What was your first modem? Mine was a 300 baud VICMODEM for my Commodore VIC-20 which included a type in terminal program in the user guide.
You had to manually dial the number with the phone, unplug the coil cable from the handset when you heard the carrier, and plug it into the modem!
@paulrickards In junior high, I borrowed a 300 baud modem and CompuServe login credentials from a family friend. We got the bill a month later, too.
@Tinrocket Hahaha yeah the online services bill plus the long distance to get to them lead to very uncomfortable conversations!