BBS and WWW in 1995

[Ole Juul]

The other day, I came across an envelope addressed to me which was post marked December 28, 1994. The sender was Deep Cove BBS Ltd, and inside was a nice little glossy brochure titled "Are You Connected?" After 17 years it was quite illuminating to see this.

I don't have a scanner right now, so I will describe some of the features of this brochure. The rest of the front goes on to proclaim "Twice Voted the number one Electronic Bulletin Board Service in Canada by readers of Boardwatch Magazine." Boardwatch Magazine, June 1993. Boardwatch Magazine, September 1994. More interesting at this point in time, it says "NEW! PPP & SL/IP Internet". Inside are some highlights.

- Local Private and Public Mail
- Fidonet Echomail on more than 250 specialized topics
- Ability to use Offline Mail Readers

Then it goes on to describe their "Full Internet Services"

- PPP & SL/IP
- Unlimited Free E-Mail
- Usenet News Groups
- Access to FTP (File Transfer Protocol), Telnet and Gopher services
- InterRelay Chat (IRC) and Multi-user Dungeons games (MUDs)
- Access to the World Wide Web (WWW) via the popular Lynx Hypertext and Mosaic Interfaces.

Aha! Now we're getting somewhere, but the rest of the brochure only details the usual BBS services. These are however quite deluxe because they are charging good money where many other BBS competition is free.

The envelope also included an Online Services Price List which is effective October 1994. BBS membership is $15/month or $90/year. However "full service internet" costs $20/month for 50 hours ($50/mo for 200hr) but if you want PPP & SL/IP, 50 hours is $55 and 200 hours costs $160 per month. There is also a $25 registration fee for PPP and SL/IP.

That's not cheap! There were a lot of people enjoying on-line life with BBSs who were not prepared to pay that kind of money - even for an advertised "Ultra High Speed V.34, 28.8 kb modem" connection. Their slower lines were referred to as "high speed" and "low speed" which equated to 9600-16.8kb HST and 300-2400 MNP-5.

The thing that I liked, which you won't see these days, was the back of the rate card had a list of commands. Wow, commands! I wonder how many people know what that means now. Anyway, it's a nice cheat sheet of telnet, FTP, and gopher commands. Nice.

After looking at that, I went looking for other information on the (2012) internet and found the following bits interesting, so I thought I'd share.

In 1995 the internet wasn't seen for what it is today. This article in Newsweek by Clifford Stoll is interesting.
The Internet? Bah!

One blogger commented on the article: "The Internet was a mess. No Google. No method to the madness. It’s understandable how many may have believed there wasn’t something in this Internet thing."

The following video shows how much of it was just a sales pitch.
Internet Power - What the Internet Looked Like in 1995

There are a few interesting bits, like an old view of Vint Cerf. It is amusing how they are promoting all the "information" you can find on the internet, yet talk about the development of the Mosaic browser in 1933! I found the video lots of fun but admit I lost interest after 10 minutes, not the least because of the presenter coming up with alternate realities like "very unique".

It was indeed a turning point, but it is important to remember that a functional browser was just coming online. There were still lots of BBSs and in 1996 2400 baud was still common. I keep my old BBS lists and that's how I know. I note that on one from 1999 most were 33.3 but there were still a number of 14.4 based boards. This certainly makes for a limited internet experience as we see it today, and apart from perhaps e-mail, did not entice a lot of users to the extent that we might assume now.

Anyway, things are moving faster now. Why I remember back in the day when people were still using Ubuntu 10.04 and Windows 7. It's a bit foggy, but that was probably way back in 2010 or so when people were still using torrents (remember?) and computers with separate screens. Time flies.

 

[Caluser2000]

Funny how one did survive without google eh? Now days it's unlimited dailup for $NZ10 so things have progressed a bit .

 

[Tor]

Well, we survived without Google (or I should say Altavista, which was the first web search engine I used). So, on the Internet we were of course looking for basically two things:
1) Files
2) Information
The first was served by a combination of file aggregators (is that a word?) like ftp.funet.fi and simtel. There were even search engines too, like Archie.
The second (looking for information) was served quite well by asking a question in the right place on Usenet. The difference between not having Usenet and having it is basically like not having Google and having it: Suddenly you were not limited to what you could find in your books and other local documentation. Problem with your SGI hardware or software? Go to comp.sys.sgi or something. Or Sun. Linux? comp.os.linux. Or cpm.
The big change came with being networked vs. not being networked, not with Google or the web, at least not for techies. For everybody else the change probably came with the web plus the first search engines. Internet (with BBS'es before that, which also often provided a link into Usenet) was the real deal changer for folks like me at least. The world wide web (as in web sites) is just one of its later add-on attributes.

-Tor

 

[Chuck(G)]

I have a disk labeled "Internet Starter Kit" from Hayden Books. It does not include a browser, nor does it make any reference to them.

There was an internet before the web--many people forget that.

 

[njroadfan]

I have a copy of "NetGuide" from 1996 (trade paperback, not a magazine). Whats interesting about the book is that it isn't censored in any way/shape/form. They listed not so "family safe" sites in it. This was back when a published book of websites wouldn't go out of date before hitting the bookstores.

I miss the internet from 1996. Not as much noise. Most of the users were computer savvy, there was no DMCA, and it was "new" and still non-commercial.

 

[Ole Juul]

I have a copy of "NetGuide" from 1996 (trade paperback, not a magazine). Whats interesting about the book is that it isn't censored in any way/shape/form. They listed not so "family safe" sites in it. This was back when a published book of websites wouldn't go out of date before hitting the bookstores.

I miss the internet from 1996. Not as much noise. Most of the users were computer savvy, there was no DMCA, and it was "new" and still non-commercial.

Thanks. I had forgotten about that aspect. There were indeed books that had lists of internet sites. Ha! That would be funny nowadays.

Something else that always gets forgotten, is the disparity between the internet and the BBS networks during those years. There was talk about how people didn't seem to be able to handle the anonymity on the internet. Indeed, the net soon became a cesspool of anonymous rudeness and because of that was greatly looked down upon by many in the Fido community, and probably other networks as well. It took a long time before the net grew to the point that those people could find it worth their while. The benefits were not obvious at first, and to some there weren't any benefits.

 

[33black]

I miss the locality and personality of BBSes, as well as the full on anonymous nonsense and the fact that there are "Internet celebrities."

I always felt the Internet was great as a ferry and database for information passed amongst the more local shops, but once everyone turned it into a big business global thing (Facebook), it sort of ruined the whole point.

It went from a place to exchange ideas with like minded people to more of a popularity contest and spamming the entire world.

 

[Ole Juul]

I always felt the Internet was great as a ferry and database for information passed amongst the more local shops, but once everyone turned it into a big business global thing (Facebook), it sort of ruined the whole point.

Indeed, but one of the problems is that Facebook is not global, it is a controlled space which is superseding and destroying the internet - and that is the problem. The internet is in danger as a global concept. I found this recent article interesting:

I killed the internet.

It wasn’t something I had planned but it was the net result of my actions. And I’m going to explain how it happened.

 

[33black]

I mean in the fact that you have access to everyone at any time. People are "friends" with people that they don't even know. It's an internet popularity contest.

You can only know about 150 people at a time. That's the brain's actual ultimate limit. It's removed the community and customization. I think MySpace tried at least with customization, but it looked more like networked Geocities pages.

 

[SpidersWeb]

Funny how one did survive without google eh? Now days it's unlimited dailup for $NZ10 so things have progressed a bit .

I remember paying ~$8/hr for 28.8kbaud on the interwebs using Voyager here in NZ (actually found the original Voyager diskette at work in a floppy box!)
Unlimited downloads though lol Before that, except a couple of BBS, never really connected to anything except friends with a direct modem-modem connection for games etc.

 

[Terry Yager]

I tried to warn y'all! I told ya the apocalypse had begun the day they opened it to commercial traffic! Nobody listened to me back then either...

--T

 

[Pepinno]

Indeed, but one of the problems is that Facebook is not global, it is a controlled space which is superseding and destroying the internet - and that is the problem. The internet is in danger as a global concept. I found this recent article interesting:

I don't agree. As long as I can use a publicly wold-wide routable IP address, and as long as I can register a domain name, and as long as my traffic is not shunned, and as long as the 65,000 ports for my IP address are not blocked in-bound nor out-bound, the Internet is working fine and as designed.

Facebook is a silo, or a walled garden, but so is this very web forum, and any other web forum for that matter. USENET is not a walled garden, but you know "the eternal september" broke USENET, therefore web forums were born, with their privatized database of content WHICH NO ONE OWNS BUT THE FORUM OWNER.

Erik could decide tomorrow to close this forum, and all its content would then be his to keep in exclusivity, so he could enjoy the knowledge of configuring SCSI jumpers forever while no one else could access the content which is already in this forum. So, this web forum is a silo too. So what? How many vintage computer hobbyists are NOT participating here just because this web forum is a walled garden?

 

[Ole Juul]

I don't agree. As long as I can use a publicly wold-wide routable IP address, and as long as I can register a domain name, and as long as my traffic is not shunned, and as long as the 65,000 ports for my IP address are not blocked in-bound nor out-bound, the Internet is working fine and as designed.

Those are the very issues we are talking about, and the internet will probably not function "as designed" if they are not readily available to the general public. Also, very few people know how to do the two clicks (3?) to set up a free blog, or use a forum - let alone register a domain name and make some use of it. Yes, forum use is currently only for a small group. I've tried to teach the use and benefits in my area, and not had much luck. This is one reason people are enticed to use something like Facebook. It is much more difficult, but they somehow make the effort because of the enormous social pressure to do so. Of course once they get into it, they start to see the benefits of internet communication, but nevertheless don't incorporate other methods because they are not aware of the ecology. You and I will probably always have a fair amount of internet freedom because we take the time to figure some things out and we take some ownership of the technology. Not everybody has that luxury. I might also point out that there is a constant threat, at least in this country, from potential legislation that will kill many, if no most, of our internet freedoms. We've seen three major bills lately. I would hope you are also keeping up with ACTA. (Michael Geist has a good critique here.) If you follow the subject of security, you might also like Bruce Schneier who eludes to the same problem but from a different perspective.

Facebook is a silo, or a walled garden, but so is this very web forum, and any other web forum for that matter. USENET is not a walled garden, but you know "the eternal september" broke USENET, therefore web forums were born, with their privatized database of content WHICH NO ONE OWNS BUT THE FORUM OWNER.

I think you overestimate the size and importance of the VCF. It is not even close to becoming a monopoly. Perhaps you were joking. Nevertheless, I will explain, just in case. The fact that the VCF is small and part of a fabric of very many small forums, groups, and ways for people to use the internet for communication, makes it part of the solution. We have a choice. Diversification is what is needed. Having everything go through one, or just a few, channels creates a point of failure - physically and politically. We saw the physical problem (manifested politiclly) when the net was shut down in Egypt. Yes, they found ways around it, but that was a manoeuvre that was not part of the regular operation of the internet. If the net had been shut down here as well, we wouldn't have been helpful to them either.

Erik could decide tomorrow to close this forum, and all its content would then be his to keep in exclusivity, so he could enjoy the knowledge of configuring SCSI jumpers forever while no one else could access the content which is already in this forum. So, this web forum is a silo too. So what? How many vintage computer hobbyists are NOT participating here just because this web forum is a walled garden?

Since you appear to be a very intelligent person, I assume that you are being humorous. Nevertheless, I think you a trivializing an important subject.

 

[billdeg]

I started my Internet company in 1995; it was amazing how quickly everyone jumped from BBS's to the WWW that year in the US. It was like overnight. I used to be a big BBS person - and then whap! it was over.

1995 was when people who still clung to their IBM PC/XT's finally had to let them go as a daily system. You could reach a BBS with your PC, but the WWW, at least serious browsing/use, was impossible for any 8 bit.

In a way, 1995 was when vintage microcomputing as we know it today started. By 1999 I remember looking around and realizing I had no systems with 5 1/4" disks. It kind of snuck up on persons like me, generation X er's. I was always "new new new" until I realized I could not read the disk containing the term papers I made in college.

Bill

 

[Ole Juul]

I started my Internet company in 1995; it was amazing how quickly everyone jumped from BBS's to the WWW that year in the US. It was like overnight. I used to be a big BBS person - and then whap! it was over.

1995 was when people who still clung to their IBM PC/XT's finally had to let them go as a daily system. You could reach a BBS with your PC, but the WWW, at least serious browsing/use, was impossible for any 8 bit.

In a way, 1995 was when vintage microcomputing as we know it today started. By 1999 I remember looking around and realizing I had no systems with 5 1/4" disks. It kind of snuck up on persons like me, generation X er's. I was always "new new new" until I realized I could not read the disk containing the term papers I made in college.

Bill

Nice post Bill.

I think that 1995 to '99 was indeed the "what happened?" years. But there was also a general public who may have seen it differently. I was not a professional, but nevertheless was into computers and so I can't entirely trust my own perspective of how the majority, who didn't have computers, saw it. I'd be interested in that as well.

Also, there were quit a few computer buffs who resisted the internet because they weren't inherently embracing the "new new new" philosophy. People like me who were in a sense bottom feeders who benefited greatly from the huge amount of discarded computers that all of a sudden became available. I think part of the reason we resisted was that we didn't want to get, or couldn't afford, the newer computers. We were probably a minority though. All I have to go on is a few statistics of the number of BBSs in my town, and declined steadily in those four years. I wonder how many people shifted from BBS to internet and how many were jumping into the internet for the first time without having experienced the BBSs.

During those years I remember asking a success wine merchant about his computer. He was still using an XT and I suggested (since the money wouldn't be a big issue) that perhaps he would like to take advantage of some of the newer and more powerful equipment. His answer was: "why?". As far as he was concerned, the work was getting done, and his system could automatically log into the Liquor Control Board's BBS. In the business world, I don't think he was unique in sticking with an XT for a very long time.

 

[billdeg]

People don't realize how many ibm px/xt's were still in use in the early 90's.

I spent every penny I had and maxed out a credit card to buy a Midwest Micro Pentium 90 laptop with windows 95, laser printer, scanner, Colorado backup drive, and 28.8 modem in 1995, to start my business. I spent a good $4000 for all that and was totally broke. I mean broke and in debt. Although I had access to more powerful stuff at work before I left to strike out on my own I owned an old Compaq Portable and that was simply not going to cut it to write web pages.

 

[Ole Juul]

People don't realize how many ibm px/xt's were still in use in the early 90's.

That reminds me of what is now a hilarious moment in my computer education. I don't remember the exact year, but I bought my first 386 (used, of course) from a friend who made his living with computers. When I went over to pick it up, he didn't have it ready and so proceeded to stick a harddrive in it and fire it up. As he was doing this I watched carefully and a fancy screen popped up. I was puzzled, not the least because there was no OS or software loaded as far as I understood. "Where did that come from?!!" I asked. The response is now beyond obvious, but he explained that it was called the BIOS and was built into the hardware. I was impressed - and educated.

 

[Pepinno]

Those are the very issues we are talking about, and the internet will probably not function "as designed" if they are not readily available to the general public.

Those are two different things: the Internet IS readily available to the public, but the public-herd just prefers to manifest itself in their herd-ways and so they flock to Facebook. But the Internet is there, readily available to all (who may want to use it at its fullest).

I don't see the herd-preferences of the herd-public as a danger to the Internet, as long as the Internet stays readily available to those who may want to use it.

Now, if you are talking about worries about certain recent legislation which endangers the readily availability of the Internet to the general public, I would have to agree. But that and the herd-preference of the herd-public towards Facebook/silos/walled-gardens, I think are totally different things.

To sum it up: I don't see as a danger to the Internet the existence and success of Facebook and other walled-gardens. The only social construct (*) built on the Internet ever, which was NOT a walled-garden, was USENET, where the content and its "physical ownership" was shared among all those who wanted to carry it.

(*) Email and FTP are not "social constructs" (many-to-many), but private constructs (1 to 1, or 1 to many).

 

[paul.brett]

In the UK, the BBC tried to 'jump start' the Internet revolution, with what it called the 'Networking Club'. It was acting as an early ISP, offering what was then, a fairly cheap way of getting on the Internet.

The only other major player I can recall, was AOL, and they were charging for access, and then more for Internet access. This was on top of the telephone bill, which could potentially run up to high sums quite quickly.

Unlike our US brothers, local calls were not (and still are not) free.

Eventually, the BBC offloaded all their subscribers to PiPex, once they felt that the experiment had run its course.

 

[kiyotewolf]

I somehow got a hold of Prodigy disks, so I've got a web brower and *.JPG/*.GIF viewer, which runs on Win 3.11.

I can get it to load web pages, but I think the most, I use the image viewer.



~Paul

I miss the BBS days. I wanted to write my own from scratch, and make it very loose and goofy, with all sorts of mini games, drawing tool, and .. really weird stuff.

We had quite a few right in my area when I was in Middle School, and I dialed them, including some long distance ones, a telephone area code away.