ACCESS: From Hobby to Canada's Premier Online Service
by Alan Pollock


In the mid-70's, a group of computer hobbyists communicated,
programmed, and blew each other up using their own software and
the idle time of the local high school's computer. Little did
they suspect that within a decade the fruits of their online
labor would grow into Canada's most full-featured, general
purpose online services.


"Teleconferencing? What's That?"
=================================

From time immemorial it seems, The Protestant School Board of
Greater Montreal (P.S.B.G.M.) has used a Hewlett-Packard HP-
2000F minicomputer to teach programming in Montreal's high
schools. Equipped with a terminal and a modem, each district
school communicated with this one computer which was located at
the P.S.B.G.M.'s central office. The system worked well;
students actually learned to program.

Predictably, the "job" of the minicomputer did not stop with
teaching programming techniques. Students, being of a curious
nature, soon sought out new applications in an emerging medium,
which unknown to them, was called "telecommunications."

Since other high schools were "out there," there was a need to
communicate. Multi-user games offered opportunities to set up
inter-school, inter-student rivalries. Most importantly, a
commonly accessible programming area let groups of students
working in different parts of the city "get together" to work on
group programming projects.

Given the facilities and the needs, it is no wonder that many
programs custom made to address these needs soon followed.
Personal communication was desired, so MAIL was written. Group
communication was desired; so, ignorant of a future industry, a
computer conferencing program called SEND was written (which
later became COMMUNE). The ability to avoid the complex H-P
editor was desired, so MINNIE, a mini text editor, was created.
Significantly, a place was needed to cohesively bind these
various programs that were in scattered, ephemeral student
accounts in order that access would be consistent as students
graduated or lost their accounts. Thus, ACCESS was born.

The programs and sense of community were good--so good that many
students continued to use their former school's facilities via
modem after graduation. Eventually, the school board's powers
that be decided that too many of the facilities were being used
for too much fun. People with "extraneous accounts" found
================================

The ACCESSories found a computer owned by a company that was
willing to RENT rather than GIVE them time. Income now had to
be generated for the usage of their software. With the U.S.
information services looming large, they transformed a hobby
into a part-time business. Since rented computer time was only
available at night, the ACCESS staff maintained day jobs while
putting in hours programming at night. The Inevitable
Corporation, as it was called, was founded.

The transformation of hobby into business is never an easy one.
ACCESS's growth and profitability suffered for this inescapable
fact of life. What was once fun and done for pleasure required
considerably more effort when done for others--especially after
already having put in a regular day's work. Responsibility
towards paying customers is of a different sort than leisure
time relaxation. Additionally, no business can survive and grow
with a commitment given only in spare time.

In early 1985, two of the original ACCESS members left the young
company. They were replaced by Neil Baron, the Inevitable
Corp.'s current president. "At the time, the company was in
neutral shifting into reverse," says Baron. With Baron, one of
those rare types who can combine technical skill with a strong
business sense, working full-time, ACCESS's wheels soon began to
turn and churn again.


From Part-Time Business to Booming Corporation
==============================================

Soon after Mr. Baron arrived, the Inevitable Corporation
purchased its own machine. There would be no more terrible
response time when a large batch job went through. Additions of
modems and other hardware was now a simple matter. Most
importantly, ACCESS would now be available 24 hours per day.

In August 1985, ACCESS was put onto Telecom Canada's DATAPAC
packet switching network. The implications were enormous. No
longer was ACCESS a local system with good custom software. It
now had all the technology in place to become Canada's foremost
system.

In November 1985, Tim Campbell, who wrote much of ACCESS, left
the company. ACCESS was no longer a hobby in any form for the
staff of the Inevitable Corporation, and all involved knew it.
That same month, ACCESS joined Telecom Canada's iNet 2000
service, enabling, if you will excuse the pun, access to ACCESS
for all of iNet's 5000 subscribers.

In the last month of 1985, the last of the original ACCESS
founders resigned. It was an unfortunate way to signify that
ACCESS had become all the original members had hoped, but at
their personal expense.

Today, ACCESS is experiencing tremendous growth. There are
users from Halifax to Vancouver, from downtown Toronto to the
Northwest Territories. In a few months, the Official Airlines
Guide will be available, with other value-added services to
come. Although not without challenges yet to be met, ACCESS has
come through the transition from Hobby to Corporation
successfully and expects to continue to improve and expand as it
strengthens its position as Canada's premier online service.

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Author's note: This article is actually a collaboration by The
Access Staff, in cooperation with David Wihl (Porter). Contact:
Alan Pollock (Marketing). ACCESS, A Service of The Inevitable
Corporation, 8400 Cote de Liesse, Suite 217 St. Laurent, Quebec,
Canada H4T 1G7. Phone:(514)342-8147.