Subj : The BBS Documentary
To   : Grymmjack
From : Digital Man
Date : Wed Jun 08 2005 12:46 pm

  Re: The BBS Documentary
  By: Grymmjack to All on Wed Jun 08 2005 08:46 am

 > Anyone ever wondered what Rob Swindell (your one and only Digital Man) was
 > like in person? He's a movie star :) and he has cameo appearances in a
 > documentary film about BBSing called "The BBS Documentary"... Unfortunately
 > his drumset wasn't in the shots :)
 > 
 > Anyway, I finally found the time to watch the BBS Documentary DVD I had
 > pre-ordered months ago. It showed up about 2 weeks ago and I was very
 > excited.

Cool. I was sorta hoping he'd send me a free copy, but not so far. :-)

 > The packaging was great, and the product is very professional. It's good tha
 > it turned out so well, and I give big kudos to Jason Scott (the
 > producer/editor/creator) for the entire project.
 > 
 > I have several issues with the way the story was told, and I am sure anyone
 > else who watches it will also have a very passionate opinion to share as the
 > story as it was told was good but left gaping holes. Of course a
 > comprehensive and complicated timeline such as that which was the BBS
 > evolution, was covered very well.
 > 
 > Jason Scott tried to cover the big bullet points, but he missed out on alot
 > of it.

I don't know how much of his interview with me was included, but I was rather
disappointed as Scott was extremely tired at the time and was having
difficulting asking interesting (and relevant) questions. Also, I found Scott's
experience with and opinion of the BBS history/scene was fairly limited to his
personal experiences (which apparently did not include any Synchronet systems).

 > The basic way it works is typical documentary style. Interviews, backstory,
 > etc. I found that it was very disconnected in parts, and the flow was a bit
 > on the ameteur side, but all in all this is a great thing (the DVD) and I am
 > very glad I purchased it.
 > 
 > If you are interested in getting a copy goto http://www.bbsdocumentary.com
 > and order one, I can vouch for the guy who made it as my copy was delivered
 > eventually (I had thought for a long time I was getting rooked because I
 > never recieved my copy after months of waiting)...
 > 
 > If for no other reason, than to see Digital Man, Rob Swindell, on the silver
 > screen.
 > 
 > Rob, why didn't you appear in the "Death of the BBS" section?

I wasn't involved in the editing (obviously). :-)

 > Synchronet is
 > the only remaining software (well the only one worthy I feel) that is
 > actually doing what those who appeared in that chapter "said" they were
 > doing/is happening.. I think that your altruism, and selflessness by opening
 > the source and maintaining it for free with the help of your coding
 > companions (deuce/et al), is a great thing and I am not kissing your ass whe
 > I say this, but "synchronet did not get enough credit" ...

That doesn't surprise me. :-)

 > Quite frankly if it were not for yourself, the guy who did EleBBS, g00r00
 > (James Coyle / author MysticBBS) and a few other key players, we'd not even
 > have the ability to do this stuff through the internet. While I know that yo
 > guys did not exactly make the COM port emulation through the VXD stuff, you
 > atleast have embraced the new protocols that the internet offers and put
 > synchronet to the top by doing so. The glaring omission of this in this DVD
 > not only upset me but made me question exactly what kind of statement the
 > product was making to who would watch and not know.
 > 
 > I know that time must have been a factor, and the documentary is 3 DVDs,
 > which is pretty great but costly, sure.. I think if he spent a little more
 > time on the bigger issues, and divided it like 2 discs to the
 > oldschool/history and 2 discs to the newschool/scenes he would have been a
 > better story teller.
 > 
 > Anyway, everyone should watch it. I would say that at the very least, it's
 > neat to see the guy who made zmodem, and qwk, and even synchronet.. :)

Yeah, I'm curious what Wayne Bell is like. I think I already have a pretty good
idea what Chuck Forsberg (Ymodem/Zmodem) is like (ugh).

                                                  digital man

Snapple "Real Fact" #158:
The first MTV video was "Video Killed the Radio Star," by the Buggles. 

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