June 15, 2005

Get Out Your ASCII Graphics! "Wired" Lapses into BBS Nostalgia

...which prompts a trip down memory lane.

"Before America Online, Friendster, forums and blogs, geeks communicated with one another in a clunky and pedestrian way that was the precursor to all subsequent forms of online communication."

Wow! I didn't know that the very first BBS was created in Chicago:

The first BBS was launched in 1978 by Ward Christensen, an IBM mainframe programmer who developed Xmodem, and Randy Suess. It was born during a snowstorm.

That last bit reminds me. Isolating snowstorms can do a lot to prompt people with a tendency toward the techie to explore new areas of communication. Ask me about the Indiana blizzard that led me to peruse and critique hate web sites sometime. You'll be so glad you did.

There is also a documentary on the early days of the BBS. A 5 1/2 hour documentary. Maybe you should wait for the next snowstorm.

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