The Boston Computer Society (often referred to as the "BCS") was an organization of personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 users, based in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, that ran from 1977 to 1996. At one point, it was the largest such group in the world, with regular user group meetings, many publications, permanent offices in Boston, and hosting major product announcements, including the East Coast release of the Apple Macintosh in 1984.

History

The organization was co-founded by thirteen-year old Jonathan Rotenberg in 1977, and grew to become the largest such organization in the world, with over 30,000 members in all 50 U.S. states and 40 other countries. The other co-founder was Richard Gardner. Among the early members were many well-known names in the computer industry, including
Stewart Alsop II

Stewart Alsop II

Stewart Johonnot Oliver Alsop is a partner in Alsop Louie Partners, a venture capital firm. He was a general partner with New Enterprise Associates in Menlo Park, California...

,
Daniel S. Bricklin,
Bob Doyle (inventor),
Philip D. Estridge,
Dan Fylstra

Dan Fylstra

Dan Fylstra is a pioneer of the software products industry. In 1975 he was a founding associate editor of BYTE Magazine. In 1978 he co-founded Personal Software. Personal Software became the distributor of a new program called VisiCalc, the first widely used computer spreadsheet...

,
William H. Gates,
Wayne Green

Wayne Green

Wayne Green is an American publisher and writer, and consultant. He was formerly editor of CQ magazine before he went on to found 73, 80 Micro, Byte, CD Review, Cold Fusion, Kilobaud Microcomputing, RUN , InCider, and Pico, as well as publishing books and running a software company...

,
Mitchell Kapor,
Tracy Licklider,
Cary Lu

Cary Lu

Cary Lu was a writer specialising on the Apple Macintosh platform.-Early life:Born in Qingdao, China, Lu arrived in the United States at the age of three, and grew up in California. He studied physics at University of California, Berkeley, and eventually earned a Ph.D...

,
Mike Markkula

Mike Markkula

Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula, Jr. is an American entrepreneur who was an angel investor and second CEO of Apple Computer, Inc., providing early critical funding and managerial support...

,
Seymour Papert

Seymour Papert

Seymour Papert is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language....

,
Jon Shirley

Jon Shirley

Jon A. Shirley was president of Microsoft from 1983 through 1990, and a member of its directors until 2008.Shirley was born in San Diego, California. He attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

,
Clive Sinclair

Clive Sinclair

Sir Clive Marles Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor, most commonly known for his work in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s....

,
Benjamin M. Rosen

Benjamin M. Rosen

Benjamin "Ben" M. Rosen is the former Chairman and former Acting Chief Executive Officer of Compaq.-Early life and career:...

,
and Nigel Searle

Nigel Searle

Nigel Searle was the managing director of Sinclair Research Ltd, and one of the company's longest-serving employees. He joined Sinclair Radionics in 1973, and for most of the 1970s, Searle worked for Sinclair in the United States to promote the company's calculators and other products. In 1977,...

. At its peak in the early 1990s, BCS supported more than 75 different user and special interest groups and held more than 150 monthly meetings.

Apple Computer

Apple Computer

Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

 Corp., Lotus Software

Lotus Software

Lotus Software is a software company with headquarters in Westford, Massachusetts...

 and IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 made major product announcements at BCS meetings. For example, Apple made the East Coast introduction of the Apple Macintosh at a BCS meeting in 1984, and GO Corp.

GO Corp.

GO Corporation was founded in 1987 to create portable computers, an operating system, and software with a pen-based user interface. It was famous not only for its pioneering work in Pen-based computing but as well as being one of the most well-funded start-up companies of its time.Though the...

 made the consumer introduction of PenPoint OS

PenPoint OS

The PenPoint OS was a product of GO Corporation and was one of the earliest operating systems written specifically for graphical tablets and personal digital assistants...

 to BCS in 1991.

Update, the BCS magazine, was renamed "Computer Update" when Stewart Alsop became the publisher. (April 1982 issue, April 1987 10th anniversary issue)

There were a myriad of user groups meeting monthly with their own paper newsletters.

Much of the promotional and support role played by the organization became obsolete with the increasing sophistication of computer users and the growth of the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 as an alternate source of information. Membership shrank to 18,000, they ran out of money, and BCS closed in October 1996.

Milestones

1977: Founded in February by then 13-year old Jonathan Rotenberg to be a resource for anyone to feel comfortable with computer technology, exchange information with fellow users, and learn from each other's successes and failures.

1978: Membership of 73. First mimeographed copy of BCS Update printed in November. First BCS telephone line installed - in Jonathan's bedroom. First meetings held in the Commonwealth School

Commonwealth School

Commonwealth School is an independent high school of about 155 students and 35 faculty members located at 151 Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.-History:...

 cafeteria.

1979: First BCS user group forums - for the Commodore PET computer. First BCS book published; a directory of local stores, consultants, and services. Membership: 300. VisiCalc

VisiCalc

VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program available for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool...

 introduced at BCS meeting by Bob Frankston

Bob Frankston

Robert M. Frankston is the co-creator with Dan Bricklin of the VisiCalc spreadsheet program and the co-founder of Software Arts, the company that developed it....

 and Dan Bricklin.

1980: The BCS is incorporated and rents a small downtown Boston office. First part-time employee hired as Jonathan leaves for Brown University. Membership at 1000 with nine user groups. BCS Update becomes Computer Update, a glossy 34-page magazine.

1980: April,1980 - The Apple/Boston user group becomes part of the Boston Computer society with Gary E. Haffer as the group's director. Its first meeting was held in a hall in downtown Boston.

1981: First full-time employee hired. Official non-profit status granted. Calendar launched and cursor button logo adopted. Membership is growing rapidly.

1982: Membership grows to 3,000 with 13 user and special interest groups. Dues were $18. First electronic bulletin board started. IBM introduces its new personal computer in November with the group starting in January 1983. National media attention.

1983: Membership doubles to 6,300. Two more employees hired. 20 user and special interest groups. First regional chapter started in Providence, Rhode Island, under the auspices of the IBM Group.

1984: Office moves to larger office in same complex as membership hits 10,000. Resource Center opens. 29 user/special interest groups. First Buying Guide published. The Macintosh computer is introduced at a BCS meeting and the Mac Group starts. First Microsoft Windows group starts.

1985: Membership at 17,000 with 41 groups. Activist newsletter launched. The book Things the Manual Never Told You, co-written by many BCS activists, is published by Addison Wesley. Professional staff of seven employees.

1986: 50 user groups and 500 activists. First overseas affiliation with the Denmark Personal Computer Society. Calendar lists over 100 meetings and events each month. Membership is 23,000 with $35 annual

1987: Tenth Anniversary. A special 132-page Computer Update published. IBM and Mac Group open offices. Search begins for new BCS Center. Membership at 26,000 representing all 50 states and 40 countries.

1988: Membership goes over 30,000. Computer Update changes back to BCS Update. NeXT introduces its computer at one of the largest meetings ever with almost 3,000 people lined up at Symphony Hall in Boston. Calendar lists about 140 events. Public service intiiatives begin.

1989: The Massachusetts Special Access Technology Center (MASTAC, an organization assisting disabled children and their teachers and families get access to computer technology, comes under the BCS umbrella. Membership peaks in June at 31,100 with dues at $40 for an individual membership. Over 20 electronic bulletin boards and 700 activists. Revenues over $2 million.

1990 Rotenberg moves from president to chairman. Tracy Licklider named president. Declining membership and local economics force scaleback of BCS Center. Membership at 26,800. Dues reduced to $39.

1991: BCS office moves to One Kendall Square in Cambridge. Membership shrinks to 24,400. IBM Group moves office to larger space with classrooms, still in Newton. Joint publications (BCS Tech, BCS Professionals, BCS Computers) launched. Licklider resigns; search for new president begins.

1992: Membership at 23,500. HP executive Bob Grenoble named president in May. Macintosh Group office moves from Somerville to Cambridge and their bulletin board logs its 500,000 call. At year-end employees numbered at 20 and activists topped 800. The Resource Center began providing daily access to members. Alliance formed with The World for Internet access. Member insurance and an unemployment service.

1993: Computer Update becomes a new flagship publication - BCS Magazine. Seventh annual MegaMeeting, CompuFest, and a Computers & Social Change Conference. President Bob Grenoble differs with BCS Activists as to BCS direction, tries to change computer platform emphasis - Mac, PC, Amiga, etc. Boston Globe quotes Grenoble as saying computers are not very useful to average person. Activists resist and call for Grenoble resignation at a public meeting.

1994: Grenoble resigns. Eighth annual MegaMeeting has 10,000 attendees, 150 exhibitors, 150 seminars and workshops. User group support director Pam Bybell becomes president.

1995: President and Board find it difficult to cut back staff and operation to meet declining membership and revenues.

1996: Pam Bybell resigns. Board votes to close BCS.

[Milestone source to 1993: BCS Activist - Special Edition 1993 Newsletter]

User Groups

BCS had scores of separate User Groups. As an example, in Spring 1993 the list included:

Alpha Four; Amateur Radio; Amiga; Apple II; Andover Chapter; Artificial Intelligence; Atari 8-bit and ST; Business; Cape Cod Chapter; CASE; Commodore; Computers & Speech; Construction; Consultants & Entrepreneurs; Databases; Desktop Publishing; Digital; isabled/ Special Needs; Education; Environmental; Hewlett Packard; IBM; Internet; Investment/Real Estate; Legal; Lotus; Macintosh; MacTechGroup; Medical/Dental; Music; New Media; Networking/Electronic Mail; Newton; NeXT; OS/2; Portable Computers; Robotics; Science/Engineering; Programming; Social Impact; Telecommunications; Texas Instruments; TI Pro; Training & Documentation; User Interface Design; Virtual Reality; Visually Impaired; Windows; Women and Computers; Worcester Chapter; ZITEL

Publications

Monthly:

• Computer Update - later BCS Magazine
• The Active Window (Macintosh)
• Amiga Culture (Commodore Amiga)
• PC Report (IBM PC)
• Thinking Technology (Artificial Intelligence)
• BCS Professionals
• BCS Computers
• BCS Tech

Quarterly:

• ApplePress (Apple II)
• Impact (Social Impact)
• Look 'n Feel (Accessibility)
• New Media News (New Media)
• Online Connection (Telecommunications)
• The Schoolhouse Monitor (Education/Logo)