A Brief History of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS)

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A Brief History of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS)
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In the Beginning

• March 1876 Alexander G. Bell patents the
  telephone
• March 1891 Strowger begins development of the
  automatic telephone switching system
• September 1940 George Stibitz demonstrates
  remote computing between a teleprinter in New
  Hampshire and a digital Complex Number
  Calculator in New York
• October 1947 86 Area Codes established for North
  America
• 1962 First commercially available 300 baud modem
  (Bell 103)
• June 1968 The Federal Communications Commission
  (FCC) hands down the Caterphone Decision which
  opens up ATTs network to equipment
  manufactured and approved by non-ATT companies
• And then came .

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1975

• January Popular Electronics
• June The Chicago Area Computer Hobbyist Exchange
  (CACHE) is formed at Northwestern University
• Early members included founders of the Chicago BBS

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1977

• April Dennis C. Hayes begins selling personal
  computer modem products to computer hobbyists.
  Initially the modems are boards for the S-100
  bus and later for the Apple II.
• June The Apple II computer begins selling to the
  public in North America.
• August Ward Christensen writes MODEM.ASM which
  with input from many other CP/M users becomes
  XMODEM the first binary file transfer protocol.
• August 3 Tandy sells the first TRS-80 Computer

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The 1978 Chicago Snowstorm

• January Snowed in Ward Christensen begins
  preliminary work on what would eventually become
  CBBS (Computer Bulletin Board System) the first
  Bulletin Board System.
• February Observed first day of operation of
  CBBS.

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A BBS
User(s)
BBS
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BBSs Over Time
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1979-1980

• Numerous computer introductions
• May 1979 Radio Shack begins selling the Tandy
  TRS-80 Model II.
• June 1979 Texas Instruments introduces the
  TI-99/4 computer
• November 1979 The first actual production Atari
  400 home computers are shipped to Sears.
• February 1980 The ZX80 microcomputer is
  introduced by Sinclair.
• June 1980 Commodore Business Machines
  introduces the VIC-20
• July 1980 Radio Shack introduces the Tandy
  TRS-80 Model III and the Color Computer

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The Early 80s

• Software computers and a modem
• January 1981 The Kermit Project begins a
  program to create a transparent and flexible file
  transfer protocol
• April 1981 Adam Osborne unveils the Osborne 1
  portable computer.
• June 1981 Hayes Corporation releases the Hayes
  Smartmodem 300 which introduces the AT Command
  Set for Modems
• June 1981 The Chicago Syslink BBS is started on
  a TRS-80 Model I with 300bps Modem.
• August 1981 The Original IBM PC is introduced.
• December 1981Citadel BBS software written for
  the Heath H89.
• March 1982 Commodore introduces the VICModem for
  the VIC-20 computer
• June 1982 Commodore announces the Commodore 64
  home computer.

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The Mid 80s

• Hackers and gamers
• September 1983 Neal Patrick of the 414s
  testifies to the US Congress about the ease of
  computer break-ins and how to stop them.
• December 1983 The RIPCO BBS is founded running
  on an Apple II.
• 1984 John E. Dell writes a DOS program called
  Drug Wars which allows players to engage in
  complicated trading and economic role-playing.
  The program is the basis for an entire genre of
  BBS programs including Dopewars and
  Pimpwars.
• January 1984 Hacker BBS Plover-NET is first
  put up by Quasi Moto and Lex Luthor running GBBS
  on an Apple II.
• May 1984 Thomas G. Tcimpidis Sysop of the
  MOG-UR BBS has his personal computer and data
  storage seized by the Los Angeles Police when
  Pacific Tel determines that one of his message
  bases contains a stolen Calling Card number.

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More Mid 80s

• Connecting BBS together hackers and a news feed
• June 1984 FidoNet BBS Network appears linking
  several dozen BBSes via late-night phone calls.
• November 1984 Richard Sandzas articles on
  Hacker BBSes The Night of the Hackers appears
  in Newsweek Magazine.
• December 1984 Fidonet achieves 336 nodes
• June 1985 FidoNet switches over from its
  previous node numbering system to Regional
  Nets where areas of the country (and later the
  world) are assigned as regions controlled by a
  region coordinator
• July 1985 Fidonet BBS Sysop Bob Hartman
  announces that he has recieved permission from
  his company to hook his FidoNet BBS to their
  USENET Newsfeed allowing the Fidonet Network to
  read and post on Usenet.
• September 1985 The Zeta BBS in Australia joins
  Fidonet. Running on a TRS-80 it is the first
  non-IBM node to join Fidonet.

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Simplified Regional FidoNet
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The Late 80s

• Gamers hackers Boardwatch software
• November 1985 QuantumLink (Q-Link) an online
  service for games and programs on Commodore 64
  and 128 computers begins operation.
• February 1986 The Phoenix Fortress a sting
  BBS issues warrants for the arrest and
  confiscation of the equpment of 7 local users in
  Fremont CA.
• March 1987 Jack Rickard founds Boardwatch
  Magazine a publication dedicated to BBS issues
  and events. The magazine lasts over ten years
  before converting completely to an internet
  magazine.
• May 1987 The Rusty n Edies BBS starts
  operation in Youngstown Ohio. The system grows
  from a single line to over a hundred lines (and
  computer systems). In 1993 the system is busted
  by the FBI for piracy and Rusty is later pulled
  into a landmark case for having scanned Playboy
  photos available on the BBS (1997).
• October 1988 Chuck Forsberg releases his
  specification for ZMODEM a file transfer
  protocol to supersede both XMODEM and his own
  YMODEM.

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The Early 90s

• The transition begins
• June 1993 The RIPCO BBS officially becomes an
  ISP incorporating as Ripco Communications
  offering both free and for-pay accounts
  including full Usenet and E-mail access.
• October 1994 QuantumLink (Q-Link) announces that
  it is getting out of the Commodore business.
  Subscribers are offered memberships on the
  now-growing America Online service. The goodbye
  letter is signed by Steve Case.

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The Late 90s

• August 1995 ONE BBSCON 95 is held from August
  16th to the 20th in Tampa Florida. This is the
  last BBSCON held it is renamed to ISPCON in
  1996 to reflect a sea change from BBSes to the
  Internet and Internet Service Providers.
• January 1999 Hayes Microcomputer shuts down
  operations. Assets of the company are sold to
  Zoom Telephonics on April 7 1999.
• December 1999 Chicago Syslink BBS sysoped by
  George Matyaszek closes after nearly 20 years of
  service.

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References

• Background
• www.bbsdocumentary.com
• BBSs in Area Code 732
• http//bbslist.textfiles.com/732/