Ever wondered what happened ‘online’ before the Internet? Yes! There was something before the ‘net. The crazy thing is, that it’s still going today. They’re called Bulletin Board Systems (BBS’s). They are great fun, they have an awesome community of really fun people (as you’ll see in this video), they have games, cool add-on apps called ‘mods’, message forums (kinda like Facebook groups or usenet), and what’s more, it’s private (in most cases). Completely away from the prying eyes of Google and Facebook, it’s a world that is coming right back to life, and could become even more relevant in this age of online censorship and (mis)use of our information so that Facebook et al. can make money from us.
Think of the best bits of E-mail, usenet, Reddit, Facebook Groups, filesharing and a few more besides. Package it all in one area, with a really cool retro aesthetic and you have a BBS. People run BBS’s today because they are passionate about engaging in a community of people with similar ideals, something they won’t get anywhere else.
Join me in part one of the documentary. Part two is just around the door. I’ve put many months of work into this documentary, with dozens of interviews. Across the series I cover the following topics:
PART ONE:
- INTRO TO BBS’s
- What is a BBS?
- Why are BBS’s fun? (interviews)
- History
- Connect via the Internet
- ANSI graphics/text
- How to use a BBS
- Dave Cloutier / BBS Demo
- Subi (15 yr old BBS user)
- Dave Perussell (future of BBS’s)
- Daniel Kelly (aBSINTHe BBS demo)
The following parts of the series cover:
- GAMES / DOORS
- MODS
- HARDWARE
- BBS SERVER SOFTWARE
- BBS MESSAGES
- PRIVACY
- ANSI GRAPHICS
- DEMOSCENE / MOD SCENE
- THE UNDERGROUND