MicroNET – 1979

MicroNET – the first online PC service
By Bill Louden (c) 2008

By early 1979, CompuServe had come to COTUG and requested that we beta test a potential personal computing service - essentially raw access to their mainframes at night - called MicroNET. We had access to many of the DEC-10's features, storage, and better processing power, but of most significance we had started using two programs: One was a store-and-forward messaging system, called Infoplex, which allowed us to share text message files with one another even if we were not online at the same time. The other was a modified version of a program that allowed a user to send a live one-line text message to the CompuServe system operator. Our version, modified by Russ Ranshaw of CompuServe, allowed us to send one-line live messages to each other if we saw one another online. We called it the SEND program.

By June 1979, I was running my sixth Radio Shack store. I had gained a reputation as a troubleshooter fixing problem stores. This store was the Columbus warehouse store, which became one of Tandy’s first computer stores, as well as Tandy’s first Telephone store, fighting AT&T’s monopoly on selling phones. It was a TOP 40 store in the country.

However, as store troubleshooter I was soon transferred to Cleveland to turnaround a troubled Mall store. Cutoff from my user group and friends through that summer and fall, I began using CompuServe’s Infoplex program and our modified “SEND” program with great frequency trying to keep in touch with my friends back in Columbus.

I began to see the potential magic of being “on-line” and connected with them. In July of 1979, CompuServe officially launched its first online service called MicroNET. The target market was the emerging computer enthusiast. MicroNET was raw access to the CompuServe DEC SYSTEM-10 and SYSTEM 20 mainframes but, even so, it quickly found a customer base willing to tolerate 110 baud dial-up access (300 baud then was a premium). In September 1979, I called Jeff Wilkins, CEO of CompuServe, and began discussions of a consumer vision of MicroNET - well beyond the hacker community, which was its current niche. Shortly thereafter, I left Tandy and joined CompuServe, returning to Columbus to begin working on the next generation "MicroNET." It was Jeff’s initial vision that made the concept of a consumer online service a reality, along with seventeen of us who were 'disciples.

The Original Start-Up Team

• Jeff Wilkins, CEO
  
• Sandy Trevor, CTO
  
• George Minot, SVP, Corporate Relations (George was our champion for the AT&T breakup - CompuServe's biggest fear at the time)
  
• John Meier, Vice President, Marketing,VP/GM MicroNET
  
• Al Keener, Director, Marketing
  
• Rich Baker, Press Relations
  
• Mike Ward, “The Rainmaker,” Business Development
  
• Bill Louden, “The Wizard of Games,” Director, Retail Distribution & Director, Product Marketing for Computing, Community, Games, Email, Communications, Shopping, Software Exchange, and PC terminal software product lines.
  
• Randy Vaughn, “Mr. BusPro,” Product Marketing Manager for Business, Professional Services, Finance, & Travel products
  
• Frank Scudder, “The Silver Fox,” OEM Distribution Manager
  
• Jeff Williams, Database Administrator
  
• Russ Ranshaw, “The Wizard of 10”, DEC-10 System Analyst (key architect of CIS)
  
• Larry Sturtz, Personal computing engineer, VIDTEX software products
  
• Peter Winer, Software Engineer
  
• Bill DuVall, Network Engineer
  
• Dan Piskur, “Hey, where’s your badge?,” Network Security & Facilities
  
• Lynne Gard, “aka Aunt Nettie” of our weekly online Q&A column, Customer Service Manager
  
• HK Gard, Jr.“Nerves of Steel,” “Hey, what do you expect for $5 an hour?,” Customer Service Manager

Our first order of business was to establish a user number and password sequence for our future users. The DEC-10s at the time used a “PROJECT,PROGRAMMER” number sequence to identify workspaces, but they were limited to 1,000 programmer numbers per project. DEC considered one thousand programmers/users assigned to one project at the time as unreachable, hence its limit. We intended MicroNET to be a national service so we had to account for different cities, mainly for the purpose of identifying what time zone they were in to adjust pricing, etc.

From what CompuServe learned from our user group "hacking into their systems" the year before, we used a DEC project category "70000" that provided limited access and highly controlled security as our "consumer" domain. We knew that we would likely have more than 1,000 users (or we would all be out of jobs rather quickly). We developed a system based on the location of cities where CompuServe had dial-up access.

The first city was Columbus, Ohio, which received the designation 70010; Cleveland was assigned 70020; Chicago 70240; etc. Dave Morr of Bell Labs was given the first consumer ID number: 70010,101. I had the second: 70010,102. It would be my ID for the next 10 years – until CompuServe finally switched to an alphanumeric email system.