Byte Information Exchange
Encyclopedia
Byte Information eXchange (BIX) was an online service created around 1985 by Byte magazine
. It was a text-only Bulletin Board System
-style site running the CoSy conferencing software running originally on an Arete multiprocessor system based on Motorola 68000s. When that didn't scale well, it was ported to run on Pyramid. When that became too expensive to run, it was ported to a DEC
Alpha server. McGraw-Hill
also used the same software internally.
Access was via local dial-in or for additional hourly charges, the Tymnet
X.25
network. Monthly rates were initially $13/month for the account and $1/hour for X.25 access. Unlike CompuServe
, access at higher speeds was not surcharged. Many of the Byte staff were active on the service. Later, gateways permitted email communication outside the system. BIX was acquired by the Delphi (online service) in 1992.
In the mid-1990s the Internet became more available to the masses and Usenet
, mailing lists, and competing services such as CompuServe and America Online were able to offer flat-rate services, which adversely affected BIX membership levels. In the late-1990s, as the Internet became more mainstream, membership and activity plummeted forcing BIX to cut pricing to $40 per year, with no per hour connection charge by using the Internet for access.
Lower prices and full page ads in Byte magazine were unsuccessful in turning the service around. Consequently, BIX was shut down in 2001. Some members created a new service, based on an open-source version of CoSy, called NLZ (Noise Level Zero) where they continue what remained of the service, with many of the same conferences and topics that were active at the end of Delphi's ownership.
Other CoSy-based conferencing systems of the same era still survive including CIX
.
Byte (magazine)
BYTE magazine was a microcomputer magazine, influential in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s because of its wide-ranging editorial coverage...
. It was a text-only Bulletin Board System
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
-style site running the CoSy conferencing software running originally on an Arete multiprocessor system based on Motorola 68000s. When that didn't scale well, it was ported to run on Pyramid. When that became too expensive to run, it was ported to a DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
Alpha server. McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
also used the same software internally.
Access was via local dial-in or for additional hourly charges, the Tymnet
Tymnet
Tymnet was an international data communications network headquartered in San Jose, California that used virtual call packet switched technology and X.25, SNA/SDLC, ASCII and BSC interfaces to connect host computers at thousands of large companies, educational institutions, and government agencies....
X.25
X.25
X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for packet switched wide area network communication. An X.25 WAN consists of packet-switching exchange nodes as the networking hardware, and leased lines, Plain old telephone service connections or ISDN connections as physical links...
network. Monthly rates were initially $13/month for the account and $1/hour for X.25 access. Unlike CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
, access at higher speeds was not surcharged. Many of the Byte staff were active on the service. Later, gateways permitted email communication outside the system. BIX was acquired by the Delphi (online service) in 1992.
In the mid-1990s the Internet became more available to the masses and Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
, mailing lists, and competing services such as CompuServe and America Online were able to offer flat-rate services, which adversely affected BIX membership levels. In the late-1990s, as the Internet became more mainstream, membership and activity plummeted forcing BIX to cut pricing to $40 per year, with no per hour connection charge by using the Internet for access.
Lower prices and full page ads in Byte magazine were unsuccessful in turning the service around. Consequently, BIX was shut down in 2001. Some members created a new service, based on an open-source version of CoSy, called NLZ (Noise Level Zero) where they continue what remained of the service, with many of the same conferences and topics that were active at the end of Delphi's ownership.
Other CoSy-based conferencing systems of the same era still survive including CIX
CIX
CIX was one of the earliest British Internet service providers. Founded in 1983 by Frank and Sylvia Thornley, it began as a FidoNet bulletin board system, but in 1987 was relaunched commercially as CIX...
.