11 Mar
2023
11 Mar
'23
7:36 p.m.
Hey all, was Delphi accessible as a bulletin board before 1990?
I'm only finding logos and info about Delphi post-1990.
But for early 1980s, what as Delphi? Was it a telnet-sort-of-thing only
accessed only from universities?
I've searched through early BYTE and PC Mag and just not finding any
advertisements about it.
-Steve
11 Mar
11 Mar
7:59 p.m.
On Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 10:36 PM Steve Lewis via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hey all, was Delphi accessible as a bulletin board
before 1990?
Yes. Wikipedia says it was launched in 1981. I know I accessed it in
the mid '80s.
But for early 1980s, what as Delphi? Was it a
telnet-sort-of-thing only
accessed only from universities?
It was a public online service like Compuserve, The Source, GEnie,
Bix, etc.. It ran on VAX/VMS. Text only. They had direct dial-ups and
access via Tymnet and Telenet.
I've searched through early BYTE and PC Mag and
just not finding any
advertisements about it.
Check Rainbow magazine for the Color Computer. You'll find ads for it there.
Jim
8:38 p.m.
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023, Steve Lewis via cctalk wrote:
Hey all, was Delphi accessible as a bulletin board
before 1990?
I'm only finding logos and info about Delphi post-1990.
But for early 1980s, what as Delphi? Was it a telnet-sort-of-thing only
accessed only from universities?
I've searched through early BYTE and PC Mag and just not finding any
advertisements about it.
They started in 1981, and expanded in 1983.
They apparently still exist.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/delphihistory/messages/10/1
Competing with AOL, Prodigy, Netcom, etc.
In those days, the internet was not open to the public (guvmint, academia,
military, etc.), so, to some extent those "services" were trying to
compete with the internet.
Also, in your historical research, if you have not already done so, you
and your daughter have got to watch "Hyperland".
It was a 50 minute long BBC documentary in 1991? (PRE WWW) about the
future of the internet. It was written by Douglas Adams and Ted Nelson,
and starring Tom Baker.
https://archive.org/details/DouglasAdams-Hyperland
If you want subtitles/captions, 6 years ago, I created an .SRT (captions
file of it!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4hCJm9ZEADCblVSVlBxdmZyREU/view?usp=drive…
(400MB video with subtitles burned in)
.SRT file:
http://www.xenosoft.com/HyperlandCAPS_En_US_0_77.srt
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
11:13 p.m.
Tom Baker, the best Doctor of all? I'm in, grabbing popcorn.
I recall using GEnie (at least once) and I recall hearing about Delphi. I
was trying to find early versions of their logo, such as from early
advertisements - but so far can only find "late model" versions.
Then I started thinking about "how were they even advertised? having lots
of phone numbers in different area codes would have been expensive, maybe
they only advertised in a few cities back in those days?" But I don't
remember any flyers about it - I think we just knew it from the local
Computer Club, word of mouth.
(I also remember Intel coming to early computers clubs, and raffling or
tossing out a processor after a talk)
On Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 10:38 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023, Steve Lewis via cctalk wrote:
Hey all, was Delphi accessible as a bulletin
board before 1990?
I'm only finding logos and info about Delphi post-1990.
But for early 1980s, what as Delphi? Was it a telnet-sort-of-thing only
accessed only from universities?
I've searched through early BYTE and PC Mag and just not finding any
advertisements about it.
They started in 1981, and expanded in 1983.
They apparently still exist.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/delphihistory/messages/10/1
Competing with AOL, Prodigy, Netcom, etc.
In those days, the internet was not open to the public (guvmint, academia,
military, etc.), so, to some extent those "services" were trying to
compete with the internet.
Also, in your historical research, if you have not already done so, you
and your daughter have got to watch "Hyperland".
It was a 50 minute long BBC documentary in 1991? (PRE WWW) about the
future of the internet. It was written by Douglas Adams and Ted Nelson,
and starring Tom Baker.
https://archive.org/details/DouglasAdams-Hyperland
If you want subtitles/captions, 6 years ago, I created an .SRT (captions
file of it!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4hCJm9ZEADCblVSVlBxdmZyREU/view?usp=drive…
(400MB
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4hCJm9ZEADCblVSVlBxdmZyREU/view?usp=drive_web(400MB>
video with subtitles burned in)
.SRT file:
http://www.xenosoft.com/HyperlandCAPS_En_US_0_77.srt
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
12 Mar
12 Mar
12:29 a.m.
On Sun, Mar 12, 2023 at 3:14 AM Steve Lewis via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Then I started thinking about "how were they even
advertised? having lots
of phone numbers in different area codes would have been expensive, maybe
they only advertised in a few cities back in those days?"
It would have been very expensive, which is why they had the links to
Telenet and Tymnet. Telenet and Tymnet provided the phone numbers and
is how most people connected.
651
days inactive
651
days old
4 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
-
Fred Cisin -
Jim Carpenter -
Steve Lewis