Subj : Getting new users
To   : Matt Munson
From : Nightfox
Date : Mon Oct 10 2022 12:35:55

  Re: Getting new users
  By: Matt Munson to All on Mon Oct 10 2022 09:16 am

 MM> The problem is we have to make a user interface that isnt foreign to these
 MM> people. I was trying to encourage Santronics instead of making a Wildcat
 MM> Navigator like AOL days, just make an Android and IOS app for a potential
 MM> version 9. That would make people more likely want to interact with the
 MM> BBS world at the same time. 

Regarding this, one thing I keep thinking about is that BBSes like the ones we run are a retro tchnology as far as their interface, and many of us sysops run BBSes for nostalgia, to preserve these systems of ours with the text interface, ANSI art, and way of interacting with the BBS.
As more modern features (such as a mobile app, web interface, etc.) are added to our BBSes, it feels like we're re-creating what has already been done since the internet became popular.  I feel like the text interface, ANSI & ANSI artwork, etc. is a defining feature of the BBSes we run, and that's why we run them.

Also, what would you a mobile app to do with a BBS?  Do you imagine a mobile app that allows users to read & post messages, upload & download files, etc?  Or would it be something more basic like a telnet app?  Mobile telnet apps do exist.  And if you make a mobile app for reading & posting messages & accessing the files, etc., then you'd still probably want it to have some way to allow users to play the door games.  Switching into a text mode would be good, at least, and RIP support would be interesting too.

Nightfox
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