MGG - 4.4 - ATWT - the Internet (although it wasn't called that, yet ...)

There was, at that time, a group called the BC Computer Education Committee.  This was a group made up of representatives from the various universities and colleges in British Columbia.  All those attending had an interest in computers in education: either teaching about computers, or teaching with computers, using computers to teach other subjects.  The BCCEC offered the BCTF a spot on the committee.  The BCTF didn't know anything about computers and education.  But they did know that somewhere in the basement, with UTAC, somebody was teaching computer seminars.  So the BCTF offered UTAC the spot.  And UTAC offered it to me.

I very much enjoyed my time with the BC Computer Education Committee.  I learned a lot.  I might have contributed the occasional thing.  But one thing that it did for me, was that it gave me an account on the UBC mainframe computer, and later on the SFU mainframe computer.  Both of these computers were connected to the Internet, even though they weren't calling it the Internet at this point.  I got on to the Internet, before it was called the Internet, when they were only about a thousand people there.

But a thousand people from all over the world.  People who were studying very important and interesting subjects.  People who were quite willing to assist an unregarded, fired teacher, from a backwater on the west coast of North America, to find out how to use the various functions, and which sites were the most valuable in terms of obtaining resources.

I was immediately hooked.  I loved the Internet, even before it was called that, and I love it still.  I love it so much that it causes me almost physical pain when I find out that someone has been abusing the Internet in such a way as to damage it, and to create problems for its users.  For me, the Internet was very close to Utopia.

I took every opportunity that I could to get on to my accounts at the universities, and to explore the Internet.  I also started to explore bulletin board systems, available locally.  Fidonet, the system that tied bulletin board systems together, also had some email connections to the greater Internet.  I contributed to this in some small measure, by downloading some of the moderated mailing lists from the internet, and uploading them to local Fidonet-connected bulletin boards.  Those bulletin boards were then able to distribute those pieces of information, as text files, two other Fidonet systems.

Remember, I wouldn't have gone to UTAC, if I hadn't been fired from teaching.  If I hadn't been volunteering, and teaching seminars, at UTAC, I wouldn't have been offered the seat on the BC Computer Education Committee.  And I wouldn't have gotten on to the Internet, at least, not that early.

I started giving other seminars.  At computer trade shows, and user group meetings, I gave seminars on getting online.  I spoke about Fidonet, bulletin board systems, and the Internet.

Previous: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2024/03/mgg-43-atwt-volunteering.html

Introduction and ToC: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2023/10/mgg-introduction.html

Next: https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2024/03/mgg-45-atwt-data-communications.html