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The 25th Anniversary of the BBS

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the arbitrary-dates dept.

Jason Scott writes "25 years ago today, Ward Christensen and Randy Suess officially announced the creation of a little project they threw together with a 300 baud Hayes modem, a Z-80 based S-100 computer, and a phone line. They called it "Chicago Bulletin Board System" (CBBS) and it was the first dial-up BBS. From this beginning, BBSes grew into the many thousands and became an entire industry, and when the Internet started to mature with the World Wide Web, the users who had cut their teeth on BBSes moved over to it. So raise a toast to these two fellows for a quarter century of great online times."

2 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. SD2 Alums, represent! by Skyshadow · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Anyone still around who remembers Screaming Demon ][ in Madison, WI? Jesus Christ, that was so long ago...

    --
    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
  2. Re:BBSing never came to an end. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Once again, the editors of Slashdot want you to think that the BBS is a product of days gone by. I'm here to remind everyone that those days never ended.

    Those days most certainly did end. FidoNet died off (it's nowhere near life-like in Zone 1), local BBSs dropped like flies, "GTs" all but ended in most areas, and those that still exist require thousands of dollars in travel money to get the small smattering of remaining users together, and likely every commercial rag that ever boasted a BBS list, section, or any mention thereof have ceased to waste a part of a page on a dead hobby.

    Congratulations. You run a BBS that maintains a steady userbase. There used to be over a thousand BBSs within local calling distance of me. Presently there are perhaps but a dozen. BBSs were once the main focus of communication between local and not-so-local users. Now we have the Internet.

    The "local feel" that gave BBSs their charm no longer exists. With telnet being the predominant method of contacting BBSs nowadays, people can have accounts from all over the world. So much for "Let's meet at the Firkin next Friday!".

    BBSs are dead. New ideas and technology has evolved and created that which we have today. Slashdot is a form of BBS, as are other websites and Internet-accessible forums.

    Just because some systems stubbornly refuse to die doesn't mean the body is alive and well.