X*Press X*Change

Last updated

X*Press X*Change is an obsolete computer-based news-ticker-style newsfeed service that existed during the late 1980s and much of the 1990s. The X*Press service debuted in late 1986 as a low cost, publicly available newswire service that used personal computers to read and process the real-time data. X*PRESS Information Services, Ltd. was a partnership between McGraw-Hill and former cable television giant Tele-Communications, Inc. (purchased by AT&T Corporation and later spun off). Data included delayed stock ticker quotes and news headlines from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, McGraw-Hill, Standard & Poor's, Reuters, and UPI. News from outside the U.S. was contributed by Kyodo, ITAR-TASS and Xinhua. [1]

Contents

The X*Press service was transmitted by way of satellite. Specifically, the system's data stream was carried on C-Band satellite onboard CNN's (later WGN's) transponder using General Instrument (now part of Motorola) InfoCipher 1500P satmodem technology. The InfoCipher modem was an add-on to VideoCipher II+/RS TVRO receivers and received the data at 9600 bits per second.

Participating cable companies could also send the data signal over their distribution systems to cable subscribers, who used a cable TV version of the InfoCipher modem and software on a home computer to decode and display the information stream. The software — called X*Press X*Change and X*Press Executive — was available for the Amiga, Apple Macintosh, Apple II, Atari ST, and MS-DOS platforms, although the Macintosh version was considered superior to the MS-DOS version. Sometime in the 1990s, the X*Press X*Change service was renamed InGenius, and faded into obscurity shortly afterward with the rise of the modern Internet as well as improved cable television on-screen graphics technology. The X*Change/InGenius service was discontinued in 1997.

Data protocol and user-developed software

X*PRESS kept the data stream protocol secret, revealing the specifications to certain software developers only under non-disclosure agreements.

Several users, unhappy with the limited capabilities of the PC software provided by X*PRESS or using computer systems for which X*PRESS did not provide any software, attempted to reverse-engineer the protocol of the data stream. This effort was helped by the fact that the Amiga version of X*Press X*Change was distributed on a floppy disk that had, by mistake, some random portions of the software source code on some of its unused blocks. The accidentally released source code provided some details and terminology used to describe the protocol, and other parts were purely reverse-engineered. It was never completely clear whether it was legal to publish or use the various forms of underground software that circulated among a small community of users.

Related Research Articles

AppleTalk is a discontinued proprietary suite of networking protocols developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. AppleTalk includes a number of features that allow local area networks to be connected with no prior setup or the need for a centralized router or server of any sort. Connected AppleTalk-equipped systems automatically assign addresses, update the distributed namespace, and configure any required inter-networking routing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulletin board system</span> Computer server

A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the graphical user interface</span>

The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.

Kermit is a computer file transfer and management protocol and a set of communications software tools primarily used in the early years of personal computing in the 1980s. It provides a consistent approach to file transfer, terminal emulation, script programming, and character set conversion across many different computer hardware and operating system platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tandy 1000</span> IBM PC compatible home computer system

The Tandy 1000 is the first in a line of IBM PC compatible home computer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation for sale in its Radio Shack and Radio Shack Computer Center chains of stores. Introduced in 1984, the product line was aimed at providing affordable but capable systems for home computing or education, with some of its Tandy specific features like graphics, sound and joystick port making it more appealing for home use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serial port</span> Communication interface transmitting information sequentially

On computers, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. Throughout most of the history of personal computers, data has been transferred through serial ports to devices such as modems, terminals, various peripherals, and directly between computers.

The resource fork is a fork or section of a file on Apple's classic Mac OS operating system, which was also carried over to the modern macOS for compatibility, used to store structured data along with the unstructured data stored within the data fork.

GeoPort is a serial data system used on some models of the Apple Macintosh that could be externally clocked to run at a 2 megabit per second data rate. GeoPort slightly modified the existing Mac serial port pins to allow the computer's internal DSP hardware or software to send data that, when passed to a digital-to-analog converter, emulated various devices such as modems and fax machines. GeoPort could be found on late-model 68K-based machines as well as many pre-USB Power Macintosh models and PiPPiN. Some later Macintosh models also included an internal GeoPort via an internal connector on the Communications Slot. Apple GeoPort technology is now obsolete, and modem support is typically offered through USB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Null modem</span> Serial cable connecting two computers

Null modem is a communication method to directly connect two DTEs using an RS-232 serial cable. The name stems from the historical use of RS-232 cables to connect two teleprinter devices or two modems in order to communicate with one another; null modem communication refers to using a crossed-over RS-232 cable to connect the teleprinters directly to one another without the modems. It is also used to serially connect a computer to a printer, since both are DTE, and is known as a Printer Cable.

ipconfig Console application program

ipconfig is a console application program of some computer operating systems that displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values and refreshes Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS) settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home theater PC</span> PC meant to be used in a home theater setting

A home theater PC (HTPC) or media center computer is a convergent device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that focuses on video, photo, audio playback, and sometimes video recording functionality. Since the mid-2000s, other types of consumer electronics, including game consoles and dedicated media devices, have crossed over to manage video and music content. The term "media center" also refers to specialized application software designed to run on standard personal computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinemaware</span> Video game developer

Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher. It had released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.

The Amiga computer can be used to emulate several other computer platforms, including legacy platforms such as the Commodore 64, and its contemporary rivals such as the IBM PC and the Macintosh.

Amiga software is computer software engineered to run on the Amiga personal computer. Amiga software covers many applications, including productivity, digital art, games, commercial, freeware and hobbyist products. The market was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s but then dwindled. Most Amiga products were originally created directly for the Amiga computer, and were not ported from other platforms.

Music-on-demand (MOD) is a proven, recording industry certified multi-billion dollar music distribution & subscriber-based industry model conceived with the growth of two-way computing and telecommunications in the early 1990s originally architected by Dale Schalow. Primarily, high-quality music is made available to purchase, access by search, and play back instantly using software on set-top boxes, coaxial, fiber optics, cellular mobile devices, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, from an available distribution point, such as a computer host or server located at a telephone, cable TV & wireless data center facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market</span> Overview about the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market

Following the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer, or IBM PC, many other personal computer architectures became extinct within just a few years. It led to a wave of IBM PC compatible systems being released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home computer</span> Class of microcomputers

Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classic Mac OS</span> Original operating system of Apple Mac (1984–2001)

Mac OS is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The Macintosh operating system is credited with having popularized the graphical user interface concept. It was included with every Macintosh that was sold during the era in which it was developed, and many updates to the system software were done in conjunction with the introduction of new Macintosh systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacEnhancer</span> Expansion box for the Compact Macintosh

The MacEnhancer is an expansion box originally developed in 1985 by Microsoft for Apple Computer's original Macintosh. Plugged into either the Macintosh's serial printer or modem ports, the MacEnhancer provides IBM-standard printer and serial ports as well as a passthrough for the Mac-standard serial port, for a net gain of three peripheral ports. Along with a provided disk of drivers, this expansion box allows the Macintosh to run a host of printers and other business peripherals not originally supported by Apple.

References

  1. Fincke, Karl (1992). "Dishing Up Data". Satellite TV 1992 Buyer's Guide. Fortuna Communications Corp. p. 74.