Magic
(1990-1998)
416-288-1767
Toronto, ON
The existing list shows two entries called MAGIC, both were actually the same system after he changed phone numbers IIRC. In the 90-91 time frame it was known as Digital Spectrum, and it had another name briefly in '90 that I don't remember.
The system was one of the most popular in Toronto. Trying to keep it growing led to a number of stories of internal battles in Bell, as to whether or not he should be allowed to get more phone lines into his house. At the time they had a rule that you could only get two, and they weren't terribly interested in changing it for a BBS 'er! However it turned out that large numbers of Bell people in the Toronto area were MAGIC members, so eventually they installed a new pole in his back yard with 50 lines.
MAGIC was the premier FirstClass system, and was eventually sold to form the backbone of an ISP. That killed it when they went pay, and the plug was eventually pulled a few years later. - Maury Markowitz
Toronto-based Sanctuary BBS initially sprung-up as a free-access and somewhat-underground alternative to "MAGIC (Macintosh Awareness Group in Canada)" following its move to pay and subsequent self destruction over politics and money. Like MAGIC and most other Macintosh-oriented BBSs, Sanctuary used the "hobbyist" version of FirstClass, a GUI based package actually designed to be a collaborative office product. As the Internet became more popular, Sanctuary abandoned dial-up in 1998 in favour of TCP/IP based access on port 510, permitting dozens of users to simultaneously chat, transfer files, and send email. Like many BBSs that shut down over a lack of SysOp dedication or squabbling amongst its members, Sanctuary went offline December 31st, 1999 at 11:59PM because of both. The last message posted read, "BBSing is dead. Long live the World Wide Web." - Michael Hainsworth