29.3 Historical Overview
Teletypes and dumb terminals
Prior to 1960, 110 bps modems were used for teletype machines (like an electric typewriter only much more noisy). What one typed at a teletype (or had saved on punched paper tape) could be printed on a remote teletype located far away. No computer was involved.
Then in 1960 AT$amp;T came out with a 300 bps modem (for use on it's phone system). Such slow and expensive modems were later mainly used for transmitting data between mainframe computers or for connecting a dumb terminal to a mainframe computer over phone lines. Many dumb terminals didn't even have a screen display, but printed on paper what you typed at the keyboard along with responses from the computer.
PCs and BBSs
With the advent of the personal computer (PCs) in the early 1980s, one could use a modem to dial into a remote mainframe computer. In this case, the PC was used like a dumb terminal. But now files could be transferred and one PC could connect to another via modems.
The 1980s saw the rise of the Bulletin Board System (BBS). A BBS was just a computer with a modem listening for incoming calls. The public could dial up a BBS with a modem and then download free software, participate in discussions on various topics, play on-line games, etc. Dialing in to a BBS was something like going to an Internet site. Except that to go to another BBS site, you would need to dial another number (and possible pay long distance telephone charges). Many BBSs would have a monthly charge but some were run by volunteers and were free. Many companies established BBSs for customers that contained support information, catalogs, etc. In the early 1990s, BBSs were booming. By the mid 1990s some even offered Internet connections. For some history of BBSs see Sysops' Corner: History of BBSing
The Internet
Then came the advance of Internet in the mid 1990s which resulted in the demise of the BBSs near the end of the 1990s. Some BBSs became websites, but when BBSs were dying in droves, websites were quite expensive so most BBSs just disappeared. The Internet contained far more information than any one BBS could maintain so BBSs were no longer competitive.
Modems permitted the public to connect to the Internet. In the 1990s, Modems became fast, cheap and widely used. Then in the late 1990s, faster non-analog "modems" appeared: ISDN, DSL, and cable. The history of these isn't in this HOWTO.
Speeds
Before V.32 (9600 bps), modems typically had speeds of 300 to 2400 bps. Some super fast ones had much higher speeds (such as 19.2k bps) and used non-standard protocols. To utilize these "fast" ones, both modems for a connection needed to support the same proprietary protocol which often meant that they must be the same brand.
Prior to the V.42 standard for error correction and the V.42bis (1990) standard for data compression, the MNP standards were usually used for both error correction and data compression. An X.PC error correction standard was used on some commercial data networks. Compression and error correction were available on some 2400 bps modems.
From 1960 to 1980 most modems only had a speed of 300 bps (which was also 300 baud). This is only 0.3kbps. Modern modems are over 100 times faster. Some old-slow modems are still in use so they are not really "antique" quite yet.
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