About The OneNet Network

The OneNet Member Network is an organization of private individuals around the world who own FirstClass systems and hook them together to exchange mail and conferences.  While OneNet members use FirstClass and take advantage of its built-in gateway features, the OneNet is completely arm's-length from SoftArc—which has nothing to do with its operation.

The OneNet is rapidly growing through the efforts of FirstClass administrators worldwide.  It is creating an online, virtual community of people connected to share knowledge and resources.  This effort is expanding into an electronic nervous system throughout the world.

Based from a large online system in Los Altos, Ca., near Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, the OneNet Member organization has begun tying together not only individual BBSes, but schools, hospitals, universities, local governments and other FirstClass networks.

The OneNet Member goal is to serve as one of the methods to glue the various networks in the world together into a system based around low cost servers, networks, laptop computers and Personal Digital Assistants.  Looking to the future,The OneNet hopes to do for electronic information exchange what the Macintosh and Windows have done for computing—that is, to make telecommunications fun and easy.  The FirstClass software’s familiar graphical graphical human interface makes this goal and prospect possible.

Setting up as a OneNet Member is easy for the FirstClass administrator.  A core set of conferences is shared by all systems in the network and contains discussions of interest to all computer users.  These conferences cover a wide variety of topics and include networked support conferences from many computer industry vendors, including SoftArc Inc., developers of FirstClass.  One of the most popular conferences on the network is one in which Apple employees routinely log on to give unofficial advice to other users.  Gatewaying systems can pick their choice of conferences they wish to carry from the backbone hub systems, which already distribute more than 400 forums (much as a magazine distributor gives retailers many choices from which to pick.)

With the advent of version 2.5 of the FirstClass® software, global multi-hop  electronic mail will also become a reality.  This means you can send a private mail message to any user who has an account on a OneNet Member Network system worldwide.

The OneNet Member network now includes more than 500 systems across the world.  There are regional hub sites in Europe, Japan, Australia, Africa,North and South America and Hong Kong.  More than a half of a million people use the OneNet at the time of this writing.

Some systems in the OneNet Member Network already offer gateways to InterNet and FidoNet, whose inclusion fosters OneNet’s goal of electronic community. Future plans for the growing network will make the sharing of information increasingly less expensive for both public and private systems as they hook into the network to share in this vast pool of resources.

The OneNet welcomes all aspects of entities that are interested in being part of a community.  Schools, churches, hospitals, libraries, businesses, government, individuals, etc..  The online virtual community of OneNet, in many ways, is like your home town and will become more so as time goes on.  

Eventually, we would like to see you be able to call into your local OneNet Member system and stop into the chat area and say hi to some friends, stop by your 'night' school conference and get your latest homework assignment and leave a message for your teacher with a question, go to the online store and order 3 AppleTalk connectors or a new sweater (after looking at an online photograph of the sweater) and ordering them for next day delivery, or pick up on your way to work, stop by the books conference and find out what people are saying about the lastest NY Times Best Seller and, on your way out, type a quick note to your sister in Colorado saying hello. 

The OneNet Member Network enables communities of people with special interests, or common geography to share in there community.  To have a 'local' place to go that also gives them a broad window on, and access to, the rest of the world and it's collection of OneNet Member Network communities.

The OneNet Member Network Primary Hub is located in Boulder Colorado.  For questions on how to find your local OneNet Member Network system, or how to get a 'feed' into the OneNet, call 303-444-2205.

To get more general information about the OneNet, call the OneNet Los Altos system by modem at 415-948-1349 ot sy our voicemail system 415-948-4775.

Earthmail inquires should go to:

Scott Converse, OneNet Executive Director
4546 El Camino Real, # 127
Los Altos, California
94022
USA

Internet address:

OneNet@OneNet.com
or
Scotto@OneNet.com

Scott Converse, Executive Director, OneNet Member Network
Contact via modem @ 415-948-1349, via voice line @ 415-948-4775