[ih] AT&T, carterfone, the 103, and why didnt BBSs start earlier?

[Larry Press]

> Carterfone was important because it allowed other people to build stuff to
> connect up to the network (originally only acoustically, like the old
> acoustic-coupler modems)

In 1956, before the Carterfone, Mr. Carter won a court case that 
overruled an FCC ban on his Hush-a-Phone, which snapped on to a 
telephone and made it possible for the user to speak in a whisper.

http://bpastudio.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/471/hout/telecomHistory/

The Hush-a-Phone only muted the human voice -- hard to see why the FCC 
would have banned it.

> Saying that, though, reminds me that there was a small amount of stuff
> significantly earlier - you might want to look into the SABRE reservations
> system, which dates back to 1957 or so (although the idea is a couple of
> years older), for remote access in a more specialized system.

Also check out Whirlwind from MIT which led to the SAGE air-defense 
network and trained a significant number of programmers -- a short 
description and a couple of references at:

http://bpastudio.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/articles/govt.htm

Tons more via Google.

> That's just my opinion, though - others may have a different take.

Sounds right on to me.

Larry