Wednesday, September 8, 2010

BBS - Documentary

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.
(from www.bbsdocumentary.com)


Episode 1 - Baud
The beginnings of the first BBSes, featuring Ward Christensen and Randy Suess

Episode 2 - Sysops and Users
Experiences from those who used and operated BBSes

Episode 3 - Make it Pay
The BBS industry of the 1980s and 90s

Episode 4 - idonet
Details the largest volunteer-run computer network in history

Episode 5 - Artscene
The history of the ANSI Art Scene which thrived in the BBS world

Episode 6 - HPAC (Hacking Phreaking Anarchy Cracking)
Hear from the users of "underground" BBSes

Episode 7 - No Carrier
The end of the dial-up BBS and its integration into the Internet

Episode 8 - Compression
The story of the PKWARE/SEA legal battle of the late 1980s

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