https://www.bbsdays.com/
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| Featuring: Jack Rickard | by Bob Talmadge https://www.bbsdays.com/ |
Jack Rickard was editor and publisher of Boardwatch Magazine, a monthly publication covering the Internet access and Web services industries. It was the de facto magazine of the BBS era and catapulted Rickard into fame and international respect in the computer industry. Published monthly since 1987, Boardwatch Magazine was widely hailed as the authoritative print publication covering the Internet Service Provider community and the developing technologies for the Internet.
Rickard also published the Boardwatch Magazine Directory of Internet Service Providers, a bimonthly publication containing listings on over 4,200 Internet Service Providers in the United States, Canada and Brazil broken down by area code, including services and pricing information, as well as detailed instructions for consumers and businesses on what the Internet is, why someone might want to be on it, how to configure hardware to GET on it, and how to use it once you’re there.
Jack Rickard of Boardwatch Magazine
Rickard serveed as President of Online Networking Expositions, Inc., promoters of the Internet Service Provider Convention (ISPCON), an annual trade show and convention of ISPs and Web service providers held each August since 1992.
Prior to founding Boardwatch Magazine, Rickard spent twelve years developing communications and electronic technologies for the defense and aerospace industries with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, Emerson Electric Electronics & Space Division, Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace and Martin Marietta Data Systems as an engineer and systems analyst.
Jack Rickard represents the Renaissance Man of the Internet. He foretold the coming of the BBS revolution, foresaw the explosive growth of the word wide web, and saw the need to change the BBS model before anyone else. He and Phil Becker created One BBS Con, an annual BBS convention which quickly turned into an internet or web conventon.
His Boardwatch Magazine and the Directory of Internet Service Providers gained worldwide attention and attracted a cult-like following. Most importantly, in 1997, Jack took on the entire backbone industry with a definitive study of faulty performance and false claims. Above all others, in 1997 Jack Rickard was The Man of the Year.