I remember being at an early BBSCON, perhaps in Tampa. I bought something at a vendors booth. He got on a PC and typed in my order. I asked what he was doing

I remember being at an early BBSCON, perhaps in Tampa. I bought something at a vendors booth. He got on a PC and typed in my order. I asked what he was doing and he explained that he was connected to their BBS in Denver. Once it charged my credit card it was going to print out a mailing label with a bar code. An employee would scan the code, find the book, put it into an envelope and slap on the label. That book was waiting on my doorstep when I returned from the conference. This was maybe 1989 or 1990, I told my boss that our brand new FAX machine was toast, I'd just seen the future. The really funny thing is that thirty years later that FAX machine (or it's replacement) is still being used.