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BBS

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Smartmodem

The 300 baud Smartmodem led to an initial wave of early BBS systems.

A key innovation required for the popularization of the BBS was the Smartmodem manufactured by Hayes Microcomputer Products. Internal modems like the ones used by CBBS and similar early systems were usable, but generally expensive due to the manufacturer having to make a different modem for every computer platform they wanted to target. They were also limited to those computers with internal expansion, and could not be used with other useful platforms like video terminals. External modems were available for these platforms but required the phone to be dialed using a conventional handset, making them unable to accept incoming calls without manual intervention. Internal modems could be software controlled to perform both outbound and inbound calls, but external modems had only the data pins to communicate with the host system.

Hayes' solution to the problem was to use a small microcontroller to implement a system that examined the data flowing into the modem from the host computer, watching for certain command strings. This allowed commands to be sent to and from the modem using the same data pins as all the rest of the data, meaning it would work on any system that could support even the most basic modems. The Smartmodem could pick up the phone, dial numbers, and hang up again, all without any operator intervention. The Smartmodem was not necessary for BBS use but made overall operation dramatically simpler. It also improved usability for the caller, as most terminal software allowed different phone numbers to be stored and dialed on command, allowing the user to easily connect to a series of systems.

The introduction of the Smartmodem led to the first real wave of BBS systems. Limited in both speed and storage capacity, these systems were normally dedicated solely to messaging, both private email and public forums. File transfers were painfully slow at these speeds, and file libraries were typically limited to text files containing lists of other BBS systems. These systems attracted a particular type of user who used the BBS as a unique type of communications medium, and when these local systems were crowded from the market in the 1990s, their loss was lamented for many years.

Counterfeits

Despite the popularity and proliferation of BBS systems used for construction and architectural projects in the technology' early years, it is not known to the general public to what extent the smartmodem and on-board BBS applications remains cloned with respect to insider terror and influence of home satellite communications technology. In the final years of consumer production, the General Instrument VideoCipher line was used extensively in areas at least known to be within Ontario, Canada concerning marking homes and individuals for organized crime.