Ward Christensen, co-inventor of the computer bulletin board system (BBS), a foundational technology of the internet age, died at age 78 on October 11
On Friday, Ward Christensen, co-inventor of the computer bulletin board system (BBS), died at age 78 in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Threads: @blinkenjim . Mastodon: @CyberpunkLibrarian … and @m501@mastodon.social X: @benjedwards , @nash076 , @erratarob , @davetroy , @mobygamer , @therealadamg , @textfiles , and @textfiles Forums: r/technology , r/bbs , lobste.rs , Slashdot , and Ars OpenForum Threads: Jim Thompson / @blinkenjim : Damn... another tech pioneer gone on ahead. I remember reading Ward Christensen's plain text documentation for the XModem file-transfer utility back BEFORE THE INTERNET was invented. https://arstechnica.com/... Mastodon: @CyberpunkLibrarian@hackers.town : The old nerds remember. — And the old nerds will pay their respects. — So many memories of the old online communities... and this guy helped make them possible. — Thanks, Ward. — https://arstechnica.com/... @m501@mastodon.social : I ran a BBS back in the late 80s probably into 1990 - Lithium City BBS out of El Paso, Texas. The community was fun, I got to write a bunch of cool little BBS utilities, and meet many nice folks in distant places through FidoNet. — RIP Ward Christensen — https://arstechnica.com/... … X: Benj Edwards / @benjedwards : I usually write about AI for Ars Technica, but BBS history was more important today. Special thanks to @textfiles for the interview and the images @nash076 : Ah, the BBS era. Cherished memories. Robert Graham / @erratarob : Ward Christensen was the hacker's hacker back in the 1980s. Dave Troy / @davetroy : Sorry to hear this news. Ward Christensen helped invent the internet era by creating what came before, BBS's, and had an indelible impact on my life as well as countless others. Thank you for all of the quiet, thoughtful contributions. https://arstechnica.com/... Jim Leonard / @mobygamer : RIP Ward Christensen. Glad I was able to meet him for the first time last year, and shake his hand for his positive influence on my life and career. https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/ ... @therealadamg : https://arstechnica.com/... BBSs were such an integral part of my youth and gateway to multi-party chat, ANSI art and eventually the internet as a whole. I loved my first 2400 baud modem. Jason Scott / @textfiles : I always found it amazing that he was there for co-creating the first dial-up BBS, and lived long enough to have a twitter handle (@WardXmodem). Jason Scott / @textfiles : With news of the passing of Ward Christensen (78), I hope someone puts a great obituary of him in the big papers, just like they did with Randy Suess. He was an incredible person and the BBS Documentary would have been a lot poorer without his willing collaboration. [image] Forums: r/technology : Ward Christensen, BBS inventor and architect of our online age, dies at age 78 r/bbs : Ward Christensen, Co-inventor of the BBS, Passed Away Last Week lobste.rs : Ward Christensen, BBS inventor and architect of our online age, dies at age 78 BeauHD / Slashdot : Ward Christensen, BBS Inventor and Architect of Our Online Age, Dies At Age 78 Ars OpenForum : Ward Christensen, BBS inventor and architect of our online age, dies at age 78