The Internet
The Internet's evolution from a slow network connecting campuses to a global platform overshadowed BBSes. Challenges like overcrowding and spam arose with mass adoption, but early text files reflect the era's quest for knowledge and sharing information globally.
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The Internet has evolved significantly since its inception in the late 1960s as a slow network primarily connecting college campuses and government installations. As it grew, it overshadowed the BBS world, becoming a global platform for sharing ideas and information. The transition to the Internet led to the demise of many BBSes that couldn't adapt. The Internet's reach, diverse user base, and deep discussions set it apart from the BBS culture. However, with mass adoption, the Internet faced challenges like overcrowding and spam. The text files from the late 80s and early 90s capture the era's quest for knowledge and the Internet's role as a platform for sharing information globally. These files cover a wide range of topics, from technical guides to FAQs and discussions on network protocols. They provide a glimpse into the early days of the Internet and the enthusiasm surrounding its potential as a tool for communication and collaboration.
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6 commentspre-internet, a huge community of people lived in what John Quartermain called "the matrix" (although after the fact) -a mesh of UUCP mail and usenet-like services co-joined with BBS and BITNET, and non-internet stacks like the UK JANET systems, or INRIAs cyclades systems or Jacob Palme's DEC-10 communications network.
So this third-hand take on things from BBS is "foreign" to me much as somebody working in a power station might wonder at the folks in the town next door lighting by gas. We talked to each other, but it was a different space of engagement. I got mine for free, it was my job. I think I didn't realise my privilege until I finally got to an economy without time-charged local phone calls, because being online all-the-time was very hard in the UK under the 3 minute call tarrif model.
So my "introduction to the Internet" was directly experiental, living through the uplift to DNS from HOSTS.TXT, deploying software shipped on tape to drive network links which were too slow to be used to ship the code, UUCP (designed for a pre-internet store and forward world) being ported to run over IP so that existing investment in SMTP and USENET could persist.
I liked the early internet. WHOIS was a directory for users. You could pay for a printed copy of the phone directory. I keep a variant of my NIC handle for the needs of WHOIS records now, which have an entirely different purpose.
The idea of "what is the internet" as text files in a BBS is .. well it's entirely rational but I hadn't realized it's need. A bit of a TIL moment.
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