Before websites, social media, and broadband Internet, there were Bulletin Board Systems—or BBSes.
A BBS was usually a computer sitting somewhere connected to one or more telephone lines through modems. You would tell your modem to dial the BBS's phone number, listen to the familiar screeching handshake, and—if the line wasn't busy—you were online.
Once connected, you could read and post messages, download and upload files, chat, and play games. Popular "door games" included TradeWars 2002 and Legend of the Red Dragon.
Most BBSes were operated by an individual known as the SysOp (System Operator). Some were tiny systems running from someone's bedroom with a single phone line. Larger systems had multiple lines allowing several users to connect simultaneously.
Speed was another matter entirely. BBS users lived through modem speeds such as 300, 1200, 2400, 9600, 14.4K, 28.8K, 33.6K and eventually 56K. Downloading a file that takes seconds today could tie up the phone line for hours.
BBS culture also developed its own distinctive look. ANSI art, elaborate login screens, handles instead of real names, message boards, file libraries and online games gave individual systems their own personalities.
Systems could even communicate with each other. Networks such as FidoNet allowed messages to travel between BBSes, sometimes crossing countries despite the individual systems having no permanent Internet connection.
Then the commercial Internet and World Wide Web arrived. By the mid-to-late 1990s, dial-up Internet providers gave users access to thousands of websites instead of one BBS at a time. Most traditional dial-up boards eventually disappeared.
They never completely died, though. BBS software still exists, and enthusiasts operate systems today using Telnet and other Internet connections instead of telephone modems.
Modern forums, online communities, file sharing and even some aspects of social media have roots in that earlier world.
Before everyone had an Internet connection, sometimes the online world was simply a computer, a modem, and a phone number.
A BBS was usually a computer sitting somewhere connected to one or more telephone lines through modems. You would tell your modem to dial the BBS's phone number, listen to the familiar screeching handshake, and—if the line wasn't busy—you were online.
Once connected, you could read and post messages, download and upload files, chat, and play games. Popular "door games" included TradeWars 2002 and Legend of the Red Dragon.
Most BBSes were operated by an individual known as the SysOp (System Operator). Some were tiny systems running from someone's bedroom with a single phone line. Larger systems had multiple lines allowing several users to connect simultaneously.
Speed was another matter entirely. BBS users lived through modem speeds such as 300, 1200, 2400, 9600, 14.4K, 28.8K, 33.6K and eventually 56K. Downloading a file that takes seconds today could tie up the phone line for hours.
BBS culture also developed its own distinctive look. ANSI art, elaborate login screens, handles instead of real names, message boards, file libraries and online games gave individual systems their own personalities.
Systems could even communicate with each other. Networks such as FidoNet allowed messages to travel between BBSes, sometimes crossing countries despite the individual systems having no permanent Internet connection.
Then the commercial Internet and World Wide Web arrived. By the mid-to-late 1990s, dial-up Internet providers gave users access to thousands of websites instead of one BBS at a time. Most traditional dial-up boards eventually disappeared.
They never completely died, though. BBS software still exists, and enthusiasts operate systems today using Telnet and other Internet connections instead of telephone modems.
Modern forums, online communities, file sharing and even some aspects of social media have roots in that earlier world.
Before everyone had an Internet connection, sometimes the online world was simply a computer, a modem, and a phone number.