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KF5JRV > TECH 18.07.16 18:05l 48 Lines 2497 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 6238_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST DK3UZ OE7FMI
Subj: First Dial Up CBBS
Path: DB0FHN<OE2XZR<OE5XBR<OE1XAB<HG8LXL<N0KFQ<KF5JRV
Sent: 160718/1123Z 6238@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK1.4.65
The First Dial-UP CBBS
On February 16, 1978 Ward Christensen founded the Computerized Bulletin
Board System (CBBS), the first dial-up bulletin board system ever
brought online, as a program to allow Christensen and other hobbyists
in Chicago to exchange information. This was distinct from Community
Memory, a BBS established in Berkeley in 1973, that used hard-wired
terminals placed around the town.
"In January 1978, Chicago was hit by the Great Blizzard of 1978, which
dumped record amounts of snow throughout the midwest. Among those
caught in it were Christensen and Randy Suess, who were members of
CACHE, the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange. They had met
at that computer club in the mid 1970s and become friends.
"Christensen had created a file transfer protocol for sending binary
computer files through modem connections, which was called, simply,
MODEM. Later improvements to the program motivated a name change
into the now familiar XMODEM. The success of this project encouraged
further experiments. Christensen and Suess became enamored of the
idea of creating a computerized answering machine and message center,
which would allow members to call in with their then-new modems and
leave announcements for upcoming meetings.
"However, they needed some quiet time to set aside for such a project,
and the blizzard gave them that time. Christensen worked on the
software and Suess cobbled together an S-100 computer to put the
program on. They had a working version within two weeks, but claimed
soon afterwards that it had taken four so that it wouldn't seem like
a "rushed" project. Time and tradition have settled that date to be
February 16, 1978.
"Because the Internet was still small and not available to most
computer users, users had to dial CBBS directly using a modem. Also
because the CBBS hardware and software supported only a single modem
for most of its existence, users had to take turns accessing the
system, each hanging up when done to let someone else have access.
Despite these limitations, the system was seen as very useful, and
ran for many years and inspired the creation of many other bulletin
board systems.
"Ward & Randy would often watch the users while they were online and
comment or go into chat if the subject warranted. Sometime online
users wondered if Ward & Randy actually existed.
"The program had many forward thinking ideas, now accepted as canon
in the creation of message bases or "forums"
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