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On Friday, Ward Christensen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Christensen
co-inventor of the computer bulletin board system (BBS), died at age 78 in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Christensen, along with Randy Suess, created the first BBS in Chicago in 1978, leading to an important cultural era of digital community-building that presaged much of our online world today.
bbs documentary
http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/
RIP Ward
@ecksmc RIP. His invention made me a happy teen in the 80s..
@ecksmc Rest in peace, Mr C.
I've had some great times on the 4 different BBS' i've been a community member of over the years, thanks in part to your efforts. 💚
Prior to creating the first BBS, Christensen invented XMODEM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMODEM
a 1977 file transfer protocol that made much of the later BBS world possible by breaking binary files into packets and ensuring that each packet was safely delivered over sometimes unstable and noisy analog telephone lines. It inspired other file transfer protocols that allowed ad-hoc online file sharing to flourish.