61 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
61 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
Msg 46114 is 30 line(s) on 03/01/93 from WARD CHRISTENSEN
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to JANET BALAS re: IN THE BEGINNING...
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Gee, I'm getting Carpal Tunnel answering that question, seems the 15th
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anniversary is generating a lot of "tell me how it all started" messages,
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heh. Sorry if that came across negative.. I should have a "canned answer"
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for you, but I don't...
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Actually it all began simply because the technology was there - i.e.
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Randy Suess (co-inventor) and I each had an "extra" machine, Hayes had
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come up with a hobbyist modem that could be computer controlled, and I
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had the skills to write the thousands of lines of assembly language code
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to make it all happen.
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I conceived it as strictly a message system, in spite of the fact that I'd
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invented what became the XMODEM protocol about 6 months before. This
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was because file transfers would be a significant impedement to the folks
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wanting to do messaging. To this day, this system still doesn't support
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file transfers (except for myself to back it up or upload new versions of
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the software).
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As to how it has changed over time, well, THIS system is a bit of history
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and really HASN'T changed over time...
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I have a lot of ideas for the future - for example, why not allow true
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"meetings" to be done electronically. Lets take a computer club for
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example. Ours has a "random access" period in which people can talk about
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anything they want, then we have a formal speaker - or a panel of club
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members, etc.
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So, I ask myself: can this be done ONLINE? It would have the advantage
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of being more ecological - people not having to drive - and could be done
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in a way that a real meeting couldn't - i.e. it is often too hard for
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"everyone to make it on the same day and same time". Folks could prepare
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"presentations", with the BBS downloading graphics, etc. In an "ideal"
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environment, they could make annotations on the graphics, or point to
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something and ask a question, etc.
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<cont'd>
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Msg 46115 is 22 line(s) on 03/01/93 from WARD CHRISTENSEN
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to WARD CHRISTENSEN re: (CONT'D)
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<cont'd>
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Thus the idea is, you could, via BBS, take something that exists in
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"real life", and make it more accessible (people need not even live
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in the same area nor be in the same time-zone). Handicapped people are
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particularly freed by BBSs - we had a guy on CBBS for years when it
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came out that he is deaf - yet really a full BBS participant. (not
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that it solves ALL handicapped problems - though one day I did help a
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blind guy get a speech synthesizer going on his computer, so he could
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participate in the BBSs).
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Libraries: Hmmm. There could be an effort to find the BBSs that
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specialize - such as a geneological based BBS. There are many BBSs
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dedicated to specialized hobbies - not all are sort of "pure computer
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geek" oriented like this one.
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----------------
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My first job was in a library - we rented the upper flat in the family
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two-flat to the local librarian, and I worked there for a couple
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enjoyable years. My how things have changed - from a totally paper
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card catalog, etc - to - well, I guess it depends upon the budget what
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the limit is. I imagine some day libraries - at least their reference
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abilities - will be replaced by CD Roms and "jukebox" players - people
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can search electronically very quickly, and pull off citations electronically
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perhaps to a diskette for inclusion in their word processors, etc.
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