TapCIS
Encyclopedia
TAPCIS, was an automated utility that speeded up access to, and management of, CompuServe
email accounts and forum memberships for PC users from 1981 until 2004 when advances in CompuServe technology rendered this highly-regarded little DOS-based program obsolete. Written in Borland's Turbo Pascal
, TAPCIS was a $79 Shareware program that automated access to CompuServe. At a time when subscribers paid for timed access and had to spend time online reading and replying to messages, the TAPCIS autopilot took its users online with a single keystroke, bypassing the windows interface while it sent all pre-written email and forum postings written offline, received new messages, downloaded requested files, and logged off CompuServe. The program was the chosen tool for dozens of CompuServe System Operators (SYSOPS). TAPCIS was the brainchild of Howard Benner,, a marketing executive from Wilmington, Del. Benner joined CompuServe in 1981 and soon after he authored and published TAPCIS. Stricken by melanoma, Benner died in June, 1990, aged 44. However, his software inspired a loyal community of TAP users who today still maintain their own website at http://www.tapcis.com/
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
email accounts and forum memberships for PC users from 1981 until 2004 when advances in CompuServe technology rendered this highly-regarded little DOS-based program obsolete. Written in Borland's Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
, TAPCIS was a $79 Shareware program that automated access to CompuServe. At a time when subscribers paid for timed access and had to spend time online reading and replying to messages, the TAPCIS autopilot took its users online with a single keystroke, bypassing the windows interface while it sent all pre-written email and forum postings written offline, received new messages, downloaded requested files, and logged off CompuServe. The program was the chosen tool for dozens of CompuServe System Operators (SYSOPS). TAPCIS was the brainchild of Howard Benner,, a marketing executive from Wilmington, Del. Benner joined CompuServe in 1981 and soon after he authored and published TAPCIS. Stricken by melanoma, Benner died in June, 1990, aged 44. However, his software inspired a loyal community of TAP users who today still maintain their own website at http://www.tapcis.com/