Compunet was a United Kingdom based interactive service provider, catering primarily for the Commodore 64 but later for the

Commodore Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved grap ...

and Atari ST. It was also known by its users as ''CNet''. It ran from 1984 to May 1993.

Overview

Compunet hosted a wide range of content, and users were permitted to create their own sections within which they could upload their own graphics, articles and software. A custom editor existed in which the "frames" that made up the pages could be created either offline or when connected to the service. The editor's cache allowed users to quickly download a set of pages, then disconnect from the service in order to read them, thus saving on telephone costs. The

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

used a horizontally scrolling menu system, known as the "duck shoot", and navigation was essentially "select and click" with the ability to jump directly to pages with the use of

keywords Keyword may refer to: Computing * Keyword (Internet search), a word or phrase typically used by bloggers or online content creator to rank a web page on a particular topic * Index term, a term used as a keyword to documents in an information syste ...

. Content could be voted upon by the users. The service had many features which were considerably ahead of its time, especially when compared to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

of today: * Pricing of content (Optional. Users could price their own content). * Voting on content quality. * "Upload anywhere" of content: programs, graphics and text (Unless a section was protected). * Software could be

dongle A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality. In computing, the term was initially synonym ...

protected (the custom

modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more c ...

doubled as the dongle in this instance). *

WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...

editing of content. * Chat room (known as ''Partyline''), which allowed users to create their own rooms (similar principles have been shown in IRC). The server hosted Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) (by Richard Bartle), Federation II, and

Realm A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. E ...

. The first two of these games continue to run on the

today. Games creator Jeff Minter and musician Rob Hubbard, along with various members of the demo scene, had a presence on the network.

History

In 1982, Commodore UK decided to construct a nationwide computer network for the use of teachers. The

Commodore PET The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, ...

computer had been very successful. Nick Green developed the specification of what became ''PETNET'' with David Parkinson and Mike Bolley of ''Ariadne Software'' in The Albany pub (see "PETNET - data transmission system" in "Microcomputers in education" ed Dr I.C.H. Smith 1982 John Wiley ). In the Summer of 1982 Keith Hall of Commodore secured the money to commission the prototype which was run on an ADP DEC-10 machine. ''Ariadne Software'' wrote the software in 6502 Assembler for the client and FORTRAN for the host. The X25 packet protocol was modified to provide error correction for all file transfers. At ADP's suggestion reliable uploading was achieved by using temporary file names which were changed to user file names when the last byte had been correctly received by the host. Nick Green sought partners who could provide local call access and Host facilities. Alan Carmichael, Graham Craigie and Robert Foot of ADP joined the project. Around this time the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an empha ...

was released and gained enormous popularity within the UK education system. Commodore's 64 was seen as the "more bangs per buck" American alternative.{{Fact, date=February 2007 PETNET became Compunet which was aimed to support consumer and educational users. Nick Green specified a secure modem based on the Viewdata chip set and the assembly language client software was ported into the

and bundled with the

Commodore 1541 The Commodore 1541 (also known as the CBM 1541 and VIC-1541) is a floppy disk drive which was made by Commodore International for the Commodore 64 (C64), Commodore's most popular home computer. The best-known floppy disk drive for the C64, the ...

disk drive. After the first year Commodore was bought out and Compunet Teleservices Ltd became an independent company. Compunet culture was covered in the first issue of Commodore Disk User, which shipped software on its cover disk. ''ADP'' provided the initial DEC-10 mainframe, as well as the local-access dial-up points. But this was very expensive and a scheduled migration to a VME bus based multi-micro machine was successfully undertaken. New local dial-up points were provided by ISTEL (on their ''Fastrak'' network). After a management buy out ''ISTEL'' was sold to AT&T. This led to the failure of ''ISTEL'' technical support and an upgrade of local access to 2400/2400 baud. The best efforts of Ariadne and Compunet staffers Jason Gold and Mark Clarke came to nothing as the English legal system failed to protect Compunet's contracts. This meant a higher cost nationwide rate call for most users. A third move of the Compunet Host to Camden in North London was undertaken with Nick Green now board chair and MD. By this time client software was ported to the

and Atari ST and a teletype compatible version of the service using BBS scrolling text was introduced aimed at integration with the Internet and PCs. Compunet ceased trading in May 1993, when the company went into receivership for non-payment of VAT after the sudden short illness and death of Jim Chalmers, their sole practitioner accountant. He was negotiating a VAT refund at the time. Immediate barrister intervention failed despite £250,000 of debt asset.

Subscription model

Compunet charged a quarterly subscription, and telephone call costs were in addition to this. Typical off-peak charges would be £0.80UKP per hour. Premium services incurred additional charges, which required the user to first place money in their account. These services included: * Private

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

(some free quota was provided). * Uploading content. * Custom banners. * Customised user name (instead of, for example, 'abc3'). * Access to chat and gaming services.

Technology

Client

For the Commodore 64, Compunet provided a custom 1200/75

baud In telecommunication and electronics, baud (; symbol: Bd) is a common unit of measurement of symbol rate, which is one of the components that determine the speed of communication over a data channel. It is the unit for symbol rate or modulatio ...

(affectionately known as the "brick") which utilised the machine's cartridge port. As well as the usual modem features, the device had a custom ROM which contained the rudiments of the software required to access the service. This software could be updated automatically upon connection to the service. Out of the box, the modem was unable to connect to standard

Bulletin board A bulletin board (pinboard, pin board, noticeboard, or notice board in British English) is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise items wanted or for sale, announce events, or provide information. B ...

systems unless an optional software package was purchased. The

was programmed with a unique ID. This allowed it to work as a

to help prevent

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

of protected software. The custom nature of the technology hindered Compunet to a degree. The graphical design was very much keyed into the Commodore 64's graphical capabilities. Although this was more powerful than the Viewdata systems such as Prestel, it meant

porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally des ...

was difficult. However, software was later made available for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

(1987) and Atari ST (1988). A PC version was developed in-house but never made publicly available. The

and Atari ST versions both emulated the graphics and interface of the original Commodore 64. However, the PC version was

teletype A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Init ...

in nature, utilising Kermit for file transfers.

Server

The host server was a

DEC-10 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, especi ...

at launch, which ran Compunet as a time-slice. ADP provided the mainframe, as well as the local

dial-up Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

points, which allowed users all over the country access for the cost of a local telephone call. Specification: * 1 megaword 36 bit RAM (upgraded for Compunet). * £50,000 per month running costs (including the local-rate telephone call facilities). * Compunet host software written in Fortran, by ''Ariadne Software'' and further developed by Robert Foot with chat and real-time user and management accounting. When ADP announced it was to shut down its

network in Great Portland Street, Central London, Nick Green then consultant to Compunet and Mark Clarke (ex Commodore guru) researched closely coupled multi-micro architectures. Compunet was rewritten in C and migrated to a VME rack configured by Cambridge Micro Computers in the Park Royal Industrial Estate. It ran under

OS-9 OS-9 is a family of real-time, process-based, multitasking, multi-user operating systems, developed in the 1980s, originally by Microware Systems Corporation for the Motorola 6809 microprocessor. It was purchased by Radisys Corp in 2001, and ...

with a single 25 MHz master board. Specification: * VME bus. * 1 x 6820 for disk access. * 10 megabytes RAM. * 4 x 200 megabyte hard disks for storage. * 3 x 6810s (5 megabytes RAM each) for communications. * 52 simultaneous connections.

Sources

Article: "CNET - Moving with the times"
* Direct discussion with Nick Green (ex-chairman of Compunet).

External links

Federation II

MUD2

Gnome's Computers (an article that originally appeared on Compunet)