BBS The Documentary: Episode 2 of 8: SYSOPS AND USERS (The People)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Episode 2 of 8 of the BBS Documentary, a mini-series by Jason Scott.
This episode covers the two factions who brought the world of the Bulletin Board System alive: Users (that connected to these systems) and Sysops (System Operators, or ran them and kept them functioning).
Voices both prominent and quiet come together in this documentary episode to talk about the issues and events that a BBS could inspire.
BBS Documentary Information:
Long before the Internet escaped from the lab, connected the planet and redefined what it meant to use a computer...there was a brave and pioneering band of computer users who spent their time, money and sanity setting up their home computers and phone lines to welcome anyone who called. By using a modem, anyone else who knew the phone number of these computers could connect to them, leave messages, send and recieve files.... and millions did.
They called these places "Bulletin Board Systems", or BBSes. And their collections of messages, rants, thoughts and dreams became the way that an entire generation learned about being online.
When the Internet grew in popularity in the early 1990s, the world of the BBS faded, changed, and became a part of the present networked world.. but it wasn't the same.
In the Summer of 2001, Jason Scott, a computer historian (and proprietor of the textfiles.com history site) wondered if anyone had made a film about these BBSes. They hadn't, so he decided he would.
Four years, thousands of miles of travelling, and over 200 interviews later, "BBS: The Documentary", a mini-series of 8 episodes about the history of the BBS, is now available. Spanning 3 DVDs and totalling five and a half hours, this documentary is actually eight documentaries about different aspects of this important story in the annals of computer history.
Baud introduces the story of the beginning of the BBS, including interviews with Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, who used a snowstorm as an inspiration to change the world.
Sysops and Users introduces the stories of the people who used BBSes, and lets them tell their own stories of living in this new world.
Make it Pay covers the BBS industry that rose in the 1980's and grew to fantastic heights before disappearing almost overnight.
Fidonet covers the largest volunteer-run computer network in history, and the people who made it a joy and a political nightmare.
Artscene tells the rarely-heard history of the ANSI Art Scene that thrived in the BBS world, where art was currency and battles waged over nothing more than pure talent.
HPAC (Hacking Phreaking Anarchy Cracking) hears from some of the users of "underground" BBSes and their unique view of the world of information and computers.
Compression tells the story of the PKWARE/SEA legal battle of the late 1980s and how a fight that broke out over something as simple as data compression resulted in waylaid lives and lost opportunity.
No Carrier wishes a fond farewell to the dial-up BBS and its integration into the Internet.
Ideal as either a teaching tool or a reminder of your own memories, the BBS Documentary Collection brings back this nearly-forgotten time in a way that will tell the story... one caller at a time.
I am really enjoying this documentary. Born in 1983, I was super late to the BBS game, but out of everyone I know from my generation, I am the only person I know who used to dial in to them in the mid 90s. Thank you for this education on it all, really enjoyed it.
Same story here.
You weren’t alone. From 93 to 98, I thoroughly enjoyed the hind end of the BBS era. No one I knew had a modem or how to use one, so it was a very lonely life.
Same ! I was even bullied in high school … because of that :/
Telix for the win
Oh man finding this documentary brings back memories running my BBS for 11 years.
Utopia Planitia BBS Fidonet 1:250/344 Went from a high school computer club project to my "hobby job" Along with HAM radio and RC Car Racing! I remember I started out with a 386 (16Mhz I think?) and I actually had the PC the BBS ran on at shutdown in my basement until about a year ago. Complete with tape backup drive and the "Starfield" vinyl wrap on the case! Started at 9600 Baud and I think my last modem was a USR Sportster 14400 (White and Red "Thick box" version) I cannot even remember all the different software over the years, from DOS/ WWIV to Windows NT and the Wildcat WINS software at the end. I spent almost as much time and money upgrading the BBS PC as I did on my main "Gaming and Programming" PC back then. Shout out to Nostalgia Nerd for pointing me here! Now if I can only find that Floppy disk with my registered copy of TW2002....
My wife and I ran Palindrome BBS 1:124/3107. She was a sysop from 1983 on an Apple ][. That is how I met her. We used to connect via BBS and talk for hours via her BBS.
@@don_n5skt It is amazing how the BBS community was so tight-knit. It is very cool how you met your wife via the BBS. Back in the late 80's I worked with one of the net 250 coordinators at Radio Shack!
Oh and on the Apple ][ front, I had a used ][e as my main computer until my first PC in high school. Heck in grade 9 I was still doing homework in Multiscribe or Printshop Pro on my Epson 9-pin dot matrix!
@@TechieandrewB My Apple ][ was a ][ with Integer basic in ROM and and added Applesoft card and a Micromodem ][. I used that in college to connect to the mainframes. I saved all summer to buy a disk drive for $750 and later a Epson MX80 for as I recall, about the same price. Added a Z80 card later for CP/M and Wordstar.
Greetings from a former BBSer and current Ham radio user!
Proud to say I was part of the community with my trash-80 coco, 300 baud modem, and twin cannon 8" drives. I ran Presence BBS in Miami. Circa 85-88. PURE. MAGIC. Cheers.
I didn't personally know Jeff Chapman (Milky, Ninjalicious), but many years ago I used to spend a ton of time lurking in the forums on his website. This episode reminded me of his website, so I decided to see if it was still online. I am happy to say that it is still online and active all these many years after he passed away.
"breaking into chat"... I was a Sysop (Sis, not Sci) and so fun to hear these perspectives now! I'm definitely including a chapter of my Online Adventures: "Key Punch to BBS daze" in my current book. I included some phone phreaking and a bit on BBS in my 2010 novel. LOVING this doc!! Thank you Jason!! 💯💽 "boot disk" def remember that!
Never got into "Trade Wars", but I did have it on m BBS and kept it updated as it was very popular.
Very nice documentary....great..BBS still. one of my favorite interest
Amazing documentary! Thank you for presenting this piece of computing history!
L.O.R.D/L.O.G.D were always the best door game in my book. Nothing better than finding poor people sleeping out in the field and killing them. Even better when you think you found a rube in the field, only to find out it was a high level player baiting you into attacking him.
Thank you for this work Jason, so many great memories. And so cool that I was part of this!
I ran a 2 line WWIV BBS back in the mid 80's during college in Bloomington, IN. It was pretty popular and I met a few people IRL from it, but I was and am mostly a loner. This was one aspect I liked. I created something that people enjoyed and yet I didn't have to know them at all. I had loads of door games and shareware. When CD's came out later I even had one of those crazy CD changers so I could offer over 3 gigabytes!! of online shareware.
One time, I caught someone trying to guess my password. When I broke in on him with the chat, he was a little surprised to say the least. We had a nice chat and I changed my password to a random string that I remember and use to this day. Good times.
It was called the 4th Dimension. I know it's a long shot, but if you ever logged into it, I would love to hear from you.
Just an awesome documentary series. Really enjoying the "Tree Wave" band that appears in bits and pieces of the soundtrack too. Good choice (:
L.O.R.D. was where it was at.
I was in 4th grade when I figured out how to connect to a BBS. All else was meaningless after that.
So I guess the "No swearing on my Christian minecraft server" meme had origins in BBS.
I still go into MUD games sometimes... :D
20:29 Is that an IC-756? Nice rig!
Haha dude with the RTFM shirt. I'm with you buddy.
Who remembers, _"Yell at the Sysop?"_
22:37
39:33 Mentions Dorsai.
Does anyone know who the Deaf woman was at the 19:31 mark?
Meryl Evans. meryl.net/
@@jasonscott526 Thank you so much, I thought my wife and I were on an island in the 90s so it's wonderful to find another Deaf member.
I too said and still say, SYsop. Lol. Not sisop.
HAHA I ran a 4 Line Adult BBS and it was so funny how guys would chase all the female users. I made some money on male members. Female free.
anyone here call an STS before
Jonah Hill @ 31:50 lol.
Jonah Hill's special needs brother lol