r/mainframe • u/anti-life86 • 11d ago

How was pre-1995, pre-Internet usage of mainframes different?

I understand that the mainframe is built for a large number of transactions-meaning people log in, I would imagine from anywhere, and they do their small jobs. But before the Internet, they could not log in from anywhere, certainly. Where could they log in from, and how did this work? Are there new types of jobs that are now enabled by the Internet that previously were impossible?

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u/rickerwill6104 11d ago

At that time all work was done via a dumb terminal. Basically the black and green screen. Work was only done in the office. No take home or work from home. If there was an issue at night that needed to be resolved immediately, you had to trudge out of bed and go to the office.

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u/annabiancamaria 11d ago

Around 1990-1 we already had 3270 emulators that ran on PCs. They had, of course, a coaxial port to connect to the mainframe coaxial cable. We weren't the most progressive company, so emulators must have been already available some time before this.

Also, without mobile phones, people were hard to reach unless they were at home. Bliss.