Subj : How did you find out about bulletin boards?
To   : All
From : nelgin
Date : Mon Mar 25 2024 17:40:03

My history goes back to about 1981 when I was 10 or so and my school got its first computer. A Video Genie, which is a TRS80 clone, sort of and I was fascinated by it. I got a ZX81 for Christmas and then upgraded to a VIC20.

At that time I started getting computer magazines and saw ads for online services like Prestel, which was intriguing. I was familiar with Teletext which is a one way data system but this Videotex service promises the ability to send electronic and telex messages, chat with other users, book holidays, conduct finanial business, download software and more.


I upgraded to a BBC Micro and found that a Prestel information provider (IP) was giving away free modems with subscriptions.

The Prestel service used to charge 6p per minute during peak times (8am-6pm I think) and then was free other times, except for certain per page charges. That was on top of the monthly subscription.

That's when I started hearing about other online services, called bulletin boards. Many of them run on similar BBC Micros but with better, auto answer, auto baud modems.

I was hooked. I was dialing into all sorts of local boards and running up a huge phone bill. Calls, even local calls, were not free and charged per minute and with few exeptions I think that's still the case.

I ran my own BBS, Modem Mania, for a while in the UK but ended up leaving my parents home, getting a job in another city and really forgot about them for maybe 5+ years unitl I discovered The Internet...and that's a whole 'nother story!

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