Years before RIP, there was IGS (Instant Graphics and Sound)

[DarkLord]

Years before RIP, there was IGS

Josh Renaud has launched a 6-part series on IGS (Instant Graphics and Sound) on the Atari ST.

Many Atari ST people have never even heard of IGS. When it was released, it had the potential to really shake things up in the online world.

Excellent article, well written and detailed, IMHO.

https://breakintochat.com/blog/2024/08/ ... roduction/

[DarkLord]

Josh Renaud continues his 6 part series on IGS (Instant Graphics and Sound) on the Atari ST:

"... and Part 2 published this morning! This one takes an in-depth look at Mears, introduces his early GTerm/IG efforts, and shows his early discouragements."

https://tinyurl.com/yz48nr3j

[Kirkman]

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I posted Part 3 — The Adventure Begins today!

If you build it, will they come? Larry Mears had created an innovative protocol for Atari ST BBSes — "Instant Graphics!" — but it took Anthony Rau and Kevin Moody, two Navy guys in Florida, to create the tools that would help it catch on.

“We were not trying to make a big splash in the Atari community,” Rau said. “We simply wanted our BBSes to look as good as, if not better than, the PC BBSes.”

[DarkLord]

Excellent - can't wait to read part 3...!

[Kirkman]

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I just posted Part Four! This is my favorite, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Steve Turnbull worked in showbiz and lived in sunny Laguna Beach, Calif. A visual thinker, he had become disenchanted with the text-only world of Atari ST bulletin board systems in 1990.

Then he discovered "Instant Graphics!" — and quickly became the preeminent creator using the format.

[DarkLord]

Just saw this post and went straight to Part Four. Excellent work - the usual high
standard is present. I really like that examples of IGS are included in the articles.

Readers can directly see exactly what it is that you're talking about.

Already ready for Part Five...!

[Kirkman]

Thanks so much, DL, I really appreciate it!

Hope other fellow Atari ST fans check it out, too. I'm still doing some research and writing for Part 5, but it'll be coming in the next couple weeks.

[Kirkman]

Part 5 is here!

From full-blown graphical user interfaces to strategy, sci-fi, and dice games, the point-and-click features of IGS made some radically different experiences possible on humble Atari ST bulletin board systems.

[DarkLord]

I'm still amazed that this system didn't see more widespread usage.

Thanks for the post Josh - well done.

[danboid]

Fascinating stuff!

I was only a BBS user (on a 386) for a year or two before I got my first dial up internet connection. I never knew about IGS until I read this.

What could've been!

[DarkLord]

Exactly...!

[Kirkman]

@Danbold, wait til you find out that not only did Larry create “IGS,” but he also adapted it to the PC under the name “BIG” or “Blue Instant Graphics”.

[Kirkman]

Cool update! Tony Rau, one of the subjects of Part 3 of the series, sent me a cool visual time capsule this morning: a home video he recorded in 1987 showing Ralph Mariano with his Atari ST hardware for the "Bounty BBS" and his ABCO workshop.

You can find the new video near the top of Part 3:
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2024/08/ ... re-begins/

Mariano was best known in the Atari community as the publisher of the"ST Report" online magazine and as the owner of ABCO Computer, which was his hard disk business.

mariano.jpg

[Kirkman]

igs-legacy-smaller.png

Part 6 is here!
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2024/10/ ... -6-legacy/

By the end of 1991, the IGS "scene" had reached its artistic zenith. But time was running out for IGS, as the Atari ST community hemorrhaged users. And Larry Mears found himself turning to the dark side.

[DarkLord]

Great job as usual Josh - thanks much!