Back when the online journalism was simply trying to put the print edition online.

Dig the way the "early adopter" here uses a ROTARY PHONE to connect to the paper's modem; then he presses the handset into the acoustic coupler. "Takes about two and a half hours to receive the whole paper" the anchor says. Ah, yeah, that would be at 300-bps speed! And IT ONLY COSTS $5 A MINUTE!