5 ms·

Another challenge was have enough time to download. Most BBSes had a limit on the number of minutes you could use per day, which could severely limit how much

Another challenge was have enough time to download. Most BBSes had a limit on the number of minutes you could use per day, which could severely limit how much you were able to download. For example, on a 14.4k modem, it takes about 15 minutes to download a single 1.44mb floppy disk image. A typical game could be anywhere from 1 to 10 disks, so if your daily quota is 30 minutes, it would take multiple days to download a complete game. On very popular systems, you might not even have enough time to download a single disk. Keep in mind that many early modem transfer protocols didn't support resuming downloads, so if you ran out of minutes before finishing your file, you just had to start over again. So what to do? The solution was to use the "time bank". If you were done using the system for the day, you could "deposit" your unused minutes and store them in your account, up to some max limit. Then once you had enough time saved up, you could withdraw them and finally download that big file you've had your eye on. At least, as long your parents don't pick up the phone...

throw0101a 5y ago
> Keep in mind that many early modem transfer protocols didn't support resuming downloads, so if you ran out of minutes before finishing your file, you just had to start over again. So what to do? You're not wrong, but it's also worth defining "early", as Zmodem was out in 1986 and had restartable transfers: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMODEM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMODEM
- pimlottc 5y ago
  There may have been some version of Zmodem available in 1986, but as Wikipedia itself says, it didn't become widely supported until at least the early 1990s. For example, it wasn't built into ProComm Plus, one of the leading terminal programs, until 1991 [0]. If you didn't have native support, you could add it to your terminal software as an external binary, but that was a bit trickier. [1] And, of course, the BBS you were calling had to support it too. But when it was available, it sure left Xmodem in the dust! 0: https://books.google.com/books?id=aAtUrtU87kQC&pg=PT180&lpg=PT180&dq=add+zmodem+to+procomm&source=bl&ots=jrq3ra4gIt&sig=ACfU3U2hqKYT2fjoHAhx-K5VCIHerklEhg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLu9nFg4f0AhValmoFHW1dDKoQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage https://books.google.com/books?id=aAtUrtU87kQC&pg=PT180&lpg=... 1: https://github.com/fredrikhederstierna/fymodem/blob/98af4588e4d621c4cb88174369466b405b895c04/doc/DSZ.TXT#L358 https://github.com/fredrikhederstierna/fymodem/blob/98af4588... P.S. Old schoolers will recognize the infamous Rusty n Edie's BBS in the directory screenshot in the linked PC Magazine article...
  - jdforsythe420 5y ago
    Thanks for the link! Rusty n Edie was run out of Boardman, OH (suburb of Youngstown) in a plaza at the corner of California Ave and York Ave. In fact, the sign for the plaza is still there: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0212018,-80.6563805,3a,27.1y,139h,97.98t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sBchplSlKUaTwF9RjvkbXSg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DBchplSlKUaTwF9RjvkbXSg%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D165.98904%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0212018,-80.6563805,3a,27.1y... We had lots of BBSs around here in the 90s, including Viper's Den run by Bob McCoy and K's Korner run by Dennis Klaustermeyer. To answer the OP question, compared to now it would seem terrible, dialing up to a text interface on 2400 baud modems. But at the time it was AWESOME. For most of us this was the first time we'd ever used a network of any kind.
    - pimlottc 5y ago
      Wow, that's crazy there's still a sign! It's also crazy how far out the 216 area code used to extend...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
kingcharles 5y ago
After 2 hours of download, 98% complete... Hearing your Mum talking to your Dad downstairs.. "I'm just going to give Aunt Lucy a call.." Me: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" *click*
- martijnvds 5y ago
  Luckily protocols like zmodem supported resuming downloads.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    Ha. As recently as about 3 years ago I was suggesting Zmodem to someone who was tasked with creating a wireless download protocol. I don't know if he ever went with that idea or not.

throw0101a 5y ago

> Keep in mind that many early modem transfer protocols didn't support resuming downloads, so if you ran out of minutes before finishing your file, you just had to start over again. So what to do? You're not wrong, but it's also worth defining "early", as Zmodem was out in 1986 and had restartable transfers: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMODEM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMODEM

pimlottc 5y ago
There may have been some version of Zmodem available in 1986, but as Wikipedia itself says, it didn't become widely supported until at least the early 1990s. For example, it wasn't built into ProComm Plus, one of the leading terminal programs, until 1991 [0]. If you didn't have native support, you could add it to your terminal software as an external binary, but that was a bit trickier. [1] And, of course, the BBS you were calling had to support it too. But when it was available, it sure left Xmodem in the dust! 0: https://books.google.com/books?id=aAtUrtU87kQC&pg=PT180&lpg=PT180&dq=add+zmodem+to+procomm&source=bl&ots=jrq3ra4gIt&sig=ACfU3U2hqKYT2fjoHAhx-K5VCIHerklEhg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLu9nFg4f0AhValmoFHW1dDKoQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage https://books.google.com/books?id=aAtUrtU87kQC&pg=PT180&lpg=... 1: https://github.com/fredrikhederstierna/fymodem/blob/98af4588e4d621c4cb88174369466b405b895c04/doc/DSZ.TXT#L358 https://github.com/fredrikhederstierna/fymodem/blob/98af4588... P.S. Old schoolers will recognize the infamous Rusty n Edie's BBS in the directory screenshot in the linked PC Magazine article...
- jdforsythe420 5y ago
  Thanks for the link! Rusty n Edie was run out of Boardman, OH (suburb of Youngstown) in a plaza at the corner of California Ave and York Ave. In fact, the sign for the plaza is still there: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0212018,-80.6563805,3a,27.1y,139h,97.98t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sBchplSlKUaTwF9RjvkbXSg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DBchplSlKUaTwF9RjvkbXSg%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D165.98904%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0212018,-80.6563805,3a,27.1y... We had lots of BBSs around here in the 90s, including Viper's Den run by Bob McCoy and K's Korner run by Dennis Klaustermeyer. To answer the OP question, compared to now it would seem terrible, dialing up to a text interface on 2400 baud modems. But at the time it was AWESOME. For most of us this was the first time we'd ever used a network of any kind.
  - pimlottc 5y ago
    Wow, that's crazy there's still a sign! It's also crazy how far out the 216 area code used to extend...
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

kingcharles 5y ago

After 2 hours of download, 98% complete... Hearing your Mum talking to your Dad downstairs.. "I'm just going to give Aunt Lucy a call.." Me: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" *click*

martijnvds 5y ago
Luckily protocols like zmodem supported resuming downloads.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  Ha. As recently as about 3 years ago I was suggesting Zmodem to someone who was tasked with creating a wireless download protocol. I don't know if he ever went with that idea or not.