| Bulletin Board System |
Article Index for Bulletin |
Website Links For Bulletin Board |
Information AboutBulletin Board System |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM | |
| bulletin board systems | |
| internet culture | |
| on-line chat | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
|
In current usage (primarily in Japan and China ) the term BBS may be used to refer to any online forum or message board. See Internet Forum . Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web and other aspects of the Internet . BBSes were a highly Social Phenomenon and were used for meeting People and having discussions in Message Board s as well as for publishing articles, downloading software, playing games and many more things using a single application. The BBS was also a local phenomenon, as one had to dial into a BBS with a phone line and would have to pay long distance charges for a BBS out of the local area. Thus, many Users of a BBS lived in the same area and it was common for activities such as ''BBS Meets'' or ''Get Togethers'' (GTGs), where everyone from the same board would gather and meet face to face. HISTORY Snowed in during the Great Chicago Snowstorm of (January) 1978, Ward Christensen began preliminary work on what would eventually become CBBS (Computer Bulletin Board System), the first Bulletin Board System. The first BBS, CBBS , went online on February 16 , 1978 in Chicago, Illinois . An earlier Community Memory bulletin board started in 1972 in Berkeley, California , using hardwired terminals located in neighborhoods. With the original 110 and 300 Baud modems of the early 1980s , BBSes were painfully slow, but speed improved with the introduction of 1200 Bit/s modems in the early 1980s, and this led to a substantial increase in Popularity . Most of the '', which devoted extensive coverage of the software and technology innovations and people behind them, and listings to US and worldwide BBSes. In addition, a major monthly magazine, " Computer Shopper ", carried a list of BBSes along with a brief abstract of each of their offerings. Before commercial Internet access became common, Networks of BBSes provided regional and international e-mail and message bases. Some even provided Gateway s by which Member s could send/receive e-mail to/from the Internet . Elaborate schemes allowed users to download binary files, search Gopherspace , and interact with distant Programs , all using plaintext e-mail. Most BBS networks were not linked in realtime. Instead, each would dial up the next in line, and/or a regional hub, at preset intervals to exchange files and messages. The largest BBS network was FidoNet , which is still used, to some extent, especially outside of the United States. Many other BBS networks followed the example of Fidonet, using the same standards and the same software. They were called FTN (Fidonet Technology Networks). They were usually smaller and targeted at selected audiences. With the rise of the World Wide Web function of the Internet in the middle/late 1990s BBSes rapidly declined in popularity in the west. In China and Taiwan, however, BBSes have gained a considerable increase in popularity since 2000. Several largest BBS sites once had tens of thousands of online users at any time, such as SMTH , YTHT , etc. However, those BBSes located in China have been limited on access or closed since 2004. Several BBS systems connected directly to the Internet, removing the necessity of direct dial-up and consequently attracting a more geographically diverse user base. Some general purpose bulletin board systems had special levels of access that were given to those who paid extra money or knew the sysop personally. BBSes that charged money usually had something special to offer their users such as Door Games , a large user base, or Pornography . While many pay BBSes had pornography, some of the largest BBSes charged users merely for discussion boards. Pay BBSes such as The WELL and Echo NYC (both of which exist to this day), and MindVox (which folded in 1996) were admired for their tightly-knit communities and quality discussion forums. However some "free" BBSes maintained close knit communities and some even had annual or bi-annual events where users would travel great distances to see meet face-to-face their on-line friends. Some BBSes, called ''elite boards,'' were exclusively used for distributing pirated software. These BBSes often had multiple modems and phone lines, allowing several users to upload and download files at once. Most elite BBSes used some form of new user verification, where new users would have to apply for membership and attempt to prove that they weren't a law enforcement officer or a '' Lamer .'' The largest elite boards accepted users by invitation only. Today, BBSing survives as a niche hobby for those who enjoy running BBSes and those users who remember BBSing as an enjoyable pastime. Many BBSes are now accessible over Telnet through software such as Synchronet , and typically offer free Email accounts, web interfaces, ftp file downloads, irc chat and all of the protocols commonly used on the Internet. Revival of the hobby that most presume to be from a "dead era" long since left buried under the sands of time -- has been gaining massive awareness by people who are nostalgic for what is referred to as "the hey-days". Others, including the newer generations of the 21st Century -- are finding out about not only the "old school" BBS Technology -- but its modern day inheritor technology as well. Some BBSes are Web-enabled and have a Web-based user interface, allowing people who have never used a BBS before to use one easily via their favorite web browser. For those more nostalgic for the true BBS experience, one can use DOSBox and its modem emulation via TCP/IP to dial up Telnet BBSes with 1980's and 1990's era modem software, like Telix , Qmodem and Procomm Plus . The website '', a program on DVD that features interviews with well-known people (mostly from the United States ) from the "hey-day BBS" era. SHAREWARE Much of the " Shareware " movement was started via sharing software through BBSes. A notable example was Phil Katz 's PKARC (and later PKZIP , using the same ".zip" Algorithm that WinZip and other popular archivers now use); also '' Wolfenstein 3D '' and '' Doom '' from Id Software and many Apogee games. ''See also:'' ANSI Escape Code , BBS Door , Fido and FidoNet , Internet Forum , ISCABBS , and Ward Christensen FEATURES A typical BBS has:
The BBS software usually provides:
A BBS will often have mail (or ''mailer'') software to interface with a network, such as FidoNet . Commonly used mailers include (or have included):
SEE ALSO Notable BBSes
Noteworthy bulletin board system software}} EXTERNAL LINKS
|