←back to thread

In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio

(newslttrs.com)
289 points spzb | 1 comments | 28 Mar 25 22:14 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source
Show context
HarHarVeryFunny ◴[31 Mar 25 12:21 UTC] No.43534134[source]▶
We also downloaded software from our TV's in the UK via the BBC micro's Prestel adaptor.

A much more mainstream way of sharing software was source code listings - typically BASIC - in magazines like Dr. Dobbs, that you would type in yourself.

I wonder how many of today's youth are also aware of the bulletin board systems (BBS) that existed pre-internet - standalone servers that you would connect to via modem to socialize and/or download files using protocols like Kermit, and X/Y/Zmodem.

replies(1): >>43534430 #
kragen ◴[31 Mar 25 12:51 UTC] No.43534430[source]▶
BBSes postdated internets (at the time often "catenets"), though only by a few years. They were just open to more people for a long time.
replies(1): >>43534688 #
HarHarVeryFunny ◴[31 Mar 25 13:14 UTC] No.43534688[source]▶
BBS had been available from late 70's - initially using acoustic couplers rather than modems. The internet (as distinct from ARPANET) wasn't created until early 80's, and what most people today think of as the internet - the WWW - wasn't publicly available until the early 90's.
replies(2): >>43536144 #>>43597210 #
1. BrandoElFollito ◴[05 Apr 25 22:07 UTC] No.43597210[source]▶
I browsed the first web site (https://line-mode.cern.ch/www/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html) while at CERN in 1992.

I found it cool and then moved to something else. There are times I wonder why I was not more excited and I think it was because I could not see the potential if it goes worldwide. It did not seem "revolutionary" compared to other things you could see in terminals.