<s>
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
is	O
a	O
telecommunications	B-Application
program	I-Application
,	O
written	O
for	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
series	I-Device
of	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
BBS	O
)	O
and	O
telecommunications	O
in	O
general	O
were	O
not	O
as	O
widespread	O
as	O
they	O
are	O
today	O
,	O
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
(	O
or	O
"	O
AE	O
"	O
for	O
short	O
)	O
was	O
the	O
program	O
of	O
choice	O
for	O
many	O
telecommunication	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
AE	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
II	O
,	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Bill	O
Blue	O
in	O
1980	O
and	O
distributed	O
by	O
Southwestern	O
Data	O
Systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AE	O
II	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
on	O
any	O
Apple	O
II	O
that	O
has	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
3.x	I-Operating_System
and	O
one	O
of	O
a	O
small	O
number	O
of	O
modems	O
available	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Hayes	O
Micromodem	O
II	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
interface	O
of	O
AE	O
II	O
is	O
menu-driven	O
,	O
with	O
very	O
few	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
that	O
are	O
now	O
expected	O
of	O
a	O
modern	O
telecomm	O
program	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
terminal	B-Application
emulation	I-Application
and	O
multi-file	O
transfer	O
protocols	O
like	O
YMODEM	B-Protocol
and	O
ZMODEM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1982	O
,	O
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
II	O
ceased	O
development	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
totally	O
re-written	O
replacement	O
called	O
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
"	O
The	O
Professional	O
"	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
Professional	O
"	O
or	O
its	O
much	O
shorter	O
name	O
"	O
AE	O
Pro	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AE	O
Pro	O
was	O
a	O
command-line	O
driven	O
telecomm	O
program	O
packed	O
with	O
many	O
features	O
lacking	O
in	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
including	O
scripting	O
,	O
YMODEM	B-Protocol
and	O
ZMODEM	B-Device
,	O
terminal	B-Application
emulation	I-Application
,	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
ProDOS	I-Operating_System
8	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
type	O
of	O
system	O
was	O
coined	O
the	O
name	O
AE	B-Device
line	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Greg	O
Schaefer	O
converted	O
AE	O
Pro	O
from	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
3.3	I-Operating_System
to	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
ProDOS	I-Operating_System
in	O
an	O
afternoon	O
,	O
and	O
received	O
US$5000	O
for	O
his	O
efforts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1984	O
Bill	O
Blue	O
and	O
Joe	O
Holt	O
ported	O
AE	O
Pro	O
to	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
8086	B-General_Concept
assembly	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1985	O
Joe	O
Holt	O
and	O
Greg	O
Schaefer	O
rewrote	O
AE	O
Pro	O
for	O
the	O
Apple	O
II	O
taking	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
platform	O
's	O
new	O
mouse	O
and	O
MouseText	B-Device
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AE	O
Pro	O
and	O
MouseTalk	O
were	O
soon	O
overshadowed	O
by	O
ProTERM	B-Application
,	O
a	O
telecom	O
product	O
that	O
utilizes	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
advanced	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
Apple	O
IIe	O
and	O
IIc	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
65C02	O
opcodes	O
,	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
mouse	O
,	O
and	O
macros	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AE	O
Pro	O
was	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
the	O
only	O
telecom	O
program	O
that	O
was	O
accessible	O
,	O
via	O
an	O
undocumented	O
hack	O
,	O
from	O
virtually	O
any	O
other	O
BBS	O
software	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
GBBS	B-Protocol
,	O
Networks	B-Library
II	I-Library
,	O
among	O
other	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
for	O
sysops	B-Application
to	O
control	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
AE	B-Device
lines	I-Device
via	O
user	O
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
users	O
phreaking	O
their	O
way	O
into	O
AE	B-Device
lines	I-Device
,	O
these	O
portals	O
allowed	O
for	O
international	O
warez	O
communities	O
to	O
develop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AE	O
knock-offs	O
were	O
also	O
developed	O
,	O
including	O
PAE	O
(	O
Pseudo	O
Ascii	O
Express--	O
"	O
Written	O
by	O
a	O
Pirate	O
for	O
Pirates	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
PAE	O
ProDOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
both	O
written	O
as	O
free	O
add-ons	O
to	O
GBBS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
popular	O
MS	O
DOS-based	O
BBS	O
Celerity	B-Protocol
BBS	I-Protocol
from	O
the	O
1990	O
's	O
had	O
a	O
"	O
CAE	O
"	O
(	O
Celerity	O
Ascii	B-Device
Express	I-Device
)	O
mode	O
which	O
dropped	O
a	O
caller	O
into	O
a	O
no-user-record	O
file	O
transfer	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
II	O
Computing	O
listed	O
ASCII	B-Device
Express	I-Device
Professional	O
tenth	O
on	O
the	O
magazine	O
's	O
list	O
of	O
top	O
Apple	O
II	O
non-game	O
,	O
non-educational	O
software	O
as	O
of	O
late	O
1985	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
sales	O
and	O
market-share	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
