Subj : Re: BBS Documentary
To   : MATT BEDYNEK
From : NANCY BACKUS
Date : Mon Jun 29 2015 03:19 pm

-=> Quoting Matt Bedynek to All on 06-26-15  17:26 <=-

Welcome back... ;)

 MB> I have seen parts of it before and recently watch it all the way
 MB> through.   Although there are many topics I wish it covered in detail 
 MB> I believe it did an excellent job of depicting the online world which
 MB> remains so strongly in our memories.  I'll never forget the sound of
 MB> modem negotiation even until the day I die.

It's pretty unforgettable...  ;)   I haven't seen any of the documentary,
but have heard about it..  :)

 MB> It is satisfying to see that fido technology and bulletin boards as a
 MB> technology have survived to the 21st century and suffered fools.  The
 MB> visionaries who created the earliest technology invented something
 MB> that outlasted their contributions long after they were driven away. 
 MB> They are technological pioneers of a type the world will never fully
 MB> appreciate. 
 MB> I am also impressed to see that software is still being actively
 MB> developed.  The authors of binkd, husky, synchronet, ezycom, mystic and
 MB> more have done an immeasurable service.  At the time circumstances
 MB> pulled me away I was sure things would implode in a few years but
 MB> occasionally I peek in and see people still participating.

It's a surprisingly hardy hobby...  ;)

 MB> I was shocked to see someone releasing BBS software in 2015.  It got
 MB> me wondering how active are bulletin boards today?  How many visitors
 MB> do you see and what type of things do they come for? 

I'm an active user (not, and never been, a sysop) of seven different
boards at the moment...  I'm there primarily for the message echoes that
I'm active in, with a few games like Scrabble and KOTB attracting a
little of my time and attention...  :)  I know of at least a few other
users like myself...  :)  One of the boards I go to seems to be part of
some sort of games co-operative, with people logging onto other bbses
showing up in the "sidetalk" of the bbs ("so-and-so logging on to x
board" sort of thing showing up at the prompt)... there seem to be quite
a few active users there in the conglomerate.... 

 MB> Seeing the energy got me inching to set one up if only to play my old
 MB> games. 

I've seen quite a few former sysops taking a look back and returning to
the bbs world...  :)  I think the addiction just stays latent, and
eventually y'all just have to return... ;)

 MB> My only fear is not being able to find cracks for all the doors
 MB> I once registered as I suspect most people who maintained them fell off
 MB> the planet or would not care to hassle with someone over something they
 MB> were paid $15 for 15 years ago. 

Don't you still have your registrations from before...?  

 MB> Something was lost when we moved to the internet and it has become
 MB> more evident in recent time.  Increasingly the internet is becoming
 MB> more a sewer where you cannot trust what you download or access.  
 MB> There were viruses on bulletin boards but most sysops made an effort to
 MB> police that.   Many took personally the quality of what they offered.

Some of us never left...  ;)   The internet didn't have quite the appeal
to all of us, and what it's become is even less appealing...  :) 
Probably a lot less likely now that the bbses would even attract the
hackers and virus makers nowadays...  :)

 MB> Your thoughts?

As I said... good to see you back... :)

ttyl       neb

.... An aquarium is just interactive television for cats.

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