Anyone Remember Bbs (bulletin Boards)? What people used before the Internet (I think, anyway)

[rob86 2]

This is kind of inspired by Simpleton's post about the internet. I vaguely remember using BBS (Bulletin Board Systems... I think, can't remember what the S meant) when I was younger. For those who don't have any idea what they are, I think they were kind of like the internet before the internet existed for the public. I don't think they were international, more of a local thing run by someone. I remember having a phone number to connect to my modem to, which was like 2400baud* and everything was text based in a terminal. It was like browsing the internet using lynx, a text based browser, but even worse. I don't think there was colour, but I'm not sure. They'd have a little menu of things, like Games, and you could download the games. I think you could leave messages too, considering it was a bulletin board, I imagine that's right.

As much as I can remember, back then, only the truly "geeky" used computers. They weren't the pop culture thing of today. You know, in a way I miss the days when computer users were a small group of people interested in technology. It wasn't about blogging or face books or stealing music and movies, it was about playing with this quickly evolving electronic gadget. At least, that's how I remember it.

My memory of BBS is pretty bad though, I was only young at the time, so I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else has fond memories of this pre-internet era..

*Check out this link for more info on groundbreaking modems of the past...... http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/2400modem88.html

[The Simpleton 2]

wow that sounds really interesting....too bad I wasn't around to use it when it existed It does sound fun to use. I bet compared to today, using computers in those days was more fun, coz you had the feeling of using something sophisticated, and something that not many people knew about. anyway, today's not so bad and there's still only small group of people who can really claim to know a lot about computers! The article you mentioned is indeed very interesting thanks for that

[rob86 2]

Here's some information with a few pictures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system

Apparently they're still in use in some parts of the world too. It's pretty old fashioned stuff, maybe I should run a modern BBS software just for something to do. Says they use telnet and stuff now.

[inverse_bloom 0]

Actually i did use Bulletin Boards! We had a couple of good ones in our local area that we dialed our modems into. I believe we connected through hyperterminal via a shortcut (not sure about that one). Youd then enter a dos screen with a text based menu. But once on, you'd be cruisin. I had a 33.6 kbps modem which at that time was begining to get a little slow, people were favouring 56 kbps predominantly. Although the net was in full swing by 96-97, we used the BBS's in the local area to download and upload stuff efficiently. Our local BBS's at the time were something like what we now class as a warez site nowadays. These BBS were color and from them you could download games, progies, but also pictures, sounds and other stuff. Although i had restricted access so i was only limited to a certain portion. We'd navigate via keyboard keys, for instance (e) Exit allowed us to exit to main menu. Every page would contain these textual indications ( B ) back, etc, etc. I believe i once downloaded a Duke Nukem demo on one occasion. There was also another interface to talk to other people on the BBS. Bulliten Boards were customizable much like a templated webpage is now and incorporated functionality that set up access permissions for different content and different users. Usually for us, some above average consumer PC was used as a server. The screens were totally text based but pictures were formed with text, symbols, etc.

Edited November 3, 2009 by inverse_bloom (see edit history)

[anwiii 17]

i remember bbs's like it was yesterday. basically, they offered a chat room, games, bulletin boards(commonly known as forums now), a place to download and upload software. that's where i got started on the internet after i found out what a modem was. then i ran a couple my own self. one off my first apple ii, and the other one off my ibm compatible.i remember organizing user meets for other boards. i even organized one for mine once to meet the users and accept donations. i recieved quite a bit of donations from the scariest looking group of people i ever set eyes on. a bunch of homely, nerdy geeks. i guess it was fun. it sure was an experience meeting my users but decided i would never do that again.my first one, was just the normal crap you would get from any other bbs. my second one was private and sort an illegal site altogether. information was there on anything imaginable that was illegal and in demand at the time. to be a member, you had to contribute. i had a cosysop for a while on my second project "hidden caverns" until i saw one day he was logging on just to go through my system and personal files.anyway, eventually, i had to shut down everything i was doing back then after i recieved a letter from the district attorney. shut everything down, deleted most everything, and went to work in montana for the summer.i miss those days. i belonged and logged on to two bbs's regularly(two clean sites....nothing illegal about them). "dreamscape"(formally known as "playhouse") and "the annex"i met a lot of great people. especially from dreamscape hosted by a guy named matthew ryan. i loved it when they crap talkers would come to the user meets that either i organized or the sysop organized so i can confront them and see what they were really about....i mean there were a few people that would just go in the chat rooms and harrass people. it turned out that in person, they were some of the sorriest people you could ever meet and believe me. in person, their mouth was always zipped. it was only online they felt a need to harrass people beyond belief. anyway, i got to know these people too along with the others. they weren't bad people. just creating a bad reputation for themselves.anyway, i loved those days. personal computers were just starting to become popular in the households and it's how i got my start learning everything there was to computers back then and what they had to offer in every way. times sure have changed where the internet is concerned. irc was big back then too. people still use irc even today which seems amazing to me. telnet started becoming popular too after bbses were around for a few years. then came the www which sort of killed the old ways of things.after the www, came out in the 90's, i sorta lost interest for a while. came back to find myself lost all over again. anyway my first connection was at 300 baud. went to 1200 then 2400....and i believe the www was around for the 56k. heck....now all you have to do is hook up your cell phone to your computer to get connected. yup! things have surely come a long way since the days of bbs's

[inverse_bloom 0]

Yeah my friend had a 2400 baud in 97... i think. I was like M8 your gotta get rid of that thing, its an evil waste your of time. Now after casting my mind back, the poor guy saw me on my $5000 comp with 33.6 Modem must have made him feel a little bad, though i did share its use when he asked. We had a good bunch on our BBS's we'd interact sometimes but we were mostly there to hoard stuff.