5 ms·

How to send an 'e mail' (1984) [video]

89 points by polm23 6y ago

dang 6y ago
If curious, some past threads: How to send an 'E mail' (1984) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23978397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23978397 - July 2020 (1 comment) How to Send an Email (1984) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22595154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22595154 - March 2020 (1 comment) How to Send an Email in 1984 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12628019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12628019 - Oct 2016 (47 comments) How to Send an Email in 1984 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11280242 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11280242 - March 2016 (1 comment)
dt3ft 6y ago
He proceeds to enter his password as 12345... (at 1:21)
- yummypaint 6y ago
  The more things change the more they stay the same
- Jugurtha 6y ago
  I believe it's 1234.
spookyuser 6y ago
Wow great video! I've recently been watching Look Around You and I have to assume that season 2 was directly inspired by this clip, the similarity is uncanny. An example: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t2yhw https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t2yhw
Symbiote 6y ago
At the end of the video, there's a software transmission!
- doctorwhat 6y ago
  I downloaded the audio and converted it to .wav. Made it mono, extracted the end, and saved as unsigned 8bits PCM. Now trying to figure out what the hell to do with it! Any pointers appreciated :)
  - Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
    Use MakeUEF to convert from .wav to .uef, and you can then load that into a BBC Micro emulator.
    - doctorwhat 6y ago
      Thanks, I was missing knowledge about that file format!
      - sammorrowdrums 6y ago
        https://www.reddit.com/r/ReverseEngineering/comments/4boa6p/old_audio_datablast_for_bbc_micro_doesnt_sound/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ReverseEngineering/comments/4boa6p/...
        doctorwhat 6y ago
        thanks!
Aardwolf 6y ago
"It's very simple really" plugs around various cables, switches on things, logs on, starts rotating dial and anxiously looks at camera "So it's a very simple connection to make" "Extremely simple"
- mc32 6y ago
  It’s like your first day of calculus and the instructor talking about the final exam saying, yes it’s extremely simple. Yes, of course, after you learn everything and do it daily, yes, then it’s simple. This exemplifies why some technologists failed. They’re “simple” once you get the pattern down, but it’s hard for anyone unfamiliar.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
dt3ft 6y ago
Another example showing looking up airport information or booking theatre tickets or downloading a file via prestel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq53DO7zL_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq53DO7zL_g
082349872349872 6y ago
ordering pizza via computer, about a decade earlier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94d_h_t2QAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94d_h_t2QAA
codr7 6y ago
Just push this button here :) I actually spent some time yesterday pushing buttons and sending emails, in a language that's as old as the video. https://github.com/codr7/emash https://github.com/codr7/emash
gbolcer 6y ago
Funny. I started at UCI in 1985 where they gave every student an email. 36 years later, the same exact email address still works. In fact, I think 1984 was one of the first years that email addresses standardized on the "natural" format everyone sees and uses today. We used the MH mail system that was developed at RAND and later adopted as an open source project there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System
orf 6y ago
I see "1234" was a popular password in 1984 as well.
- temp0826 6y ago
  Hey! That’s the password on my luggage
- walshemj 6y ago
  11111 was the password used for prince Philips demo account that got hacked in the infamous incident.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
walshemj 6y ago
Interesting that he wasn't dialing the 618 short code we had - though Oftel did at some stage ake us stop using that. I actually used to use to dial the x.25 service to login from home using a portable terminal - no screen just paper.
mattm 6y ago
I just finished reading the book "The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal". Very highly recommended for anyone interested in the early days of computing and the internet and the people that helped make it happen.
- throw32993 6y ago
  Another good book is 'The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture' by Brian Dear. It dates (1960s, 1970s) even before the Licklider book I think. Read the blurb, sounds amazing the things they had back then.
kwdc 6y ago
"E" mail? that will never take off. Next you'll be making currency out of just electricity.
cylinder 6y ago
It's easy to romanticise the early days of the internet but seeing this brought a tinge of depression.

89 points by polm23 6y ago

dang 6y ago

If curious, some past threads: How to send an 'E mail' (1984) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23978397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23978397 - July 2020 (1 comment) How to Send an Email (1984) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22595154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22595154 - March 2020 (1 comment) How to Send an Email in 1984 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12628019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12628019 - Oct 2016 (47 comments) How to Send an Email in 1984 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11280242 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11280242 - March 2016 (1 comment)

dt3ft 6y ago

He proceeds to enter his password as 12345... (at 1:21)

yummypaint 6y ago
The more things change the more they stay the same
Jugurtha 6y ago
I believe it's 1234.

spookyuser 6y ago

Wow great video! I've recently been watching Look Around You and I have to assume that season 2 was directly inspired by this clip, the similarity is uncanny. An example: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t2yhw https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t2yhw

Symbiote 6y ago

At the end of the video, there's a software transmission!

doctorwhat 6y ago
I downloaded the audio and converted it to .wav. Made it mono, extracted the end, and saved as unsigned 8bits PCM. Now trying to figure out what the hell to do with it! Any pointers appreciated :)
- Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
  Use MakeUEF to convert from .wav to .uef, and you can then load that into a BBC Micro emulator.
  - doctorwhat 6y ago
    Thanks, I was missing knowledge about that file format!
    - sammorrowdrums 6y ago
      https://www.reddit.com/r/ReverseEngineering/comments/4boa6p/old_audio_datablast_for_bbc_micro_doesnt_sound/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ReverseEngineering/comments/4boa6p/...
      - doctorwhat 6y ago
        thanks!

Aardwolf 6y ago

"It's very simple really" plugs around various cables, switches on things, logs on, starts rotating dial and anxiously looks at camera "So it's a very simple connection to make" "Extremely simple"

mc32 6y ago
It’s like your first day of calculus and the instructor talking about the final exam saying, yes it’s extremely simple. Yes, of course, after you learn everything and do it daily, yes, then it’s simple. This exemplifies why some technologists failed. They’re “simple” once you get the pattern down, but it’s hard for anyone unfamiliar.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

dt3ft 6y ago

Another example showing looking up airport information or booking theatre tickets or downloading a file via prestel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq53DO7zL_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq53DO7zL_g

082349872349872 6y ago

ordering pizza via computer, about a decade earlier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94d_h_t2QAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94d_h_t2QAA

codr7 6y ago

Just push this button here :) I actually spent some time yesterday pushing buttons and sending emails, in a language that's as old as the video. https://github.com/codr7/emash https://github.com/codr7/emash

gbolcer 6y ago

Funny. I started at UCI in 1985 where they gave every student an email. 36 years later, the same exact email address still works. In fact, I think 1984 was one of the first years that email addresses standardized on the "natural" format everyone sees and uses today. We used the MH mail system that was developed at RAND and later adopted as an open source project there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MH_Message_Handling_System

orf 6y ago

I see "1234" was a popular password in 1984 as well.

temp0826 6y ago
Hey! That’s the password on my luggage
walshemj 6y ago
11111 was the password used for prince Philips demo account that got hacked in the infamous incident.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

walshemj 6y ago

Interesting that he wasn't dialing the 618 short code we had - though Oftel did at some stage ake us stop using that. I actually used to use to dial the x.25 service to login from home using a portable terminal - no screen just paper.

mattm 6y ago

I just finished reading the book "The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal". Very highly recommended for anyone interested in the early days of computing and the internet and the people that helped make it happen.

throw32993 6y ago
Another good book is 'The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture' by Brian Dear. It dates (1960s, 1970s) even before the Licklider book I think. Read the blurb, sounds amazing the things they had back then.

kwdc 6y ago

"E" mail? that will never take off. Next you'll be making currency out of just electricity.

cylinder 6y ago

It's easy to romanticise the early days of the internet but seeing this brought a tinge of depression.