Computer Hysteria:  "BBSers"

      by Berry F. Phillips   November 2006

One stormy night, a long, long time ago, at the witching hour, I was reading "scifi" being a bibliophile at one of my favorite haunts that seemed to be a kind of nocturnal magnet. At the long table next to me, a strange conversation was going on that I could not cipher. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see if they might be aliens but there were no antennas or a third eye on their foreheads. However, they could be humanoids! I then confessed to the strange group I had been listening and understood nothing that they were talking about and was curious about their group. (I did not ask them whether they were aliens wanting to be polite.)

They explained they were "BBSers" who were humans of a strange tribe called "Geeks" who seemed to enjoy the fact that I could not understand their conversation with a strange kind of hilarity. Well I was relieved they were not aliens but simply strange human "Geeks" and perhaps disappointed at the same time but still curious. I had been warned many times in my life that curiosity killed the cat, but I always reminded those skeptics that cats have nine lives!

The female Geek explained that they were all "SysOps" (System Operators) running local Bulletin Board Systems ("BBSes") in our area. While they were friendly to me, I sensed some social discomfort since they apparently preferred to interact with machines (computers) more than people unless of course they were members of their "Geek" tribe or the same breed of cat whichever you prefer. I further categorized them in my mind as "machine people." Further, the female "Geek" said that I was a natural for computers since I was a reader. I then became paranoid thinking that she might be a humanoid using some kind of "Vulcan mind link" to know that I was a bibliophile. She further explained that she had seen me reading several times previously at our haunt during their various "Geek" tribal meetings. She then seemed to be determined to take me on as a "Geek"
transformation project especially when I explained that I was not technical and knew then nothing about computers and was from a liberal arts background. I soon learned that "Geeks" love challenges!

Let the learning begin! The Bulletin Board System (BBS) was created from software that allowed remote users to connect via an analog phone line run by a "SysOP" to perform various social and recreational tasks and communicate with others on the system. Remote users could perform functions like downloading software ("Shareware" was very popular.) and data, uploading data, listening to music, playing games, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users.

From the early 1980s to the mid 1990s, "BBSes" were run as a hobby free of charge by the "SysOps" while other BBSes charged their users a subscription fee for access. Internet Service Providers often had BBSes as part of their service to subscribers. The BBS was a local phenomenon
and in many ways was a precursor to the World Wide Web and the Internet.
To avoid costly long distance charges, many "BBSers" were from the same area and often would meet socially but also were a bit reluctant to leave their computers for very long, lest they experience acute machine withdrawal.

The BBS survives today as a nostalgic hobby and via telnet offers free email accounts, web interfaces, ftp file downloads, irc chat, and all the protocols on the Internet. The website www.textfiles.com  has a collection of historical data involving the history of the BBS.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, perhaps we should take a moment to give thanks for the many humans past and present (not aliens) that work directly and indirectly in the Information Technology Industry that are responsible for the evolution of the computer revolution that has so transformed our human lives. I have learned that "Geeks" really have inherited the Earth, and Geeks are NOT TURKEYS!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Computer Club of Oklahoma City and the National Association of PC Users Groups!
 

Berry Phillips is a member of the CCOKC and a regular writer for the CCOKC website and the eMonitor