Feb. 16, 1978 -- forty eight years ago today -- the first public dial-up bulletin board system or BBS went online.
Wired: "1978: Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launch the first public dialup bulletin board system. The two unleash the kernel of what would eventually spawn the world wide web, countless online messaging systems..."
https://www.wired.com/2010/02/0216cbbs-first-bbs-bulletin-board/
I got my first modem in the summer of 1986, a Prometheus ProModem 1200A (modem on a card) for the Apple II. The first BBS I logged in to was OxGate, an RBBS/RCPM system the phone number of which I still can remember (my earliest BBS software -- firmware-based on that modem card -- had no phone book). I used BBSs avidly until sometime in 1994, when I subscribed to a local ISP's (Widomaker of Williamsburg, VA) dial-up modem-based PPP service that brought TCP/IP to my 486 PC with Windows 3.1. I could then browse the web from home, and that was basically the end of BBSing for me -- for the moment, anyway.
For those interested in experiencing this early form of online community, there are many BBSs online right now, accessible via telnet on systems old and new. I've enjoyed getting back into BBSing this way, especially when using vintage systems to login.
Most any computer can do it, today. Tips on how: https://bytecellar.com/bbsing
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