CBBS Chicago — Online Since Feb 16, 1978

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  COMPUTERIZED BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM
  CHICAGO, ILLINOIS  ·  EST. FEB 16, 1978
  WARD CHRISTENSEN & RANDY SUESS, SYSOPS

NODE: 1 OF 1 BAUD: 300 DATE: TIME: CALLERS TODAY: 14

WELCOME TO CBBS — THE WORLD'S FIRST BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM.

SYSTEM MSG FROM SYSOP:

"Thanks for calling in. Leave a message, grab a file, chat with

fellow CACHE members. Keep it civil. —Ward & Randy"

TOTAL CALLERS: 253,301

MESSAGES: 4,872

FILES: 317

UPTIME: 17 YRS

ENTER COMMAND:

Showing last 5 messages. Oldest first.

MSG #4868 · BILL_H → ALL · 03/12/78 · RE: XMODEM TRANSFER PROTOCOL

Ward's XMODEM protocol worked flawlessly last night moving a 12KB file over my 300 baud acoustic. Error-free! This changes everything for file sharing on dial-up. Someone oughta write this up for BYTE.

MSG #4869 · WARD_C → BILL_H · 03/13/78 · RE: XMODEM TRANSFER PROTOCOL

Already submitted it. Editor at BYTE seemed interested. The checksums are what make it reliable — retransmit on any CRC mismatch. Simple but solid. Let me know if you hit any edge cases on longer files.

MSG #4870 · KAREN_M → ALL · 03/14/78 · RE: CACHE MARCH MEETING

CACHE meeting is the 3rd Thursday as usual. Dave is bringing his Apple II to demo that new VisiCalc spreadsheet. Sounds like it might actually be useful for business types. I'm skeptical but curious.

MSG #4871 · R_SUESS → ALL · 03/15/78 · RE: SYSTEM DOWNTIME NOTICE

Board will be offline Sat 11PM–2AM for hardware maintenance. Fitting a second floppy drive. More storage means more files. Back up by Sunday morning. Leave messages on the phone tape if urgent.

MSG #4872 · ANON_CALLER → ALL · 03/16/78 · RE: GREAT SYSTEM

First time calling a BBS. Found the number in a CACHE newsletter at the library. This is remarkable — leaving a message at 1am and someone across the city will read it tomorrow. What a time to be alive.

Download via XMODEM. Type filename at prompt to request transfer.

FILENAME	SIZE	DATE	DESCRIPTION
XMODEM.BAS	12KB	01/78	Ward's file transfer protocol, BASIC source
CBBS.ASM	28KB	02/78	CBBS source code, 8080 assembly
BLIZZARD.TXT	4KB	01/78	Notes from the great Jan '78 Chicago blizzard
CACHE-NL.TXT	6KB	03/78	CACHE newsletter Vol.3 — meetings & projects
MODEM.DOC	9KB	12/77	Hayes Smartmodem hookup guide
SARGON2.BAS	18KB	02/78	Chess program for S-100 systems
ASTRO.BAS	7KB	11/77	Orbital mechanics calculator (requires 48K)
FIDONET.FAQ	3KB	03/78	What is FidoNet? Getting started guide

*** BULLETIN #1 — FEB 16, 1978 ***

CBBS IS NOW OFFICIALLY ONLINE. This is the world's first public dial-up computer bulletin board system. You are part of history. Leave a message. Tell a friend. The number is (312) 545-8086.

*** BULLETIN #2 — MAR 01, 1978 ***

XMODEM protocol now active for file transfers. Download XMODEM.BAS from the file library and read the inline docs. CRC error checking makes 300 baud transfers surprisingly reliable.

*** BULLETIN #3 — MAR 10, 1978 ***

BYTE Magazine has accepted Ward & Randy's article describing CBBS. Look for "Hobbyist Computerized Bulletin Board" in the Nov '78 issue. This one's going to spread. Other boards are already being planned.

*** BULLETIN #4 — MAR 15, 1978 ***

We've logged caller #500 tonight. In less than a month. The demand is real. Randy is sourcing a larger hard drive. Ward is already thinking about multi-node support. The future is bright.

SYSTEM NAME : CBBS — Computerized Bulletin Board System

LOCATION : Chicago, Illinois (Randy Suess's house)

ONLINE SINCE : February 16, 1978

SYSOPS : Ward Christensen & Randy Suess

HARDWARE : S-100 bus computer, 64KB RAM

STORAGE : 2 × 8" floppy drives (1.2MB ea)

MODEM : Hayes internal, 300 baud

PHONE : (312) 545-8086

SOFTWARE : CBBS v3.1, written in 8080 assembly

OS : CP/M 2.2

CBBS was conceived during the Great Blizzard of January 1978, when Ward Christensen and Randy Suess — both members of CACHE (Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange) — found themselves snowed in and decided to build something useful. What they built changed the world.

By the time it retired, CBBS had logged 253,301 callers and inspired thousands of BBSes worldwide. On Feb 16, 2003, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley declared it "BBS Day" in honor of the 25th anniversary.

Select a game. Single-node system — you have 30 min/day.

THANKS FOR CALLING CBBS!

Your session has ended. The modem is now available for the next caller.

Remember: tell your friends about CBBS. Number is (312) 545-8086.

— Ward Christensen & Randy Suess