Before the Internet: Early Experiences of Computer Mediated Communication

In the 1970s, some people believed in using computers for making almost any information available to anyone and for supporting information exchange and discussions regardless of geographical distances. These ideas were, at that time, novel and revolutionary. Some people regarded these ideas as dangerous; for example, the Swedish Data Inspection Board (Datainspektionen) forbade people from storing email messages for longer than one month as well as from discussing political and religious issues using computerized forum systems. Although people tried hard to implement systems and had some limited success, the ideas became successful with the public usage of the internet in the 1990s. Many had hoped to realize this much earlier.