Information Consumer became Information Provider

Started as User – later active as Webmaster

Start with BTX, then Datex-P, ISDN, Gallery BBS, FidoNet, web user, web presence since 1999

Already wanted to become an Information Provider in BTX Times

BTX (Bildschirmtext, an online service of the Deutsche Bundespost) was very expensive at that time and you could only become a provider of your own pages with a trade licence. The Deutsche Bundespost assumed that you earn much money with your BTX offer and that the high fees are tax deductible.

You could not become a BTX Provider without Business

So nothing came of the BTX provider career, because I used BTX just for fun – just like these web pages are created as a hobby and all information is provided for free.

Mailbox Gallery BBS – Member of FidoNet

After all, even before the beginning of the internet age I was able to offer my own and other collected information, freeware and shareware via my Mailbox «Gallery BBS» to interested parties via remote data transmission (DFÜ) and long before e-mail existed, my PC transmitted netmails and especially urgent crash mails via FidoNet.
It was an exciting time, when you could not yet click online from page to page, but dialled in from mailbox to mailbox via modem or ISDN (landline). Every change of the information provider cost a new unit of charge, because the previous modem connection had to be interrupted and a new dial-up connection had to be established. Flat rates were far from being available.

Information offer at that Time similar, Chats and Online Games popular

The offer of information was already very similar to today's, also the chat with the system operator (short: SysOp = mailbox operator) or another user connected online at the same time was popular – but many things were not so anonymous, one also made appointments with friends for chat or online games – this also existed at that time long before the internet.

Website Operator for more than twenty Years

Initially I only offered the information pages and freeware/shareware from the previously successfully operated Mailbox Gallery BBS on my website. I wanted to transfer the menu structure and operation of the Mailbox (user interface) to the homepage so that my users did not have to get used to it. But this was hardly possible with the means available at that time, so I quickly gave up this idea.

Online Career in Numbers

• since 1987 user of Bildschirmtext
• since 1989 user of Mailboxes via ELSA modem card for an Olivetti PC M20
• since 05.05.1992 own Mailbox named Diskbox, later on name changed to Gallery BBS
• since 13.01.1995 Fido-Node, a member of FidoNet
• abandoned ISDN connection and Fido activity in Nov. 1997 before relocation
• since 20.09.1998 own internet access
• since 23.04.1999 own internet presence
• since 30.05.1999 own domain michael‑glaser.de
• since 14.08.2000 own domain michaelglaser.de
• since 30.11.2001 own domain sinnvoll‑online.de
• since 09.06.2013 own domain sinnvoll‑online.eu
• since 09.06.2013 own domain senseful‑online.eu
• since 03.07.2015 own domain sinnvoll‑online.info
• since 07.07.2015 own domain senseful‑online.info
• since 28.01.2018 own domain senseful‑online.de
• since 12.09.2020 own domain tests‑und‑tipps.info
• since 24.09.2020 own domain tests‑and‑tips.info

Many Thanks for your Interest

I'm glad you've read this far – maybe you were a user of my Gallery BBS back then?
If so, I would be very happy to receive a greeting message.