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grouped into themes like "Entertainment" or "Computers". The user could then type a command with the conference name as an argument and enter the conference. Once inside, they would find a series of numbered topics or threads each created by a user and each representing an asynchronous conversation. They could then post his comments.
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Users normally dialed into the BBS over slow and flaky telephone lines. After providing the system with a name and password, they invoked Pico and brought up a long list of conference names like "Theology", "Arts", "Singles", "Twilight", "Health" and various other computer topics which were in turn
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Picospan came with a toolbox of software customization utilities that could be used to make changes at the system and user level. It was tightly integrated with Unix and could provide transparent access to many external programs that formed a part of the Unix environment. Typing "unix" at the Pico
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PicoSpan also displays responses as a single integrated thread rather than a collection of separately displayed responses. It relied on constrained choices: no one could start a new topic merely by responding to an old post, so discussions and topics didn't fragment. You couldn't respond to an
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PicoSpan also permitted the linking of discussion threads into multiple conferences, at the same time, so that multiple groups could participate. On a big BBS with many users, not all conferences are followed, so it's advantageous if the more interesting discussions are cross linked.
167:'s culture: PicoSpan prevented censorship by preventing conference hosts (who are empowered to hide or delete any response posted in their forum) from influencing a discussion, by labeling such posts as being "<censored>".
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individual's post and had to respond to the whole thread, forcing people to stay coherent and on-topic. However many people found it hard to use, because of its plain-text environment and steep learning curve.
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PicoSpan tried to provide CONFER's functionality while using the least amount of resources, though many users found it hard to use. It formed the basis for many conferencing systems run by hobbyists.
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company called
Network Technologies International (NETI), purchased the rights for PicoSpan planning to develop it into a commercial product called E-Forum.
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124:. It was written in 1983 for M-Net, which was owned and operated by Mike Myers. Sometime in 1984, Marcus's employer, an
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prompt put the user in a shell and users could rapidly switch back and forth and move text from one to the other.
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From counterculture to cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth
Network, and the rise of digital utopianism
217:. Vol. 3, no. 7. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Computing Center. 1 April 1988. p. 14.
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Kahin, Brian; James Keller; Harvard
Information Infrastructure Project (1995).
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was a popular computer conferencing tool written by Marcus D. Watts for the
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Community networking: integrated multimedia services to the home
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History of the
Internet: a chronology, 1843 to the present
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Cyber rights: defending free speech in the digital age
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Journal of social and biological structures, Volume 13
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Nine
Principles for Making Virtual Communities Work
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279:Anderson, Bart; Bryan Costales; Harry Henderson.
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136:Computer conferencing was first pioneered in
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343:. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. 16 Jul 1984.
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314:. IEEE. Communications Society, ACM.
28:PicoSpan interface, viewed through
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408:Defunct social networking services
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199:. ScienceDirect (Online service).
228:Wired, The Epic Saga of The Well
358:. University of Chicago Press.
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152:Functionality and impact
403:History of the Internet
325:Moschovitis, Christos.
398:Bulletin board systems
354:Turner, Fred (2006).
341:InfoWorld 16 Jul 1984
144:, PicoSpan, E-Forum,
110:Proprietary software
281:UNIX communications
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215:U-M Computing News
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148:and Participate.
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81:Available in
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392:Categories
183:References
107:Commercial
59:Written in
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165:The WELL
138:Michigan
118:PicoSpan
17:PicoSpan
132:History
102:License
84:English
30:Konsole
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146:Caucus
142:CONFER
360:ISBN
260:ISBN
90:Type
75:Unix
54:1983
140:on
95:BBS
34:SSH
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63:C
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