Remembering the BBS era

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 24 Jan 2014 4:36 pm

I've mentioned before that I learned my forum administrating skill by running BBSs in the 80's and early 90's. Most of you weren't online then. here's a real good article that explains what it what like.

One thing that's a little hard to imagine is that only one person could log into a BBS at a time. We all had lists of our favorite BBSs, and an autodialer that went though the list looking for one that wasn't busy. They were literally electronic bulletin boards - you posted and went away, and other people came by one by one and read your message.

There were no pictures except for cute "ANSI art" made out letters, numbers and rectangular lines. No sound, and certainly no video. We really couldn't even imagine such a thing as YouTube.

It was a fun hobby. Once a month, all of us "modemers" would get together at a pizza place to meet face to face and make a ruckus. BBSing got me my first programming job, and some of those modemers from back then are still good friends of mine today.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/01/ ... t-2400bps/

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 24 Jan 2014 5:39 pm

I never was a bbs admin. Certainly was a "user" though 1200 baud modem and a Radio Shack TRS-80. Heck, I think my first terminal was actually a Teletype console.

Never got the bug to admin a forum. I do either own own moderate a bunch of email lists though, resoguit-L being the best known as the oldest dobro list around.

The years are flashing by....

h

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 24 Jan 2014 10:36 pm

I learned to use BBS sites before websites existed in any appreciable number. I continued uses bulletin boards until about the year 1997. They gave way to AOL chat rooms, then forums.

I used to be part of ASCII Art chat rooms.

I remember my first online experience was using a text only browser called Archie. I'm still looking for Veronica!

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 25 Jan 2014 9:18 am

Newscast from 1981 - the future of newspapers. They predicted it pretty well!

www.wimp.com/theinternet/

Jim Kennedy · Post by **Jim Kennedy** » 28 Jan 2014 5:35 pm

I was in the navy in the mid 70's. Automated teletype was 300 bits a minute. Facsimile--fax-- transmissions used by the weather guys got up to 1200 bits a minute. This was used to transmit weather maps to a pen plotter. it could take hours for a detailed map. The fastest stuff i worked on was Digital Subscriber Terminal equipment. It transmitted at 9600 bpm and was driven by punched paper tape. At that time only two things were faster, voice and the old radio operators who were masters of Morse code and the speed key. We,ve come a long way.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 1 Feb 2014 5:40 am

I can well remember my first real computer (after a few years with a VIC-20) and how advanced it was! Built by my local guru/sysop, it was a 286SX, and cost $2,700 with the 2400 baud modem and 15" monitor. The HD was 4 mb and the die-cast metal (Chicony) keyboard alone was a $200 item. Listening to the beeps and hash when the modem did it's "handshake" was like being in the 21st century. Reading "Computer Shopper", a huge magazine/catalog listing all the latest available hardware, was like being a kid again and reading the the Montgomery-Wards Christmas catalog.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 1 Feb 2014 8:37 am

Jim Kennedy wrote:At that time only two things were faster, voice and the old radio operators who were masters of Morse code and the speed key. We,ve come a long way.

I was one of them. Mid-60s - had a speed key certificate and was a TTY repairman as well.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 1 Feb 2014 12:15 pm

Aah, the old days. CP/M, 10mB Winchester hard drives, and no internet.

Weekends were longer in those days. We had no email to read so we had the whole day to be productive.

It's now past noon and I've been sitting at my computer all morning, and that's a typical day for me.