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Hundreds of Hours of BBS Documentary Interviews

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the come-look-at-your-stuff dept.

Jason Scott writes "Hi, this is Jason Scott, director of the BBS Documentary, a 4 year project to tell the story of the dial-up bulletin board systems of the 70s, 80s and 90s. The documentary's out, for sale, and is completely Creative Commons licensed. But like most documentaries, there's tons of stuff left on the cutting room floor. And that just won't do. I'm happy to announce that I have partnered with archive.org to present what will be hundreds of hours of interviews online. The BBS Documentary Interview Collection will be extended edits of the 205 interviews I conducted, presented as video and audio files, along with ZIP archives of all the photos and supporting materials for that interview. And of course, every minute is Creative Commons licensed as well. It's going to take me upwards of half a year to edit and upload the half-terabyte of files; I hope people watch a few hours here and there to get an even deeper knowledge of the history of the BBS, or maybe even make a documentary of their own."

4 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Hey Baby... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wanna come back to my place and check out a BBS documentary?

  2. Why would it take you so long to upload your files by supraanimo · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're not uploading them to a BBS too are you?

  3. Ethnography of BBSers... by davecrusoe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wow, it's great to hear that the BBS Docu's have been released. If there's one thing missing from the early years of Cyberia, it's a comprehensive look at the beginnings of what it meant to be online, and digital - especially with respect to the manufacture of digital personalities.

    Now, it's all too common to read about "life online" - so much so, in fact, that where many of us have come from is often forgotten. Life in the digital - life that we all share - is not just life, but more a shared heritage & it's great that a glimpse of that heritage has been released... -d!

  4. Modern chat vs. BBS by Chairboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    As an ex-sysop, I wonder occasionally how a modern chatter would do on an old style BBS.

    WWIV-Menu>
    ==SYSOP Chat Mode Activated==
    Sysop: Hey, i need to take the bbs off for a minute to get fido.
    User: asl?
    Sysop: It'll just be down for a few minutes, call back later, ok?
    User: wtf hax?
    Sysop: Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying. I've got to reboot too, so I'm going to disconnect you.
    User: omfg hax, wtf is tis, spiware? a55h013!
    Sysop: Do you require medical assistance? I've got your address on record from the age-check, would you like me to call a medic?
    User: roflroflflfoolol who r u
    Sysop: If you're having a seizure, don't worry, the ambulance will be there soon. I'm on my parent's phone line right now.
    User: wqho are u????
    Sysop: I'm the sysop of this BBS. Can you breath?
    User: +OPS!!!!!!
    Sysop: The 911 operator wants me to stay in chat with you until the medics get there.
    User: stfu, how do I gt ops??? /+ops
    Sysop: Er, you don't.
    User: dudez you got ops, why not for me?
    Sysop: Actually, I own the computer you're on.
    User: fu lier, gimme ops or I'll hack u
    Sysop: ....
    User: wtf is ur ip address, l33t hax coming
    Sysop: What is an ip address?
    User: brb, police
    )@(*#)@#
    NO CARRIER
    Sysop: What just happened?

    =SCHEDULED TASK: Fido connection starting...==