Ward Christensen, BBS inventor and architect of our online age, dies at age 78

stapp · Oct 15, 2024

Christensen and Suess came up with the idea for the first computer bulletin board system during the Great Blizzard of 1978 when they wanted to keep up with their computer club, the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists’ Exchange (CACHE), when physical travel was difficult. Beginning in January of that year, Suess assembled the hardware, and Christensen wrote the software, called CBBS.
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"They finished the bulletin board in two weeks but they called it four because they didn't want people to feel that it was rushed and that it was made up," Scott told Ars. They canonically "finished" the project on February 16, 1978, and later wrote about their achievement in a November 1978 issue of Byte magazine.
Their new system allowed personal computer owners with modems to dial up a dedicated machine and leave messages that others would see later. The BBS concept represented a digital version of a push-pin bulletin board that might flank a grocery store entrance, town hall, or college dorm hallway.
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And due to people like this, here we are today. Interesting read.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...d-architect-of-our-online-age-dies-at-age-78/

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Ward Christensen, BBS inventor and architect of our online age, dies at age 78

stapp Global Moderator

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Ward Christensen, BBS inventor and architect of our online age, dies at age 78

stapp Global Moderator

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