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Online Service Provider
An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider (music, movies), a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, an official government site, social media, a wiki, or a Usenet newsgroup. In its original more limited definition, it referred only to a commercial computer communication service in which paid members could dial via a computer modem the service's private computer network and access various services and information resources such as bulletin board systems, downloadable files and programs, news articles, chat rooms, and electronic mail services. The term "online service" was also used in references to these dial-up services. The traditional dial-up online service differed from the modern Internet service provider in that they provided a large degree of content that was only accessible by those who subscribed to the online service, whil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is the largest sector of the electronics industry and is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry. Defining e-commerce The term was coined and first employed by Robert Jacobson, Principal Consultant to the California State Assembly's Utilities & Commerce Committee, in the title and text of California's Electronic Commerce Act, carried by the late Committee Chairwoman Gwen Moore (D-L.A.) and enacted in 1984. E-commerce typically uses the web for at least a part of a transacti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MCI Mail
MCI Mail was one of the first commercial email services in the United States and predates the widespread adoption of the Internet. History The MCI Mail service was launched on September 23, 1983, in Washington, D.C., during a press conference that was hosted by MCI's founder and Chairman, William G. McGowan. MCI Mail was the first commercial email service to use the Internet, in 1989. The service was officially decommissioned by MCI at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 30, 2003. Founders William G. McGowan William G. McGowan, MCI's founder and chairman, joined the corporation in 1968. In the early stages of creation, McGowan and his fellow contributors got their inspiration from corporations such as Telenet and Western Union's EasyLink. With a primary goal of broadcasting MCI Mail services on an international level, he headed a lobbying campaign to fight for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to expand. Upon approval by the FCC to begin working, McGowan knew he had t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Link
Quantum Link (or Q-Link) was an American and Canadian online service for the Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated starting November 5, 1985. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which later became America Online. In October 1989 the service was renamed America Online, and made available to users of PC systems as well. The original Q-link service was terminated on November 1, 1995, in favor of the America Online brand. The original Q-Link was a modified version of the PlayNET system, which Control Video Corporation licensed. Q-Link featured electronic mail, online chat (in its People Connection department), public domain file sharing libraries, online news, and instant messaging using On Line Messages (OLMs). Other noteworthy features included multiplayer games like checkers, chess, backgammon, hangman, and a clone of the television game show ''Wheel Of Fortune'' called ''Puzzler''; and an interactive graphic resort island, ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prodigy (online Service)
Prodigy Communications Corporation was an online service from 1984 to 2001 that offered its subscribers access to a broad range of networked services. It was one of the major internet service providers of the 1990s. The company claimed it was the first consumer online service, citing its graphical user interface and basic architecture as differentiation from CompuServe, which started in 1979 and used a command-line interface. Prodigy was described by the ''New York Times'' as "family-oriented" and one of "the Big Three information services" in 1994. By 1990, it was the second-largest online service provider with 465,000 subscribers, trailing only CompuServe's 600,000. In 1993 it was the largest. In 2001, it was acquired by SBC Communications, which in 2005 became the present iteration of AT&T. The Mexican branch of Prodigy, however, was acquired by Telmex. Early history The roots of Prodigy date to 1980 when broadcaster CBS and telecommunications firm AT&T Corporation formed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PlayNET
PlayNET (or PlayNet) was an American online service for Commodore 64 personal computers that operated from 1984 to 1987. It was operated by the PlayNet, Inc of Troy, New York. History PlayNet was founded in 1983 by two former GE Global Research employees, Dave Panzl and Howard Goldberg, as the first person-to-person, online communication and game network to feature home computer based graphics. The founders launched the business initially with their own money. They then raised over $2.5 million from a variety of investors, including the venture capital funds of the town of North Greenbush, NY, Key Bank, Alan Patricof & Associates, and the New York State Science and Technology Foundation, and a group of individual investors through a limited R&D partnership led by McGinn Smith. PlayNet was initially successful and had more than 5000 subscribers, but struggled to grow beyond that, and was short on funds. PlayNet approached Commodore to become Commodore's official online servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of computer memory, memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better video display controller, graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and computer programming, programming. Home computers were usually sold already manufactured in stylish metal or plastic enclosures. However, some home computers also came as commercial electronic kits, like the ZX80, Sinclair ZX80, which were both h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Videotex
Videotex (or interactive videotex) was one of the earliest implementations of an end-user information system. From the late 1970s to early 2010s, it was used to deliver information (usually pages of text) to a user in computer-like format, typically to be displayed on a television or a dumb terminal. In a strict definition, videotex is any system that provides interactive content and displays it on a video monitor such as a television, typically using modems to send data in both directions. A close relative is teletext, which sends data in one direction only, typically encoded in a television signal. All such systems are occasionally referred to as ''viewdata''. Unlike the modern Internet, traditional videotex services were highly centralized. Videotex in its broader definition can be used to refer to any such service, including teletext, the Internet, bulletin board systems, online service providers, and even the arrival/departure displays at an airport. This usage is no longe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viewtron
Viewtron was an online service offered by Knight-Ridder and AT&T from 1983 to 1986. Patterned after the British Post Office's Prestel system, it started as a videotex service requiring users to have a special terminal, the AT&T Sceptre. As home computers became important in the marketplace, the development focus shifted to IBM, Apple, Commodore and other personal computers. Viewtron differed from contemporary services like CompuServe and The Source by emphasizing news from The Miami Herald and Associated Press and e-commerce services from JCPenney and other merchants over computer-oriented services such as file downloads or online chat. Intended to be "the McDonald's of videotex," Viewtron was specifically targeted toward users who would be apprehensive about using a computer. Viewtron also offered airline schedules from the Official Airline Guide (OAG), real estate research from Century 21, e-cards from Hallmark, product information from Consumer Reports, educational s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM PC Compatible
An IBM PC compatible is any personal computer that is hardware- and software-compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and its subsequent models. Like the original IBM PC, an IBM PC–compatible computer uses an x86-based central processing unit, sourced either from Intel or a second source like AMD, Cyrix or other vendors such as Texas Instruments, Fujitsu, OKI, Mitsubishi or NEC and is capable of using interchangeable commodity hardware such as expansion cards. Initially such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones, but the term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, as the vast majority of microcomputers produced since the 1990s are IBM compatible. IBM itself no longer sells personal computers, having sold its division to Lenovo in 2005. " Wintel" is a similar description that is more commonly used for modern computers. The designation "PC", as used in much of personal computer history, has not meant "pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed by Steve Wozniak and was first sold on June 10, 1977. Its success led to it being followed by the Apple II Plus, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, and Apple IIc Plus, with the 1983 IIe being the most popular. The name is trademarked with square brackets as Apple ][, then, beginning with the IIe, as Apple //. The Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, in terms of ease of use, features, and expandability. It became one of several recognizable and successful computers throughout the 1980s, although this was mainly limited to the US. It was aggressively marketed through volume discounts and manufacturing arrangements to educational institutions, which made it the first computer in widespread use in American secondary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TI-99/4A
The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments (TI) in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Based on TI's own TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. The associated TMS9918 video display controller provides color graphics and Sprite (computer graphics), sprite support which were only comparable with those of the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 400 and 800 released a month later. The TI-99 series also initially competed with the Apple II and TRS-80."Death of a Computer," April 1984, ''Texas Monthly,'' retrieved September 20, 2023 The calculator-style keyboard of the TI-99/4 and the high price were cited as weak points. TI's reliance on ROM cartridges and their practice of limiting develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units. Volume production started in early 1982, marketing in August for . Preceded by the VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its of RAM. With support for multicolor sprite (computer graphics), sprites and a custom chip for waveform generation, the C64 could create superior visuals and audio compared to systems without such custom hardware. The C64 dominated the low-end computer market (except in the UK, France and Japan, lasting only about six months in Japan) for most of the later years of the 1980s. For a substantial period (1983–1986), the C64 had betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
