CIX
Encyclopedia
CIX was one of the earliest British
Internet service providers. Founded in 1983 by Frank and Sylvia Thornley, it began as a FidoNet
bulletin board system
, but in 1987 was relaunched commercially as CIX. At the core of the service were many thousands of "conferences" - groups established by users to discuss particular topics, conceptually not unlike newsgroups but limited to CIX subscribers (who sometimes describe themselves as 'Cixen'). These conferences still exist today although the CIX service has since expanded to include many other features. The service is funded by a monthly subscription charge rather than by advertising.
In 1988 it provided the first commercial Internet email
and Usenet
access in the UK. CIX then grew rapidly, reaching a peak of more than 16,000 users in 1994, before starting to lose customers to the newly formed Internet service providers that offered free access to the mass market using 0845 dialup, such as Demon
(which was started by Cixen Cliff Stanford
, whose CIX nickname was 'Demon'), Pipex, AOL
and Freeserve
.
In its heyday, CIX was one of the UK's premier online locations for both technical and social interaction. It hosted several official online support areas for companies such as Borland
and Novell
and counted among its subscribers many of the UK's technology journalists (some of them wooed with free accounts), which ensured regular mention in the computing press.
The Liberal Democrats
have used CIX as a conferencing system and a branded version of the Off line reader Ameol is provided for their use.
In March 1998 a management buy-in backed by Legal & General Ventures was successful. The buy-in team comprised Doug Birtley, Managing Director; Niels Gotfredsen, Finance Director; Graham Davies, Sales and Marketing Director and Lisa Pennington. Frank and Sylvia Thornley contracted to remain with the company for a minimum of three years.
In 2000 CIX was sold to Telenor
, a Norwegian
telecommunications company. CIX was re-branded and merged with XTML of Manchester and Norsk Data
of Newbury to form the UK arm of Nextra, the UK Internet subsidiary of Telenor.
In June 2002 the CIX service was outsourced by Telenor to Parkglobe, a company specially set up for the purpose by several long-term staffers and directors led by Graham Davies.
In July 2002 Telenor sold the business to GX Networks aka PIPEX.
Between 2003 and the present, several additional services including online calendars, contact lists and document libraries, plus voice-to-email, fax2email, and conference call facilities have been added.
In 2004 CIX Conferencing was relaunched as CIX Online and given a Web interface as an alternative to the text interface. Customer acceptance of the Web interface has been limited, due partly to its cumbersome nature when compared to the OLRs (Off Line Reader - this allowed the upload and download of new messages with messages editing performed off-line) that most cixen use.
In April 2007 the first prototype of the Cix Forums website was launched. This new online way to access the content is designed to attract more users.
In September 2008 Graham Davies announced that the API behind CIX Forums would be available in October 2008 allowing interested parties to create additional user add-ons.
On 25 May 2011, CIX was purchased by ICUK, an ISP, hosting and telecoms provider formed in November 2001 by an ex-employee of CIX. ICUK in its press release has said it intends to grow and expand CIX Conferencing for new and existing users of both companies.
server. (This was initially the same CoSy code-base on which BIX
the US-centric Byte Information eXchange was based.)
At first, users read the text-based (ISO 8859-1) CIX messages online, but the UK's practice of charging per minute for telephone calls led to the development of off-line readers (OLRs). The first CIX OLR was TelePathy (DOS-based), which developed into the first WIndows OLR - WIgWam (now an open-source project, under the name Virtual Access). The official Windows OLR for CIX is called Ameol, from A Most Excellent Off-Line reader. This handles email, CIX conferencing and Usenet, and is freely available. It was written independently by Steve Palmer in 1994, and more than a decade later, it is still the most popular way of accessing Cix. Many other OLRs, written by CIX users, are also available for other operating systems, such as Nicola on the Amiga
, and Polar for Psion PDAs. Augur is an Open Source OLR designed for CIX.
In 1996, it was decided to port the system to Sun hardware, and upgrade the bank of modems. ISDN dial up access, and ability to use the Internet to blink (a term used to collect messages) were also introduced.
), windows_vista, digital_tv, philology
(words and their derivations), cultmedia, mac (support for, and discussion of, Apple computers and Mac OS
), carp (the Campaign for Real Pedantry - discussion of any fine points of detail, often concentrating on the use and abuse of the English language), internet, own.business, gussets_live! and gps (Global Positioning System
). Another busy conference is sasha_lubetkin, a conference for a much loved member of the system with the same name.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Internet service providers. Founded in 1983 by Frank and Sylvia Thornley, it began as a FidoNet
FidoNet
FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems. It was most popular in the early to mid 1990s, prior to the introduction of easy and affordable access to the Internet...
bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
, but in 1987 was relaunched commercially as CIX. At the core of the service were many thousands of "conferences" - groups established by users to discuss particular topics, conceptually not unlike newsgroups but limited to CIX subscribers (who sometimes describe themselves as 'Cixen'). These conferences still exist today although the CIX service has since expanded to include many other features. The service is funded by a monthly subscription charge rather than by advertising.
In 1988 it provided the first commercial Internet email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
access in the UK. CIX then grew rapidly, reaching a peak of more than 16,000 users in 1994, before starting to lose customers to the newly formed Internet service providers that offered free access to the mass market using 0845 dialup, such as Demon
Demon Internet
Demon Internet is a British Internet Service Provider. It was one of the UK's earliest ISPs, especially targeting the "dialup" audience. It started on 1 June 1992 from an idea posted on CIX by Cliff Stanford of Demon Systems Ltd. The branch in the Netherlands started in 1996, and was sold to KPN...
(which was started by Cixen Cliff Stanford
Cliff Stanford
Cliff Stanford, an accountant from Southend-on-Sea, was a co-founder of Demon Internet, the first Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom for individual subscribers...
, whose CIX nickname was 'Demon'), Pipex, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
and Freeserve
Freeserve
Freeserve was a British Internet Service Provider, founded in 1998. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged into the Wanadoo group in 2000, itself a subsidiary of France Telecom...
.
In its heyday, CIX was one of the UK's premier online locations for both technical and social interaction. It hosted several official online support areas for companies such as Borland
Borland
Borland Software Corporation is a software company first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Cupertino, California and finally Austin, Texas. It is now a Micro Focus subsidiary. It was founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn.-The 1980s:...
and Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
and counted among its subscribers many of the UK's technology journalists (some of them wooed with free accounts), which ensured regular mention in the computing press.
The Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
have used CIX as a conferencing system and a branded version of the Off line reader Ameol is provided for their use.
Later company history
In 1996 the Thornleys decided to expand CIX's services to include full 0845 dialup Internet access known as CIX Internet. However, take up was limited (possibly due to an above-average cost) even though technically it was rated for many years as one of the best internet providers in the UK.In March 1998 a management buy-in backed by Legal & General Ventures was successful. The buy-in team comprised Doug Birtley, Managing Director; Niels Gotfredsen, Finance Director; Graham Davies, Sales and Marketing Director and Lisa Pennington. Frank and Sylvia Thornley contracted to remain with the company for a minimum of three years.
In 2000 CIX was sold to Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
, a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
telecommunications company. CIX was re-branded and merged with XTML of Manchester and Norsk Data
Norsk Data
Norsk Data was a computer manufacturer located in Oslo, Norway. Existing from 1967 to 1992, it had its most active period in the years from the early 1970s to the late 1980s...
of Newbury to form the UK arm of Nextra, the UK Internet subsidiary of Telenor.
In June 2002 the CIX service was outsourced by Telenor to Parkglobe, a company specially set up for the purpose by several long-term staffers and directors led by Graham Davies.
In July 2002 Telenor sold the business to GX Networks aka PIPEX.
Between 2003 and the present, several additional services including online calendars, contact lists and document libraries, plus voice-to-email, fax2email, and conference call facilities have been added.
In 2004 CIX Conferencing was relaunched as CIX Online and given a Web interface as an alternative to the text interface. Customer acceptance of the Web interface has been limited, due partly to its cumbersome nature when compared to the OLRs (Off Line Reader - this allowed the upload and download of new messages with messages editing performed off-line) that most cixen use.
In April 2007 the first prototype of the Cix Forums website was launched. This new online way to access the content is designed to attract more users.
In September 2008 Graham Davies announced that the API behind CIX Forums would be available in October 2008 allowing interested parties to create additional user add-ons.
On 25 May 2011, CIX was purchased by ICUK, an ISP, hosting and telecoms provider formed in November 2001 by an ex-employee of CIX. ICUK in its press release has said it intends to grow and expand CIX Conferencing for new and existing users of both companies.
Technical information
CIX Conferencing is based on the CoSy Conferencing System, though it has been heavily modified by generations of staff to add new features. The CoSy conferencing system used by CIX was initially run on a UNIXUnix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
server. (This was initially the same CoSy code-base on which BIX
BIX
BIX is part of a telephony cross-connect system created in the 1970s by Nortel Networks. As a system, it consists of various sizes of punch-down blocks, cable distribution accessories , and a punch-down tool to terminate wires at the punch-down block...
the US-centric Byte Information eXchange was based.)
At first, users read the text-based (ISO 8859-1) CIX messages online, but the UK's practice of charging per minute for telephone calls led to the development of off-line readers (OLRs). The first CIX OLR was TelePathy (DOS-based), which developed into the first WIndows OLR - WIgWam (now an open-source project, under the name Virtual Access). The official Windows OLR for CIX is called Ameol, from A Most Excellent Off-Line reader. This handles email, CIX conferencing and Usenet, and is freely available. It was written independently by Steve Palmer in 1994, and more than a decade later, it is still the most popular way of accessing Cix. Many other OLRs, written by CIX users, are also available for other operating systems, such as Nicola on the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, and Polar for Psion PDAs. Augur is an Open Source OLR designed for CIX.
In 1996, it was decided to port the system to Sun hardware, and upgrade the bank of modems. ISDN dial up access, and ability to use the Internet to blink (a term used to collect messages) were also introduced.
Example conferences
Some of the busiest conferences on CIX are enquire_within (general discussion), bikers, windows_xp (support for, and discussion of, Windows XPWindows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
), windows_vista, digital_tv, philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
(words and their derivations), cultmedia, mac (support for, and discussion of, Apple computers and Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
), carp (the Campaign for Real Pedantry - discussion of any fine points of detail, often concentrating on the use and abuse of the English language), internet, own.business, gussets_live! and gps (Global Positioning System
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
). Another busy conference is sasha_lubetkin, a conference for a much loved member of the system with the same name.
See also
- WELL - US pre-cursor of CIX
- BIXByte Information ExchangeByte Information eXchange was an online service created around 1985 by Byte magazine. It was a text-only Bulletin Board System-style site running the CoSy conferencing software running originally on an Arete multiprocessor system based on Motorola 68000s. When that didn't scale well, it was...
- the Byte Information eXchange