002 - Bulletin Board Systems (BBS)

In this episode, John and Dave talk about Bulletin Board Systems (BBS).  A BBS is a form of computer network which was popular in the 80s and early 80s, where users can connect and share messages, files, games and other content.   BBS systems were often run from 8-bit computers and were typically accessed by a traditional telephone line and modem.

John and Dave share their own BBS stories, from both a user and system operator (Sysop), reflecting on their BBS experiences in the 80s and 90s.

Links mentioned in this episode:

The BBS documentary (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7nj3G6Jpv2G6Gp6NvN1kUtQuW8QshBWE 

Compute’s Gazette magazine archive (Archive.org): https://archive.org/details/compute-gazette 

BBS software archive: http://bbsdocumentary.com/software/ 

Active BBS Directory (modern and retro): https://8bitboyz.com/bbs-directory/ 

How to call a BBS today: https://www.howtogeek.com/686600/remember-bbses-heres-how-you-can-visit-one-today/ 

The last call BBS: https://www.zachtronics.com/last-call-bbs/ 

Commodore 64/128 Wifi modem (Retro Rewind): https://support.retrorewind.ca/commodore/c64/wifi-modem

CCGMSx (modern Windows, MacOS, Linux software for calling BBS): https://style64.org/release/ccgmsx-v1.0.1-style