[LINK] 20th anniversary of Australian Intrnet

[Frank O'Connor]

Mmmm,

 From memory 1989 was the year AARNET made outside access to what had 
primarily been a closed shop academic network possible. This in turn 
spawned a number of retail outlets that provided direct, UUCP and 
other connections to BBS's. Up until then the BBS scene had been the 
place to be ... I remember early BBS's starting up in the late 70's, 
but they had gotten pretty sophisticated by the late 80's. Software 
like First Class, Telefinder and the like made the BBS scene an 
extension of your desktop.

Ran a BBS for a couple of years. The a small ISP service.

I remember FIDONet (the BBS precursor of the Internet), UUCP via 
AARNET's pipes, direct connections through a dinky, flaky and REALLY 
EXPENSIVE 64kbs Telstra ISDN line via Zik-Zak, and finally bona fide 
commercial ISP's started to appear. The enthusiasts faded into the 
background.

I remember TELNET, Gopher, Veronica, NNTP, IRCLE and a host of other 
dinky applications of the early Internet. I tested betas of the first 
serious browser in 1991 or 1992 ... Mosaic. Then came the Web, 
Netscape ... and everybody got into the act. Real Wild West stuff for 
the next five or six years ... as new applications and boundaries 
were tested. The Dot Com Boom of the late 90's bought an end to all 
that.

It was a great time to be alive - even for us old farts.

						Regards,
At 3:08 PM +1000 on 12/11/09 James Collins wrote:
>  >
>>  Can anyone provide clarification of those 1989 events?
>>
>
>There were many little links in those early days. I would quite believe the
>1989 reference as an official linkage. I don't know about the 1983
>reference, but I was connecting my Bulletin Board System and Data Bureau via
>dial-up to overseas networks in 1985. Some Amateur connections and some
>business connections for Electronic Mail, usually using Slip or other
>Network protocols, which I won't go into in this forum, since it would
>simply bore you all to tears :)
>
>Gee those were the days... Men were real men! Small Furry creatures ...
>etc...
>
>>  Of course, I mean "old farts" affectionately and in no way as a form of
>abuse.
>
>I consider it a badge of honour.... Except in public... Or official
>government correspondence ... :)
>
>
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