The CVC GameLine did things even earlier. We're talking 1983 earlier. And while it all ended in disaster, the ashes of the venture would bizarrely lead to the creation of one of the internet era's ...

CVC sold one product for $50 a pop. It was called Gameline and it allowed Atari 2600 videogame console owners to buy new games over their phone lines for $1 each. A year or so later, the thing ...