Editing Prodigy (online service) (section)

==Conversion to a true ISP==
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In 1994, Prodigy became the first of the early-generation dialup services to offer full access to the World Wide Web and to offer [[Web hosting service|Web page hosting]] to its members. However, since Prodigy was not an actual [[Internet service provider]], programs that needed an Internet connection, such as [[Internet Explorer]] and the ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' multiplayer game, could not be used with the service. Prodigy developed its own web browser, but it compared poorly to other mainstream browsers in terms of features.

In 1995/1996, Prodigy hired Ed Bennett and Will Lansing. From 1995 through 1996, Prodigy unveiled several Internet-related products. It debuted its real-time chat area within the service, similar to AOL's. Access to [[Usenet]] [[Usenet newsgroup|newsgroups]] was made available and Prodigy's first web presence, Astranet, was released shortly afterward. Astranet was to be a web-based news and information service supported partly by advertising. However, the site was considered experimental and incomplete. Another innovation was Skimmer, a market trial ISP service that became the base for Prodigy Internet.

In 1996, with [[Gregory C. Carr]] as chair, the company retooled itself as a true Internet service provider, making its main offering Internet access branded as Prodigy Internet. This new service featured personalized web content, news alerts to [[pager]]s, and [[Java (programming language)|Java]] chat. At the same time, Prodigy deemphasized its antiquated proprietary interface and editorial content, which were relabeled as Prodigy Classic.<ref name=Fund.Unv/> Prodigy Classic was discontinued on October 1, 1999 because the aging software was not [[Year 2000 problem|Y2K]] compliant. The service had 209,000 members when it was discontinued.<ref name="ProdigyY2K">{{cite news |url=http://www.informationweek.com/y2k-shuts-down-prodigy-classic/d/d-id/1006720 |title=Y2K Shuts Down Prodigy Classic |work=InformationWeek |date=1999-01-25 |access-date=2016-03-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Edwards|first1=Benj|title=Where Online Services Go When They Die|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/where-online-services-go-when-they-die/374099/|website=The Atlantic|access-date=4 September 2016|date=July 12, 2014}}</ref>