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The BBS Documentary: A One Year Report
Jason Scott writes: "Readers of Slashdot might remember some stories posted about a BBS Documentary that was being filmed. Well, we're at about a year of production and I've released a status report about the project, including some pictures, some statistics (over 120 hours of footage have been filmed!) and some information about where the project is heading. If you remember reading about it last year and are wondering what's up with it, check it out."
Bulletin Boards were a lot of people's first introduction to the on-line world - that history needs to be preserved.
They evolved, or atleast helped in the evolution of slashdot, so everyone has to love BBoards!
In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
And I'm appropriately tired and extremely high on the adrenaline keeping me awake. So I think: "Hmm... BBS? Heh - Ron Vibbentrop. Dead crab. Ni." Try and guess my train of thought.
I'm 18 years old. When the BBSes were at their peak, I barely even knew what a computer was. Now, about 10 years later, people my age who have been using the 'net and other various online communication for several years are starting to realize the value of our figurative ancestors.
At the very least... I am. There's only so much one can learn about the past by reading. Hearing about the experience first-hand (or second-hand, as the documentary would be...) is another thing entirely. Can you be nostalgic about a past that you never had? I think so. This documentary will be great for people like me who want to know what "our" history was like.
Call me sentimental, but I get a little teary just thinking about it. The past is worth much more than some of you people (naieve newbies) take it for.
Karma: \Kar"ma\, n. [Skr.] (Buddhism) One's acts considered as fixing one's lot in the future existence.
I had the same reaction I had when I read the title last year...
Ok, the British Broadcasting System is making a documentary, but what the HELL is it about?"
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
From 10-28-92 until it was taken offline sometime in '97. I still have the entire system backed up to CD-Rs and my friends that remember the system want me to put it back online with a telnet/virtual serial port software setup.
The system was a lot of fun in its time, but bringing back old software wouldn't bring back the experience. People called local BBSes because they were the "open source" of the online world. I contributed my time and hardware so people wouldn't have to spend money on an expensive online service to particpate in message boards or download files. I was also a LOT younger at the time and working on the BBS was a great excuse to avoid homework.
At any rate, the first time I got on the actual Internet (through AOL, no less), I was in denial about the whole death of the BBS thing. I actually took the time to create a web page that had a virtual tour of my BBS. For the sake of preserving history, MOST of the site now exists on snotwad.com. Someday I'll get around to restoring the actual backups and put a more complete "virtual museum" of my BBS online.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Q: I met a girl on this BBS and we are going to meet in person. She told me that she had TB or VD, but I can't remember which. What should I do?
A: If she coughs, fuck her.
Has anyone seen my copy of ProComm?
I need the check out the picture Star Trek of the new show 'Next Generation'. My friend said it on FidoNet and I need to fetch this week's package. This will be sweet, the pic is sippose to be in 256 colors!
By the way has anyone seen WarGames yet? My aunt's C64 was done and I couldn't go.
This was a drama, that must likely did happen in the 80's. God help us all!
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
Somebody oughta donate a decent microphone for this guy.
I can't believe he's using the on-camera mic! (At least for the interview with Jason)
That's the happy memory of the BBS era. Playing TW2002 with people, and kicking their asses in the 416. That game was great, hours of enjoyment, and the strategies applied both to game play, knowing when the system rolled over, and when your opponents played (and henced busying the line). Yes I was a geek back then, but boy was it a fun distraction..
It was an interesting time and the first board I connected to was Eternity III found from the C64 for advertisings... My C64... It had some fun games.
Those were the years when there actually was a community... Since good boards took effort to connect to.
Tournament Management Online &
I have gigabytes of ANSI at the moment that I'm sorting through (Check out ansi.textfiles.com to look at them) but no, the footage so far is of actual people talking about things, including ANSI. (I have an interview with Rad Man of ACiD, Lord Soth of iCE, etc.)
In terms of "notable" Sysops, you'd have to be more specific. Dozens of the interviews I've done have been with Sysops, many of whom got some amount of fame within their scenes or groups of people.
"Notorius" sysops and traders, well, again, that's an odd classification to figure out. I am/will be interviewing people who were incarcerated over BBS activities. Is that what you mean?
The deal is: I want to tell the story of BBSes.
Anyone remember TradeWars 2002? I was an addict of that space colonization/exploration BBS door. The funny part is that there are many places on the net that it's still a hugely popular niche. Good luck surviving a game though, these games are dominated by some pretty hardcore players... most of them using the things that killed the game for me: the handful of frontend GUIs that scripted a lot of the empire building work.
Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
they have just moved to telnet, thanks to programmers like Rob Swindell and Synchronet BBS software (www.synchro.net)
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
I'm GLAD someone is taking up the challenge to make a BBS documentary, the story needs to be told.
:)
In the summer of 1990 at the age of 10, I remember seeing a local BBS listing in the paper which inspired me to work as a paperboy with my older brother (so I could get a cut of the $), and save up for a computer and try the BBS's out.
Being raised on a TI-99/4a, and before the internet was popular around here, (sure it was in my school, but only on two computers with heavy restrictions), I had no idea of what I was getting myself into, and that was the FUN part! It was all about curiousity at first.
After saving up around $120.00, I saw an ad for a complete IBM XT system w/ CGA monitor, which at the time, and being 10 years old, I thought was a good deal. I also picked up a 2400 baud modem at my local electronics store which came with Qmodem.
So I sat down with my newspaper clipping of local boards and their numbers in front of my very own computer, I dialed...and connected.
Countless nights and weekends I was glued to the computer, dialing up, playing TW2002, and L.O.R.D. and checking all the different BBS's out. My first MajorBBS was "The Playground" Which had 4 lines at the time, but soon expanded to 8 LINES, needless to say i was in heaven. Chatting up the locals on the board what great fun, as well as Tradewars with 8 real-time local users.
Oh god the hours i spent on that system meeting people, talking, gaming, file downloading/uploading, message reading/writing. I guess i'm not the first to say this, but FIDOnet was a blast!
I met quite a number of people though BBS's, which I may have never otherwise met. During that time I became the owner of a local BBS though a hardware/software system purchase, met my first girlfriend at a BBS meet (which lasted for about a year, but being 13 at the time, it was very fun), and ran my own board for the better part of a year on a 486 that I got when i turned 15. Around 1995 and on the BBS scene started to die, and eventually became non-existent in my area by 1996. There was a gap for a while until we got internet access at home, then I found another, BIGGER world to explore. Nothing can truely replace or replicate the BBS times though, what I miss the most was the local community, and the thrill of being a part of it.
The fondest memories I have are playing Duke Nukem on a MajorBBS with 8 people on a board called DOGS. (Dave's Online Gaming Service)...God that was great!
As I sit here, 22 years old now, It seems like a faded memory. Yeah, i'm still young, but damn does this make me feel old.
Before I drown in my own memories, My question for Jason is: When your project is finished, how will you get it out to the people who want to see the fruits of your labor? Free or to pay for? I have no problem in paying for it, Just thought I'd ask.
Downloadable episodes of your documentary would be nice, but you'd need some good hosting for that.
Another alternative comes to mind, VHS tapes, or better yet a DVD.
Whatever's best for you. I'm really excited to see the finished product and support it wholeheartedly.
A Penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
Classic-era sysops who leap to mind: Tom Tcimpidis of the Mog-UR's EMS, longest-running BBS in history (I was the all-time 2nd-most-active poster there). Joseph Sheppard of The Ledge; Joe used to love to talk about the BBS, so may well be a good interview candidate. Ken whasisname of the old Downtown BBS (of the famous Tracy Lords -- er, bust).
:) [/shameless plug]
:)
For BBSs that are still viable, I'd start with FONiX in England (telnet://bbs.fonix.org) since it's probably one of the largest and most-active. As someone noted, telnet doesn't lead to a "community" the way dialup does, but FONiX has managed to maintain a local community, partly because it's the international hub for the ILink messaging network. You might leave a message for Barry Martin in one of the ILink conferences -- he's the BBS coordinator for ILink, and still runs The Safe BBS.
In the dialup realm, Earthquake City BBS (up since 1995) still has a small but loyal following, a gigantic filebase, and is unlikely to fold anytime soon. 818-368-3337. Tell the real sysop that the co-sysop sent you.
I used to maintain the list of BBSs that were a local call from Santa Clarita CA, about 50 of 'em at BBSing's peak. Don't have a copy handy locally, but there's still one among EQCity's files.
I'm rambling, but if you can't tell, I'm also cheering you on
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Don't let the Slashdot groupthink let you arrive at the incorrect conclusion that BBS's are a thing of yesteryear. The worthless ones have died, but there are still hundreds of online communities around; they're on the 'net now, and they're still the best places around to meet people worth having conversations with. BBSing didn't die -- it just changed its form a little.
I was interviewed for the documentary a little less than a year ago. It was a lot of fun and I hope it'll serve to get the word out that the hobbyist BBS is still one of the few places on the 'net still untainted by corporate pigopolist influence.
My BBS is linked below in my sig, in case anyone wants to drop by.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
For people who are concerned that I will never finish the film, I've created a page that hopefully addresses the concerns that people have. It might not satisfy everyone, but at the very least people will know that the issues are swimming somewhere in the back of my head.
Doom and Gloom: The Case Against the Documentary
By the way, I hope you don't think that an appearance on PBS represents the natural, meaningful end for a Documentary, with any other appearance not really representing completion or success.