Delphi online service
Encyclopedia
Delphi was an early U.S.
online service provider
that started as a nationwide dialup service in 1983.
as Kussmaul Encyclopedia in 1981, featured ASCII
-based encyclopedia, E-mail
, and a primitive chat. Newswires, bulletin boards and better chat were added in early 1982.
On March 15, 1983, the Delphi name was first used by General Videotex Corporation. Forums were text-based, and accessed via Telenet
, Sprintnet, Tymnet
, Uninet, and Datapac
(Canada
).
Delphi partnered with ASCII Corp.
of Japan
to open online services in 1991.
Delphi provided national consumer access to the Internet in 1992. Features included E-mail (July 1992), FTP
, Telnet
, Usenet
, text-based Web
access (November 1992), MUD
s, Finger
, and Gopher.
In 1993 Delphi was sold to Rupert Murdoch
's News Corporation
. News Corporation recognized that there would be growth in consumer use of the internet and attempted to use Delphi as it's vehicle. It had 125,000 text-based customers in 1995, but by 1996 was down to less than 5,000 by some accounts, 50,000 by others.
In 1996, NewsCorp sold Delphi Internet to a group of investors that included some of its original principals. It launched a free, ad-supported managed-content website with associated message boards
and chat room
s, under the management of a team led by Dan Bruns and which included Bill Louden, who had headed GEnie
during its heyday. For a period of time, both text-based and web-based community services were available. After a year as a managed content site, Delphi reinvented itself as a community-driven service that allowed anyone to create an online community.
Prospero Technologies was formed in January 2000 as the merger of Delphi Forums and Wellengaged. Webpages for forums were discontinued.
In 2001, Rob Brazell purchased Delphi Forums, merged it with eHow and Idea Exchange, and formed Blue Frogg Enterprises. The Delphi.com domain was sold to Delphi Corporation, the auto parts manufacturer. Prospero partnered with Inforonics.
In 2002, Prospero reacquired Delphi Forums, joining it with Talk City to form Delphi Forums LLC.
In 2008, online community developer Mzinga Inc. acquired Littleton-based Prospero Technologies LLC.
On September 1, 2011, Mzinga sold Delphiforums back to early owner Dan Bruns.
, Michael A. Banks
, Jack L. Chalker
, Lawrence Watt-Evans
, Gardner Dozois
, Lawrence Person, Martha Soukup
, and Barbara Delaplace
, among others.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
online service provider
Online service provider
An online service provider can for example be an internet service provider, email provider, news provider , entertainment provider , search, e-shopping site , e-finance or e-banking site, e-health site, e-government site, Wikipedia, Usenet...
that started as a nationwide dialup service in 1983.
History
The company that became Delphi was founded by Wes KussmaulWes Kussmaul
Wes Kussmaul, author of several books about online security, is the founder of the Kussmaul Encyclopedia, the first online encyclopedia.In 1971, while stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base , Kussmaul received a degree in physics from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri...
as Kussmaul Encyclopedia in 1981, featured ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
-based encyclopedia, E-mail
E-mail
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 a primitive chat. Newswires, bulletin boards and better chat were added in early 1982.
On March 15, 1983, the Delphi name was first used by General Videotex Corporation. Forums were text-based, and accessed via Telenet
Telenet
Telenet was a commercial packet switched network which went into service in 1974. It was the first packet-switched network service that was available to the general public. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines connecting their computers and local...
, Sprintnet, Tymnet
Tymnet
Tymnet was an international data communications network headquartered in San Jose, California that used virtual call packet switched technology and X.25, SNA/SDLC, ASCII and BSC interfaces to connect host computers at thousands of large companies, educational institutions, and government agencies....
, Uninet, and Datapac
DATAPAC
DATAPAC was Canada's packet switched X.25-equivalent data network. Operated first by Trans-Canada Telephone System, then Telecom Canada, then the Stentor Alliance, it finally reverted to Bell Canada when the Stentor Alliance was dissolved.-Use:...
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
).
Delphi partnered with ASCII Corp.
ASCII (company)
was a publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, and became ASCII Media Works. The company published Monthly ASCII as the main publication...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to open online services in 1991.
Delphi provided national consumer access to the Internet in 1992. Features included E-mail (July 1992), FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
, Telnet
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
, 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...
, text-based Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
access (November 1992), MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
s, Finger
Finger protocol
In computer networking, the Name/Finger protocol and the Finger user information protocol are simple network protocols for the exchange of human-oriented status and user information.-Name/Finger protocol:...
, and Gopher.
In 1993 Delphi was sold to Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. News Corporation recognized that there would be growth in consumer use of the internet and attempted to use Delphi as it's vehicle. It had 125,000 text-based customers in 1995, but by 1996 was down to less than 5,000 by some accounts, 50,000 by others.
In 1996, NewsCorp sold Delphi Internet to a group of investors that included some of its original principals. It launched a free, ad-supported managed-content website with associated message boards
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
and chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
s, under the management of a team led by Dan Bruns and which included Bill Louden, who had headed GEnie
GEnie
GEnie was an online service created by a General Electric business - GEIS that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around 350,000 users. Peak simultaneous usage was around 10,000 users...
during its heyday. For a period of time, both text-based and web-based community services were available. After a year as a managed content site, Delphi reinvented itself as a community-driven service that allowed anyone to create an online community.
Prospero Technologies was formed in January 2000 as the merger of Delphi Forums and Wellengaged. Webpages for forums were discontinued.
In 2001, Rob Brazell purchased Delphi Forums, merged it with eHow and Idea Exchange, and formed Blue Frogg Enterprises. The Delphi.com domain was sold to Delphi Corporation, the auto parts manufacturer. Prospero partnered with Inforonics.
In 2002, Prospero reacquired Delphi Forums, joining it with Talk City to form Delphi Forums LLC.
In 2008, online community developer Mzinga Inc. acquired Littleton-based Prospero Technologies LLC.
On September 1, 2011, Mzinga sold Delphiforums back to early owner Dan Bruns.
Delphi Wednesday Science Fiction Group
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Delphi had a regular Wednesday night chat group (long before IRC and other chat programs became mainstream). Frequent attendees in this group included several professional science fiction writers, including Susan Casper, Pat Cadigan, Mike ResnickMike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
, Michael A. Banks
Michael A. Banks
Michael A. Banks is a science fiction writer and editor. He is perhaps best known for nonfiction works about the genre and collaborations with Mack Reynolds. Banks has several other novels to his credit, Michael A. Banks (born 1951) is a science fiction writer and editor. He is perhaps best...
, Jack L. Chalker
Jack L. Chalker
Jack Laurence Chalker was an American science fiction author. Chalker was also a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for 12 years, retiring in 1978 to write full-time...
, Lawrence Watt-Evans
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Lawrence Watt-Evans is one of the pseudonyms of American science fiction and fantasy author Lawrence Watt Evans...
, Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois is an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004...
, Lawrence Person, Martha Soukup
Martha Soukup
Martha Soukup is a Nebula award-winning and Hugo award-nominated science fiction author, and playwright for the emerging playwrights group. In 2003, she won their annual commission....
, and Barbara Delaplace
Barbara Delaplace
Barbara Delaplace is a Canadian science fiction writer.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, she immigrated to Florida, U.S., when she married Jack C. Haldeman II. Delaplace won the Homer Award for best short story of 1992 for her "Black Ice", originally published in the theme anthology Aladdin:...
, among others.
Source
- Delphi Forums History Project
- Boston Globe: Zitner, Aaron May 04, 1995 Delphi will move to N.Y., Lowell
- NewsCorp moves Delphi staff to Crosspoint Building in Lowell