[inforoots] inforoots Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5 (GRiD history)

[Bill Worthington]

A brief addition to the wonderful notes that have been discussing GRiD 
and recently email....

I've learned a lot more than I garnished in the 1980s about GRiD.

	And i have not been able to verify this with Vent Cerf but we
> may also have been the first commercial email, file sharing and backup
> service,


?

That sounds interesting, I'd like to hear more!
  

In the 1970s I was working for IBM at the Palo Alto Systems Center and providing technical sales support for the low end System/370 and then 4300 computers -- more specifically for the operating systems that ran on those systems.  My primary focus was DOS/VS.  I coordinated the technical introduction of 4300 and DOS/VSE in early 1979.  DOS/VSE was developed by IBM's Laboratory in Böblingen, Germany.  This meant that my work day and that of the developers had almost no overlapping hours.  Contacting them meant my staying up till midnight and telephoning them with concerns, questions, etc. and their responding to me as they were clearing their desks to go home for the day.

VM/370 had provided RJE support for many years with its ability to send and receive files across systems.  VM Development had created a series of EXECs for their use with the locations developing products for VM systems which allowed a user to edit a file as though it were a letter.  When the file was saved, the EXEC then sent it to the recipient and saved a copy in a notelog.  Around 1977, they made this support available to internal users and my life became much easier because of the VM Network (VNET).  I could send a note whenever suited me and Böblingen could respond whenever they had a response.  It used point-to-point binary synchronous communication (BSC) over leased lines.  Among other things, VNET supplied email without the name.

-- 
Regards, Bill
BillWorthington at comcast.net

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