<s>
Diversi-Dial	B-Protocol
,	O
or	O
DDial	B-Protocol
was	O
an	O
online	B-Protocol
chat	I-Protocol
server	O
that	O
was	O
popular	O
during	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
specialized	O
type	O
of	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
system	I-Application
that	O
allowed	O
all	O
callers	O
to	O
send	O
lines	O
of	O
text	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
in	O
real-time	O
,	O
often	O
operating	O
at	O
300	O
baud	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
ways	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
sociological	O
forerunner	O
to	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
was	O
a	O
cheap	O
,	O
local	O
alternative	O
to	O
CompuServe	O
chat	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
was	O
expensive	O
and	O
billed	O
by	O
the	O
minute	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
peak	O
,	O
at	O
least	O
35	O
major	O
DDial	B-Protocol
systems	O
existed	O
across	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
them	O
in	O
large	O
cities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
evening	O
when	O
telephone	O
rates	O
were	O
low	O
,	O
the	O
biggest	O
DDial	B-Protocol
systems	O
would	O
link	O
together	O
using	O
Telenet	O
or	O
PC	O
Pursuit	O
connections	O
,	O
forming	O
regional	O
chat	B-Protocol
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Diversi-Dial	B-Protocol
was	O
written	O
by	O
Bill	O
Basham	O
,	O
a	O
computer	O
hobbyist	O
who	O
ran	O
a	O
company	O
known	O
as	O
Diversified	O
Software	O
Research	O
in	O
Farmington	O
Hills	O
,	O
Michigan	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kim	O
Kirkpatrick	O
,	O
"	O
Hubcap	O
"	O
also	O
in	O
Rockford	O
,	O
ran	O
DDial	B-Protocol
#2	O
and	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
early	O
testing	O
was	O
done	O
between	O
Bill	O
and	O
Kim	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
"	O
Heaven	O
and	O
Hell	O
"	O
shutdown	O
,	O
Dale	O
sold	O
some	O
of	O
his	O
1200	O
baud	O
Applecat	O
modems	O
to	O
Scott	O
and	O
Terri	O
Johnson	O
(	O
Megabucks	O
and	O
Spender	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
DDial	B-Protocol
#12	O
“	O
Spenderz	O
Never	O
Inn	O
”	O
stated	O
up	O
in	O
its	O
place	O
,	O
running	O
on	O
two	O
Apple	B-Device
//e	I-Device
computers	O
and	O
12	O
phone	O
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Customers	O
typically	O
paid	O
the	O
local	O
DDial	B-Protocol
owner	O
a	O
flat	O
rate	O
of	O
about	O
$5	O
to	O
$20	O
per	O
month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
typical	O
DDial	B-Protocol
system	O
ran	O
on	O
a	O
small	O
cluster	B-Architecture
of	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
computers	O
,	O
with	O
seven	O
connections	O
per	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1989	O
,	O
a	O
DDial-like	O
clone	O
,	O
Synergy	B-Protocol
Teleconferencing	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
AKA	O
STS	O
was	O
developed	O
for	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
but	O
by	O
this	O
time	O
it	O
was	O
outpaced	O
by	O
alternatives	O
like	O
GEnie	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
mid-1990s	O
,	O
DDials	B-Protocol
had	O
been	O
bypassed	O
by	O
the	O
Internet	O
and	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
although	O
Chicago	O
's	O
God	O
's	O
Country	O
,	O
kept	O
an	O
incredibly	O
loyal	O
following	O
between	O
1985	O
–	O
87	O
and	O
1989-1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
client	O
software	O
programs	O
existed	O
for	O
BBS	B-Application
connections	O
back	O
then	O
,	O
but	O
one	O
in	O
particular	O
for	O
C64	O
or	O
Commodore64	O
was	O
optimized	O
just	O
for	O
DDial	B-Protocol
,	O
call	O
Eagleterm	O
6a	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
peak	O
times	O
,	O
the	O
DDial	B-Protocol
system	O
was	O
jam	O
packed	O
with	O
callers	O
far	O
exceeding	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
available	O
lines	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
super	O
fast	O
dialer	O
was	O
a	O
plus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
DDial	B-Protocol
owner	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
become	O
the	O
founder	O
and	O
CEO	O
of	O
Honesty.com,	O
the	O
first	O
web-based	O
third-party	O
Internet	O
application	O
corporation	O
,	O
focused	O
on	O
E-Commerce	O
sites	O
such	O
as	O
eBay	O
,	O
Amazon.com,	O
and	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Point	O
Zer0	O
was	O
the	O
other	O
long-term	O
Chicago-area	O
Ddial	B-Protocol
,	O
along	O
with	O
Jokertown	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
Chicago-area	O
Ddials	B-Protocol
of	O
Note	O
included	O
God	O
's	O
Country	O
,	O
Kaleidoscope	O
,	O
General	O
Modem	O
(	O
DDial	B-Protocol
#13	O
)	O
,	O
Tangled	O
Web	O
,	O
The	O
Bunker	O
(	O
DDial	B-Protocol
#4	O
)	O
,	O
Cloud	O
Nine	O
(	O
DDial	B-Protocol
#38	O
)	O
,	O
Black	O
Magic	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
one	O
period	O
of	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
Chicago	O
area	O
hosted	O
over	O
10	O
DDial	B-Protocol
or	O
clone	O
systems	O
,	O
possibly	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
relative	O
proximity	O
to	O
the	O
Rockford	O
origins	O
of	O
Basham	O
's	O
DD	O
#1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ENTchat	O
,	O
an	O
Internet-based	O
DDial	B-Protocol
look-alike	O
,	O
was	O
somewhat	O
active	O
in	O
the	O
mid	O
-	O
to	O
late	O
1990s	O
but	O
also	O
went	O
offline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
The	O
Late	O
Night	O
BBS	B-Application
went	O
online	O
,	O
utilizing	O
the	O
original	O
DDial	B-Protocol
software	O
running	O
on	O
an	O
Apple	B-Device
//e	I-Device
,	O
but	O
was	O
accessible	O
from	O
the	O
Internet	O
via	O
telnet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
provided	O
an	O
authentic	O
1980s	O
ddial	B-Protocol
experience	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
traditional	O
300	O
bit/s	O
connection	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Late	O
Night	O
BBS	B-Application
has	O
since	O
gone	O
offline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2012	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
only	O
two	O
known	O
DDial	B-Protocol
stations	O
in	O
operation	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Savage	O
Frontier	O
,	O
DDial	B-Protocol
Station	O
#28	O
,	O
has	O
been	O
modified	O
to	O
run	O
under	O
emulation	O
and	O
is	O
therefore	O
Internet	O
accessible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RMAC	O
(	O
aka	O
Rover	O
's	O
Multiuser	O
Active	O
Conference	O
)	O
,	O
DDial	B-Protocol
Station	O
#34	O
,	O
runs	O
on	O
original	O
Apple	B-Device
IIe	I-Device
hardware	O
with	O
modems	O
and	O
has	O
been	O
constructed	O
in	O
an	O
Internet-accessible	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
uses	O
authentic	O
DDial	B-Protocol
software	O
with	O
TASC/Paradise	O
mods	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
reached	O
via	O
telnet	B-Protocol
at	O
rmac.d-dial.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Retro-Dial	O
,	O
a	O
Linux-based	O
chat	B-Protocol
server	O
with	O
the	O
look	O
and	O
feel	O
of	O
DDial	B-Protocol
,	O
currently	O
has	O
multiple	O
stations	O
in	O
operation	O
which	O
are	O
usually	O
linked	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
The	O
Savage	O
Frontier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
home	O
station	O
for	O
Retro-Dial	O
can	O
be	O
reached	O
via	O
telnet	B-Protocol
at	O
carriersync.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
June	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
several	O
members	O
of	O
Rockford	O
,	O
IL	O
area	O
DDials	B-Protocol
held	O
a	O
spontaneous	O
reunion	O
online	O
,	O
connected	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
via	O
RMAC	O
DDial	B-Protocol
#34	O
.	O
</s>
