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KF5JRV > TECHNI 10.05.16 12:34l 27 Lines 1301 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 2714_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: First public BBS
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Sent: 160510/1129Z 2714@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK1.4.65
Community Memory
First Public Computerized Bulletin Board System 1973
In 1973 Efrem Lipkin, Mark Szpakowski, and Lee Felsenstein established
the first public computerized bulletin board system (BBS called
Community Memory in Berkeley, California. Community Memory used
hard-wired terminals in neighborhoods as distinct from the first
public dial-up CBBS which was set up on February 16, 1978.
"Community Memory ran off an XDS-940 timesharing computer located in
Resource One in San Francisco. The first terminal was an ASR-33 Teletype
at the top of the stairs leading to Leopold's Records in Berkeley. You
could leave messages and attach keywords to them. Other people could then
find messages by those keywords.
"The line from San Francisco to Berkeley ran at 110 baud - 10
characters per second. The teletype was noisy, so it was encased
in a cardboard box, with a transparent plastic top so you could
see what was being printed out, and holes for your hands so you
could type. It made for some magic moments with the Allman
Brothers' "Blue Sky" playing in the record store. Musicians loved
it - they ended up generating a monthly printout of fusion rock
bassists seeking raga lead guitars. And out of it also emerged
the first net personality - Benway, as he called himself."
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