> 
> Teachers and students perform these tasks on networks, which 
> probably
> don't include a mainframe.
> 
The term mainframe used to mean something.  I run a BBS that is capable of 
having 256 simultaneous users accessing several 100 gigabytes of files.  Is 
it a mainframe?  No, it's a 486.
   
If you switch from dos to unix the bbs can handle well over a 1,000 
simultaneous users and do a more efficient job with file storage.  As for 
books, if students go to the traditional school library they may find one or 
two copies of Huck Finn.  If the books are checked out, they won't be back 
for two weeks meaning no other students can read the books.  On my BBS 
hundreds of students can check out Huck Finn on the same day, and, they don't 
have to check the book back in.
   
The times, they are a changing...
--- VP [DOS] V4.09e
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