1982

Years: 1979 1980 1981 - 1982 - 1983 1984 1985

Decades: 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

• March - Commodore introduces the VICModem for the VIC-20 computer at $109.95 retail.

• April - Mr. Mitch Kapor founds Lotus Development Corporation. Mr. Kapor would later be a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an "electronic civil rights group" that would involve itself in legal and legislative issues for cyberspace.

• May - Frank Zappa's "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch" Album is released, with the single "Valley Girl" becoming a novelty top 40 hit. The song features Zappa's daughter, Moon Unit, riffing out "Val-Speak", including "Tubular" and "Awesome", striking off a nationwide fad of interest in Valley (and therefore California) surfer culture, much of which leaks onto BBSes.

• June - Commodore Computer announces the Commodore 64 home computer.

• September 13 - Fast Times at Ridgemont High, directed by Amy Heckerling, is released theatrically. This film includes actor Sean Penn's performance of Jeff Spicoli, a surfing teenager who uses terms such as "Awesome" and "radical" (rad) that quickly show up in teenage BBS culture.

Source

• Scott, Jason. The TEXTFILES.COM BBS Timeline. [1]