Web and browsers, CompuServe's forums were the place to be on the Internet.