MCI Mail

MCI Mail was a service created by MCI Communications in the early 1980's. Using a modem connected to a standard telephone land line, a home computer user could sign onto MCI Mail, type or upload text, which the service would laser print on paper, place in an envelop and mail via the U.S. Postal Service. The cost was $1 to $2 per page. The service was attractive because there were few affordable letter quality laser printers available to consumers at the time. Most consumers could only afford low quality dot matrix printers, which were not suitable for business correspondence. It also saved a trip to the post office. The service was later abandoned due to its high cost, the increasing availability of "letter quality" home printers, and the rise of email.