20 years ago I was using BBS Bulletin Board Service You would set up your computer modem to receive data calls or call another computer and when they connected, you used Dos commands to navigate and down or upload files. Other than dial up modems were so slow back then, 2400 bit per second, and needing to know the dos commands. it was a decant system for transferring files.
I'm a computer geek from a way back. Had a computer before IBM came out with the PC had word processor, crappy spread sheet, a few lame games and data was saved on cassette tapes. I did use the word processor program tho, could type and edit before sending the document to print. Big step up from the typewriter.