Oh the memories. I had a Hayes modem and an IBM PC..ATDT1234567. I was dialing into York U's bank of modems, but they were usually all busy, so I wrote a little program to auto-dial, and then call me with an alarm once I connected. Memories.
Blasts from the past. Back in the day (think 30-40 years ago), if you
wanted to connect to another computer over the phone lines you would
get a Hayes (or Hayes compatible) modem (yes, okay there were some
non-Hayes compatible modem out there, but), then connect that to your
IBM, Commodore, Atari, Apple, or .... computer, run a terminal
program, type a command along the lines of ATDP5551212 (or whatever)
to get your computer to connect to a local electronic BBS (Bulletin
Board System) (likely NOT Internet connected). In its own way, back in
the day it was all good (legal) fun.
I was reminded of the above due to another blast from the past
recently. I ran across the current issue of "2600" magazine for sale
at an Indigo Bookstore. Back in the day "2600" carried articles about
things you could do of ...questionable legality... with the telephone
network. You get the impression that phone ...tricks.... are still an
area that would be happy to write about.
What drew my attention in the current issue of "2600" was an article
titled "Bulletin Board Systems Are Back!". In summary, it went into
using an ESP8266 (think an earlier/cheaper version of an ESP32,
semi-Arduino compatible module with built-in WiFi) as what would
appear to your computer as a Hayes compatible modem. You do need to
assemble an ESP8266 module and an RS232 to TTL module total cost if
ordered from one of the usual suspects (like AliExpress in China)
under $10. Assemble the parts, install the appropriate software (which
they identify in the article) and you can connect to any computer on
the internet that supports telnet connections (these days, most
don't).
Still this does mean even machines like the Commodore 64, Atari 800 or
other machines of that vintage can (with an RS232 adapter) can
(conditionally) connect to the Internet or they can host a BBS. Neat
stuff...
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