Comment by pjmlp

It certainly was when the options were pirate or buy, and the prices per year were much higher than $10/mo gets you.

The BIG difference is that we didn't felt entitled to use everything that is fashionable or switch apps every couple of months.

We would do a research across several magazines, local computer clubs, and the few lucky ones that had online access, some BBS or Usenet groups, then buy that one package and live with it for a couple of years, regardless of their limitations.