> back in the day one had to pay for every call, sometimes at per-minute rates: always so for long distance, and in some areas even for local calls.
replyWhere and when did you pay per-minute for local calls? Everywhere I lived and traveled within the US back in the day, so to speak, local calls were always unlimited, even in rural areas.
In the Chicago area you had options ranging from fully-metered to unlimited throughout the metro area. In the 1990s, as more people got online, the unlimited plans went away, and the best you got was that calls within eight miles were flat-rate but pay-per-call.
reply> In the Chicago area you had options
replyInteresting. This may be due to the size of Chicago.
I didn't see such varied options, not even in Minneapolis.
*> Where and when did you pay per-minute for local calls?
replyAlmost everywhere outside the US, Canada and New Zealand.
My question was directed toward someone who is clearly in the United States.
replyAnd indeed, the subtitle of the HN submitted article is "We’re witnessing the death of hosting in America."