PLATO



"Changing how the world learns."

Standing for Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations, the PLATO was a mainframe computer network system created by the University of Illinois and later licensed for marketing to the Control Data Corporation (CDC). Much like all computers created before home computers were a thing, the PLATO ran on a mainframe which was connected to several user-friendly terminals which could be accessed by the users (in this case students from the university).

The PLATO was a pioneer and in many ways ahead of it's time, as it was here that concepts we take as granted today were born, such as forums, online chat, message boards and e-mails. This is also true for gaming, as computer RPGs, FPSes, online and multiplayer gaming were all born here as well.