Put your GlobalTalk Memories Here
This page can never be a “definitive” history of GlobalTalk, but it can be “our story” of GlobalTalk…
What do we remember of its beginnings?
What did we get up to?
What great sites and resources have we found?
* An archive of the original Globaltalk Marchintosh 2024 site.
What technical hurdles did we overcome?
Jump right in and tell your story of GlobalTalk.
I’ll start with my own short history of GlobalTalk, reprinted here from my Apple Internet Router Administrator’s Guide—Addendum, available at my GlobalTalk Setup Files site.
@europlus
GlobalTalk—a phenomenon 40 years in the making
In preparation for MARCHintosh 2024, several Apple retrocomputing enthusiasts (principally @paulrickards, @billgoats, and @vga256) worked on establishing connections between their AppleTalk networks over the Internet in the second half of February 2024.
After trying several solutions, they settled on Apple Internet Router, and made their first successful connection at the end of February—other nodes started joining the nascent GlobalTalk “internet” in early March 2024.
In short order, numerous retrocomputing enthusiasts expressed a desire to connect, a coordinating spreadsheet was created, and nodes began appearing from around the world.
Some enthusiasts had physical Macintoshes which were compatible with Apple Internet Router, while others relied on emulated machines.
Whichever type of machine acted as the primary AppleTalk router for a node, by the end of the month, it was not uncommon to see over 50 nodes connected at any one time.
And the machines “behind” those AppleTalk routers ranged from original Macintoshes, Lisas, and Apple IIs, to modern clones, virtualised systems, Windows servers, and printers by the truckload (dot matrix, inkjet and laser).
Some nodes, such as my own, had no original hardware in place—only virtualised computers and modern printers.
However, the joy of connecting to such an antiquated system which proved to be robust and relatively easy to set up, was shared by all node administrators, even if there were occasional hiccups.
@europlus
This page can never be a “definitive” history of GlobalTalk, but it can be “our story” of GlobalTalk…
What do we remember of its beginnings?
What did we get up to?
What great sites and resources have we found?
* An archive of the original Globaltalk Marchintosh 2024 site.
What technical hurdles did we overcome?
Jump right in and tell your story of GlobalTalk.
I’ll start with my own short history of GlobalTalk, reprinted here from my Apple Internet Router Administrator’s Guide—Addendum, available at my GlobalTalk Setup Files site.
GlobalTalk—a phenomenon 40 years in the making
In preparation for MARCHintosh 2024, several Apple retrocomputing enthusiasts (principally @paulrickards, @billgoats, and @vga256) worked on establishing connections between their AppleTalk networks over the Internet in the second half of February 2024.
After trying several solutions, they settled on Apple Internet Router, and made their first successful connection at the end of February—other nodes started joining the nascent GlobalTalk “internet” in early March 2024.
In short order, numerous retrocomputing enthusiasts expressed a desire to connect, a coordinating spreadsheet was created, and nodes began appearing from around the world.
Some enthusiasts had physical Macintoshes which were compatible with Apple Internet Router, while others relied on emulated machines.
Whichever type of machine acted as the primary AppleTalk router for a node, by the end of the month, it was not uncommon to see over 50 nodes connected at any one time.
And the machines “behind” those AppleTalk routers ranged from original Macintoshes, Lisas, and Apple IIs, to modern clones, virtualised systems, Windows servers, and printers by the truckload (dot matrix, inkjet and laser).
Some nodes, such as my own, had no original hardware in place—only virtualised computers and modern printers.
However, the joy of connecting to such an antiquated system which proved to be robust and relatively easy to set up, was shared by all node administrators, even if there were occasional hiccups.