Connect: A Look At Bulletin Board Systems

[HeathenDeluxe]

I ran a pirate bbs at 16 years old. It was lovely. Started off with WWIV v4.12, then modded the shit out of it. Moved onto Forum hacks like Celerity later on. Shout outs to the old days, computers have become so ubiquitous that the niche feeling of excitement is gone.

[ledguy315]

I was born in 92 and remember when E-Mail and games were all the rage. I stuck to playing out side like a kid was supposed to... But i do miss the days of Atari and the original Nintendo. Kids these days wold cry if they had dial up and 8-Bit screens.

[abstractheory]

@dakroland well yeah, that's what I meant. The old ones are awesome. It's the new ones that have gotten boring. Yeah, programming BASIC was soo much fun. I miss doing that. One time I made a horse racing game where you could bet on the horses. 10 RANDOMIZE TIMER  20 X = INT(RND * 100) Wow that takes me back.

[abstractheory]

Yeah, computers used to be fun.

[dakroland]

@abstractheory Computers aren't fun anymore? I still think it's fun to pull out the old Commodore VIC=20 and an issue of Family Computing Magazine and punch in an old Basic program to to see if can have fun modifying the code. Nostalgic, but still fun.

[sparky4444444444444]

I wanna make my own BBS!!!

^^ for learning exploration and awesomeness

[bradc314]

I was working for a company about 2 years ago that was still running a BBS for the two customers that would dial in and get their data. Apparently a memo was missed.....

[guitarbrad]

I was a sysop on a BBS in the 80s in the 201 NJ area code called Outlaw's Hideout. It is still listed on the master BBS list on textfiles [dot] com.

[biranecisse]

I used to host a WWIV BBS back in the early 90's...

[SupremeColZod]

Ah yes, I once downloaded DOOM from a BBS on the East Coast, cost my parents $200 in phone bills. It took like four hours.

[johnnylifeson]

Those days were fun.. Maximus was a great system.. The Draw was a great ANSI SCREEN creator ..

[dakroland]

@roofy2k I never heard of it.

[biffcornwall]

Does that say "Tard" at 1:21?

[dakroland]

@biffcornwall I don't know. Could have said Taro, Taru or Tardis. It's hard to see it clearly plus the guy's head is in the way.

[TriOptimum79]

Man this brings back some memory's and feelings. Remember when i was a kid i logged on a game BBS with my dads modem on the amiga, and ask somebody on the other side with my poor English about what to do in Police Quest 2.. Thanks for the vid.

[dakroland]

@TriOptimum79 You're welcome. Glad I could share something unique. I miss those days, too.

[starseed42]

makes me feel sad and happy at the same time.. I miss the old days

[dakroland]

@starseed42 Yeah, the nostalgia is pretty thick when I look at videos of old BBS's, Commodore computers (especially GEOS on the C64) and old Apple ][ and Macintosh videos. Oh the heady days of the computer revolution....

[sagjig2]

Long live the command line.

[dakroland]

@choochinbigtime420 Do you think the world would be a better place without the personal computer?

[choochinbigtime420]

@dakroland bigtimes

[dakroland]

@choochinbigtime420 Why do you believe that?

[BlackburnBigdragon]

There are still a lot BBS's out there and most of them are accessible via the internet now.  Do a web search for BBS's.

[ericsandmeyer]

The background music is neither!

[lukebccb]

Oh yes. 1990 and 300 baud is the top of the line.

[forestm281]

@lukebccb Actually, I think 14k was "top of the line." But they were really expensive and so most people opted for 2400 or 9600 baud.

[dakroland]

@forestm281 I remember hooking up a Commodore VIC=20 to QuantumLink with a 300 Baud modem back in the day. Talk about old tech. If I remember, one of it's selling points was not needing to put a phone handset in the old transceiver cradle.

[LegacyMicro]

I think I paid $1100 for my first USRobotics 9600 Courier HST.  That was the 1/2 off SysOp deal....

[Nopperabou]

"I blew up your planet ha ha ha" How polite they were..

[JDonahue79]

I didn't have a BBS back then, but yea, the BBS is the good pre-Internet days of PC.

[jstrunck]

Thanks for the trip back!

[bigmaxy07]

I used to be on these all the time and tied up the phone all night much to the annoyance of my family.

[Borin81]

i used BBS to get info about new games to pirate.

[octobird999]

PTT is the biggest telnet BBS over world!!!

It's from Taiwan.

telnet://ptt.cc

[avocadopunk]

I used to be a beta BBS for L.O.R.D. and B.R.E. Good old " Scream BBS " those were the day's.

[kd7one]

Great alternative way to communicate if the internet gets taken down.

[QuarTz0786]

Nostalgic hearcuts!!! <3

[omegaweaponredux]

ANYONE who is nostagic about bbs should look up digital: a love story. its a love letter letter to that generation.

[bonzimmer]

Thanks for the memories. Hubby and I were amongst the pioneers of online couples. We met in 1992 because my dad and my (now hubby) were sysops. When I try to tell our story people are like "BBS? What's that?" Now I have a video I can direct them to!

[SpitfireTN]

Old school Bulletin Board Systems are still out there...

Reign of Fire BBS: telnet://bbs.dxrw.org

[PoopsMaster]

waow so nostagltic..

i used to be a sysop

[TheKiemaster]

I was never aware of this but now i have and i am now using one i am bringing it back guys todays generation of iPods and Porn are still using BBS

[bajoverga]

I BBSed from 1993-1997 through mostly WWIV BBSes. I used to LOVE hearing that modem sound...things were definitely different then.

[LuigiFan128]

are there any bbs systems still running? like over phone lines? I'd love to play around with my older systems 

[thedarkone2134]

@LuigiFan128 @LuigiFan128

Tons but you might have to pay long distance charges. Find some here usbbs.org

I still run one:)

[evildevinity]

Has anyone noticed that you cant research information on the internet anymore?

There was tonnes of information when it was all BBS's. Now a days you do a google search and the first 1000 results are companies trying to sell you stuff.

The internet has morphed into one giant commercial ad, with all the substance disappearing.

[mylabruby]

Ah, the days of laying your phone on top of your modem and actually being able to watch the bytes scroll across the screen.

[toncookie337]

MY BLADDER WON'T CLOSE!!

[storebror21]

Thanks for posting this. I used to spend hours logging onto BBS systems - great times - apart from the phone bills!

[Phr0zenFire]

Oh man, I wish I had a computer in these times. I'll exchange a Crysis-Ultra High-Setting-Fluidly-Running-M­achine anytime for something like that.

[VintageJunior]

I think I'll invest in Commodore Amiga stocks.

[macdeath69]

In b4 GUI...

[SammieHamster]

Thanks for uploading this video!

It gives a good impression of what BBSes were set up for and how they worked.

Although the background music they put under the interviews is a little annoying and makes some of the interviewed people a little hard to understand (especially for foreigners), this is a very informative documentary. 5/5!

[JisakuJ]

heh

[DanAirlines]

Ahhhh I remember these days in the 80 and 90 I lived in Norway. Here was it Mike`s MBBS system that was used. I had a BBS called Starligh. It had 5 phone lines. It was a very expensive hobby, but we loved it.

Thanks for this vid 5+

[dakroland]

You're welcome!

[Juha023]

This is good! I enjoy very much searching old videos and stuff about BBSs. Like for many others, a lots of good memories come to mind. I'm glad that back in the days I had a chance to keep up own BBS and connect others. It was so much better than internet!

[dakroland]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I remember the BBS days and liked them very much, but the march of technology moves ever forward.. :(

[quinillo94]

I didn´t use computer, on this year, I was using macintosh, and now I use macintosh, but I have got a PC with windows 2000.

[sasasasa34]

OH RE RE?

[lesliekwan80]

This really takes me back. Kids these days are spoiled with internet.

[footinmouthindustrys]

i still play with old modems and im only 15

[TheShadowFog]

@lesliekwan80 except... Your using it.

[rhblakeman]

Funny ad at 3:30, we used to say that CRS meant Cant Remember Sh*t BBS. Man I miss the days of being SysOp but the wife sure likes the room in the dining room instead of modems squealing and 4 or 5 computers stacked each with a monitor since KVMs werent available in the late 80s and early 90s.

[rswindell]

Help keep the BBS dream alive! :-)

[rhblakeman]

Rob Swindell of Synchronet BBS?? Good to see you on Youtube and thanks much for continuing to produce usable BBS software when the others have gone away or to other things. I'm in a transition to a new building for my business and reorganizing my servers but once done I'll be puting together a Synchronet BBS for public use on telnet - last I ran was in 95 on Proboard BBS software, took 'er down when I got to 1 caller every 2 weeks thanks to the onset of the internet.

[TechManFFFF]

Wow! This brings back memories. Trade Wars, Usurper, etc. etc... Back when you had to no more than how to point and click. The good ole days for sure!

[xzaz2]

4:38, you dmn leecher!

[xzaz2]

TPB version 1

[BurtBartlow]

Dude's runnin' Google Earth at 2:58

[BlackNoir]

Totally bodacious.

[Greylon]

Hah! I just had a nostalgic nerdgasm. Oh those were the days. There might only be 30 or so users for a local BBS, but they were all local, and you knew them.

BBS's, in their own way, led to the flourish of the internet.

Greylon - former SysOp for "The Grand Buffet" BBS

[SlightyDisturbedNBK]

These were better days, before there was 9/11 truther nuts, 4chan, youtube and stupid internet memes. Much better days back then.

[Fetcha200]

@SlightyDisturbedNBK Can you please explain to me why those days were better? I guess that back in those days you actually required to use your head to be able to use those programs. But I feel like nowadays, everything is easier. Is it because there's no challenge to be able to communicate on the internet? I was born in 1990, but I only played computer games, never got into the whole Bulletin board system thing. But oh man the games were great back then! Decent Game!

[frankwilliams987]

at 2:05 there is the windows sound?

[dakroland]

It does sound like it, but there's piano music playing so it's possibly part of the music.

[DrMattDestruction]

haha, nice catch! :)

[WalleyTV]

I loved shopping at the Amiga store. Video Toaster 3.0!

[jpoke89]

I thought the exact same thing, I went to check my XP machine because I thought it error'd...

[jonands]

I remember this it was so fun.. I was the SysOp on my BBS that was Called "Last Action" in Norway.. was a fun time chatting with many different people from all over Norway.. :)

Last Action 1993-1995

[RationalEmotive]

Those were the days where online networking was a gentlemen's sport. I am not an elitist but the fact that your average jock could not log onto your boards had some advantages and ethics and etiquette used to be more sophisticated.

[biggdaddy2001]

wow i am definatly getting my old bbs running again it would be fun let me know what you people out there think

[gbg112]

go for it. wish you the best of luck

thease old system do exackly the same as the new it just dosent take as much energy.

[videorookie]

I was a part of the bbs world back then. I was a "SysOp". That was a really good time. I sure miss those days. Oh well, times change.

[gbg112]

you can start one up again the software that is avalable now you can do it for under 15

[Orious69]

ya man those computers are really gonna catch on man...

[Games5522]

Video Toaster ftw.

[laffrenere]

I used to love BBS's. That's how I got into computers. We used to pirate everything! Brings back memories...

[slap1328]

i used to get all the latest c64 games of the bbs. I remember sitting there for hours with my modem on auto dial trying to connect then waiting for more hours while the games dloaded.

[HolidaySeason4Ever]

Couple thousand dollars, lulz. Back then I use to have an Amiga 500, which was way cheaper, not to mention better. I also had an Amiga modem

which was so badass.

[TraderVinny]

Thanks for sharing!!

[Tanjo22]

Is he serious? 4 hours a day? MY GOD, THIS MOTHERFUCKER IS HARDCORE.

[readein]

Go to google video and search up the bbs documentary. Some people would do it up to 8 hourse at a time.

[ScreamingChim]

Did they ever refer to it as the Internet?

[seekstruth]

No, never. The net was seen as a totally new medium. Later, there was crossover in the form of gateways on some BBSs for e-mail and usenet.

[ScreamingChim]

ok cheers

[groovycake]

i think there are still a few you can connect to with telnet, but it's not the same without that sound of the modem, and the frustration you feel when you are trying to connect to your favourite bbs and the line is busy...

[groovycake]

I can't even tell you how many hours I used to spend on BBSes... I so miss the good old days. I used to play this game called food fight... Never really got into Lord or BRE, but everyone was crazy about those ones.

[falken76]

@ 5:44 it's a bbs connection to a board run on CNet, I will never forget that z-modem window! I forgot that it tracked in CPS, and the .lzh archiver! .LHA was much more popular back then... Enough nerd talk, ahhh the memories.

[quiktymevideo]

You could actually meet people with a BBS? I would have loved that to death. This must have been long long long before Internet predators, webcam girls, and fembots came in and ruined things.

[groovycake]

Anyone remember having to press escape twice after you connected? :D

[falken76]

I used to run a board, pressing esc twice was because there was a front end that would poll messages for networking like Fidonet back in the day. Man I miss those days....

[groovycake]

I always liked Maximus better than Renegade

[synsetube]

I actually prefer the default Synchronet shell now.

[jadetraveler]

I think Synchronet works too much like WWIV; I never liked WWIV's menu system much. I use Synchronet for my BBS now, although I've customized the menu system to work how I had my old RemoteAccess BBS set up. :)

[Stevenup7004]

At 2:04, was that windows or the music? o.O

[dakroland]

Honestly, I don't know. I never caught that before. Good ears! My guess is it's probably a sound caught from a windows machine while the video was being transfered.

[RetiredAFGuy]

Ran a few BBS setups myself back until I pulled the plug on my last in 1995. They are still around though available mostly through telnet connections through tunnels off the internet.

[Techx]

yea bbs's were something really cool.. i miss it too.. fun times

[jankoji8]

Internet Killed the BBS Star...

[djtonyc77]

Did they only interview people from Minnesota or northern wisconsin, ya hey

[nitewavs77]

An "Amiga" dealer.  God, I just got goose bumps.

[honorabili]

Memories! Somebody should really make a documentary about warez BBSs though.

[jadetraveler]

I doubt many people would want to come out and say, "Yeah, I ran a BBS that offered pirated software!" :)

[Svante]

Too me, 1992 feels like yesterday. But now looking back at clips like this, you really realise that it IS quite a long time ago ;)

[sdubois92]

i like how theyre talking about downloading software as a perfectly fine alternative to buying it at a store.

[gamorbab]

Hm, something is wrong with the fonts in those example shots, they don't seem to show full ANSI graphics..

[wiikiller]

ran a 'board' too. Mine was warez and hack/phreak. I started it at 300 baud on a TI99-4A,then went with a commodore 64c at 1200, but eventually got up to 9600 with an Amiga 2000. I also ran three lines into it eventually. Then, the internet was the thing - I miss it... I really do!

[SlowStrider]

Cool, we used to do BBS'es too. But not nearly as long as on the internet because of the per minute costs.

[rmeijerink]

I was totally into the BBS with a friend. We had our own "site" called the BLaCK LoTuS BBS. too funny, and what was on it? Top 10's of movies, music and hobbys. People really visited it. after leaving the phone number in magazines and on stickers all around the city. haha. Grtz. from Amsterdam.

[the1jasman]

actually jdjames...THEY DID.

and there are still bbses today via telnet

dmine(dotcom)/bbscorner/bbslis­ts.htm

[fugitivealienvideo]

Love that last page advertizing "Revolution" from NewTek the old Video Toaster program creators.

[airons1972]

The BBS days were the best. Much more personal and fun than nowdays, even without fancy graphics. I started calling BBSs in 1987 at 300 baud on my C64. Later I became a BBS SysOp between 1990 and 1995 and made a lot of good friends.

[n136ha]

yeah but you couldn't see teenage girls filmed on mobile phones fighting or find websites dedicated to hairy ladies

[airons1972]

ah, but be had naked women in 'ascii art' LOL and cool hack/phreak info. ;-) hahahha

[BBV1977]

BBS's are how I got into computers. Those were definately the days and awesome experience for everyone that was involved.

Digital Crew Sysop Big.Bad.Vlad

[fontzepontze]

Umm. It kind of did, smart ass.