Messaging protocol that predates email
A blast from the past!
Before email, there were several messaging protocols that allowed people to send and receive messages over computer networks. Here are a few examples:
- Teleprinter: In the early 20th century, teleprinters were used to send messages over telegraph lines. They used a system of electrical impulses to transmit typed messages, which were received at the other end as printed text.
- Telex: Telex machines, introduced in the 1930s, allowed users to send typed messages over phone lines. Telex messages were transmitted as a series of tones, which were received at the other end as printed text.
- Dataphone: In the 1950s and 1960s, Dataphone was a messaging system that allowed users to send typed messages over phone lines. Dataphone used a system of electrical impulses to transmit messages, which were received at the other end as printed text.
- MSG: MSG (Message Switching) was a messaging protocol developed in the 1960s for use on computer networks. MSG allowed users to send and receive messages between different computer systems.
- SNA: SNA (Systems Network Architecture) was a messaging protocol developed by IBM in the 1970s. SNA allowed users to send and receive messages between different computer systems, and was widely used in the 1980s.
- UUCP: UUCP (Unix-to-Unix Copy Program) was a messaging protocol developed in the 1970s for use on Unix systems. UUCP allowed users to send and receive messages between different Unix systems.
These messaging protocols were all used before the widespread adoption of email, which emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s.