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Cyhist Jul 9 1996 B
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Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 12:41:44 -0700
Reply-To: capek@WATSON.IBM.COM
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From: (Peter Capek)
To: "Multiple recipients of list cpsr-history@cpsr.org" Subject: CM> An earlier "news group" ?
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Sender: (Peter Capek)
Subject: An earlier "news group" ?
For the record, on May 2, 1977, I created what we would today call a
moderated newsgroup (digest) on the IBM internal network. (This is
quite a bit earlier than any of the other similar activities for which
I've seen dates.) Its topic area was the use and enhancement of
VM/370, a popular interactive operating system of the time. In what
is perhaps the reverse of the usual style for doing this, I wrote
some, and solicited others, of the items in the first issue, sort of
to get the ball rolling, and sent it to about 20-30 people. By the
end of the week, the word had spread and I had a distribution list of
over 100, and submissions/contributions full to overflowing. Various
efforts to judge the readership were not very conclusive, but it seems
fairly clear that within a year it was in excess of 10,000 readers,
with at least a quarter of them outside North America.
This activity went on for about 6 years, until the need for it had been
largely assumed by unmoderated conferences using something like "mailer"
technology.
One key distinction from most of today's conferences, including the
moderated ones (no slight intended to the present venue!) was that I
decided from the outset that it would be best to "edit" fairly
strongly the content. I felt this was appropriate for the following
reasons:
-- Because by editing the writing, information could be conveyed more
accurately, less ambiguously, and more clearly. Further, I felt
that one should plan for success, and if the venture was
successful, my time spent editing would save the time of many
readers.
-- Because by editing the content, the reliability of the information
presented would be higher, and the effort would create a trusted
source, making it more valuable to the readers than if every
submission were distributed. In fact, it was necessary only
fairly rarely to absolutely refuse to publish something.
-- Because by editing the style, the vagaries for the reader of reading
material written by many different writers (including many whose
native language was not English) would be minimimized, if not
eliminated.
Of course, an important effect of this editing and digesting process
was that significant time could elapse until the next "issue", so that
immediacy was sacrificed.
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: capek@WATSON.IBM.COM
Originator: cpsr-history@cpsr.org
Sender: listserv-reply-errors@Sunnyside.COM
Precedence: bulk
From: (Peter Capek)
To: "Multiple recipients of list cpsr-history@cpsr.org" Subject: CM> An earlier "news group" ?
X-Listprocessor-Version: 9.1 -- List Server by Sunnyside Computing, Inc.
X-Comment: Discussion of history of computing
X-Info: For listserv info write to listserv@cpsr.org with message HELP
X-Message-Id: <12233227303.LTK.013@cpsr.org>
X-UIDL: 837007733.000
Sender: (Peter Capek)
Subject: An earlier "news group" ?
For the record, on May 2, 1977, I created what we would today call a
moderated newsgroup (digest) on the IBM internal network. (This is
quite a bit earlier than any of the other similar activities for which
I've seen dates.) Its topic area was the use and enhancement of
VM/370, a popular interactive operating system of the time. In what
is perhaps the reverse of the usual style for doing this, I wrote
some, and solicited others, of the items in the first issue, sort of
to get the ball rolling, and sent it to about 20-30 people. By the
end of the week, the word had spread and I had a distribution list of
over 100, and submissions/contributions full to overflowing. Various
efforts to judge the readership were not very conclusive, but it seems
fairly clear that within a year it was in excess of 10,000 readers,
with at least a quarter of them outside North America.
This activity went on for about 6 years, until the need for it had been
largely assumed by unmoderated conferences using something like "mailer"
technology.
One key distinction from most of today's conferences, including the
moderated ones (no slight intended to the present venue!) was that I
decided from the outset that it would be best to "edit" fairly
strongly the content. I felt this was appropriate for the following
reasons:
-- Because by editing the writing, information could be conveyed more
accurately, less ambiguously, and more clearly. Further, I felt
that one should plan for success, and if the venture was
successful, my time spent editing would save the time of many
readers.
-- Because by editing the content, the reliability of the information
presented would be higher, and the effort would create a trusted
source, making it more valuable to the readers than if every
submission were distributed. In fact, it was necessary only
fairly rarely to absolutely refuse to publish something.
-- Because by editing the style, the vagaries for the reader of reading
material written by many different writers (including many whose
native language was not English) would be minimimized, if not
eliminated.
Of course, an important effect of this editing and digesting process
was that significant time could elapse until the next "issue", so that
immediacy was sacrificed.
______________________________________________________________________
