5 Jul
2009
5 Jul
'09
11:36 a.m.
a couple posters comments from the boingboing article
One of the largest collections of DECsystem-10 architecture systems ever
assembled was at CompuServe, which at its peak operated over 200
loosely-coupled systems in three data centers in Columbus, Ohio. CompuServe
used these systems as 'hosts', providing access to commercial applications
as well as the CompuServe Information Service. While the first such systems
were purchased from DEC, when DEC abandoned the PDP-10 architecture in favor
the VAX, CompuServe and other PDP-10 customers began purchasing
plug-compatible computers from Systems Concepts. As of January 2007,
CompuServe continues to operate a small number of PDP-10 architecture
machines to perform some billing and routing functions.
Compuserve used to put their servers/routers/whatever the hell they were in
the basements of local H & R Block offices. Telco would bring dozens of
rotary POTS lines up to those machines for inbound connections from local
citizens/customers, then hi-cap lines would go out to the interweb. Clever &
definitely a cheap-o way of doing things, wish I'd have thought of it. A
drawback was when there was trouble at the location: if it wasn't tax season
the lines & machines were hard to get access to, outages would go for days.
Also, H & R Block was notorious to telco for really poor phone systems &
computer networks, so if their communications folks had anything to do with
Compuserve, it was bound to be clunky.
On 7/5/09, Mark Davidson <mdavidson1963 at gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 10:30 AM, Ethan Dicks<ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
Oh man... 72330,756... I spent WAY too much money on this service, but
I had a blast while doing so. I had a stint where I was working 2nd
shift and did both development and system administration for 2
companies. I was pretty much by myself while working these hours, so
I had a modem and a terminal set up for CIS usage. It kept me from
losing my mind... :)
Mark
On Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 10:43 AM, Ray
Arachelian<ray at arachelian.com>
wrote:
I only
got to use this service a few times back in my younger days, and
even then, only with the demo accounts, and that at 300 baud (yes, baud,
not just BPS.)
I still have my VIC Modem I used with my first C-64. I didn't like
the terminal program that came with the modem, so I wrote my own. I
don't recall the precise steps, but somehow from that, I was a beta
tester for Vidtex for the C-64 (a CompuServe-written enhanced terminal
emulator that added file transfer and mostly-platform-independent
color block graphics). Many years later, when I worked there, I was
showing off my old copy of the Vidtex terminal program to my new
co-workers, and one of them (who is one of the few still employed
there as of the shutdown) was especially astounded that anyone still
had a copy of the software that he had worked on.
I really couldn't afford their insane prices,
but from what I saw back
in the day, it was a huge, vast place with lots of goodies.
It was a lot of fun in the early 80s, but it was expensive. I
remember $5-$6/hour in the evenings at 300 baud (I never owned a 1200
baud modem while I was using CompuServe, but even if I had, I really
couldn't have afforded the on-line charges). I didn't get into CB
much. I think I spent most of my time playing Colossal Cave and the
Scott Adams adventures.
A few years later, CompuServe installed a node into COSI, the local
science museum where I was a student volunteer. I want to say it was
a KS-10 but I could be wrong on that. It was called the CIVIC
project. It lived in a fishbowl room on the corner of the second
floor, and besides just showing off a cool computer at a museum, it
was meant to be used for running projects for non-profit grantees who
needed computer time (and especially line-printer-time, it seems).
One of the fun bits of that exhibit was a set of wee kiosks covered in
various informatory placards that each held a C-64 attached up to "The
Service", as it was called. You couldn't navigate to certain parts
(like anything where you could order real-world stuff or incur extra
time charges), but you could at least get a feel for what CompuServe
was offering by walking up and using it for free. They used to have
to shoo the student volunteers away from that area during visitor
hours. Too tempting.
-ethan
74505,1677