Two pre-internet phenomena
New week, new post. This time we will write about : two different phenomena (technology, practice, custom, etc.) from the previous history of the Internet (before the advent of the Internet, ie in 1991) - one that could still be familiar to today's Internet user (ie coming out today) and the other lost (either replaced by newer technologies / practices or otherwise extinct). Let’s start from “lost” technology.
The PLATO System
In 1960 at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, the Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations started as a project to make a system for computer-based education. But become mostly the prototype of the modern internet.
The ability to support so many users simultaneously helped facilitate the creation of an online community.
“What had started as a means of creating educational materials and fostering literacy came instead to foster online communities, distance education, online classified ads, discussion groups on myriad topics, PLATO “celebrities,” and even romance—all features of the Internet in the early 21st century.” [1]
Many multi-user concepts were originally developed on PLATO, such as forums, message boards, e-mail, chat rooms and instant messaging.
And, of course, multiplayer video games. “Empire”, which I mentioned in a previous post as a possible candidate for the first networked multiplayer game, was developed for PLATON.
But in the end, the personal computer (PC) brings about an end to the original versions of PLATO. Networking PCs was less expensive than building out PLATO systems, and the University of Illinois began using a PC-based education system.
MUD or Multi-User Dungeon
MUDs are text-based online games, or more precisely, multiplayer real-time virtual worlds. A precursor to graphical online games like World of Warcraft, MUDs were an early form of internet gaming.
The first MUD was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle.
“Inspired by text-based ‘dungeoncrawls’ like Zork, a team of researchers at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth developed an open-source code base known as AberMUD. Named after the town in which it was developed and an acronym of the phrase ‘Multi-User Dungeon’, AberMUD allowed multiple players to connect and adventure with one another in real time.” [3]
Basically, they are MMORPG without graphics, but only text and where you control your character by typing commands into “console”. The old concept but interesting. Why don't you try?
To play in any MUD you need internet access, a MUD client - program intended to connect to MUDs over the internet, and the connection information for the MUD you want to play.
I may recommend playing in Avendar (https://avendar.net).
You can read more about PLATO and MUD here:
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