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To all the people I woke up at 2am from dialing potential BBS numbers from dubious outdated sources, I apologize. I was 12 and needed that rush of excitement fr

To all the people I woke up at 2am from dialing potential BBS numbers from dubious outdated sources, I apologize. I was 12 and needed that rush of excitement from discovering a new board. Each BBS had its unique ANSI. A room for files, another for XXX content, one for messages to other members. Some felt lively and bustling. Others felt like walking into a quiet dark cave. You never really knew what you might find. My dad ran a small Wildcat BBS in the late '80s. I still have all of his files. Probably a couple hundred megs in total. Not sure how he picked that software. He had every BBS software you could imagine. He had a friend at the time that he would trade floppies with. One day his friend brought over a copy of Leisure Suit Larry. I was really intrigued by a game that I had to leave the room when they played. Everything was a bit seedy back then. You ever seen CGA porn that runs from a .COM executable you downloaded on a BBS? It might be porn. It might also destroy your entire computer. 1980s equivalent of a risky click.

alfiedotwtf 5y ago
Rush is a good way of putting it. I remember my heart beating faster once the modem finished handshaking
- danielrpa 5y ago
  The Internet rules, but we lost something innocent and good from those times. Discovering a BBS was so exciting - new games, new filez and, most importantly, new friends! A lot less toxicity and higher quality interactions.
  - DrAwdeOccarim 5y ago
    Yea, totally. I remember downloading my first picture of a naked lady from a BBS me and my friend had found. It was a single playboy centerfold that took 20-30 minutes to download. I distinctly recall us turning the monitor off to let it download so a) we didn't get caught by his parents, and b) so we'd be surprised by the entire image once it was done downloading and we turned the monitor back on. Now, a single click and you're watching a real donkey show streaming in 4k for free. I am genuinely worried/curious how society and children coming of age now are going to develop when they have access to such dramatically different and stronger pornography. I could see it going both ways, like marijuana legalization, it becomes less cool so less kids get into it. But reproduction is such a low-level, fundamental driving force in all life (esp humans), that it probably can't be simply not viewed by especially horny male teenagers.
  - kragen 5y ago
    > A lot less toxicity and higher quality interactions. There were good places and bad places, same as now. I recall a post where an acquaintance of mine was angry at his teacher and was pondering whether, hypothetically speaking, it would be better to rape her and then kill her, or first kill her and then rape her. And there was always drama, people getting banned from BBSes or signing up with a name designed to look like somebody else's, etc.
teknolog 5y ago
I still remember the very moment I first got my 1200 bps ISA modem to connect. It probably greatly influenced my life trajectory.

alfiedotwtf 5y ago

Rush is a good way of putting it. I remember my heart beating faster once the modem finished handshaking

danielrpa 5y ago
The Internet rules, but we lost something innocent and good from those times. Discovering a BBS was so exciting - new games, new filez and, most importantly, new friends! A lot less toxicity and higher quality interactions.
- DrAwdeOccarim 5y ago
  Yea, totally. I remember downloading my first picture of a naked lady from a BBS me and my friend had found. It was a single playboy centerfold that took 20-30 minutes to download. I distinctly recall us turning the monitor off to let it download so a) we didn't get caught by his parents, and b) so we'd be surprised by the entire image once it was done downloading and we turned the monitor back on. Now, a single click and you're watching a real donkey show streaming in 4k for free. I am genuinely worried/curious how society and children coming of age now are going to develop when they have access to such dramatically different and stronger pornography. I could see it going both ways, like marijuana legalization, it becomes less cool so less kids get into it. But reproduction is such a low-level, fundamental driving force in all life (esp humans), that it probably can't be simply not viewed by especially horny male teenagers.
- kragen 5y ago
  > A lot less toxicity and higher quality interactions. There were good places and bad places, same as now. I recall a post where an acquaintance of mine was angry at his teacher and was pondering whether, hypothetically speaking, it would be better to rape her and then kill her, or first kill her and then rape her. And there was always drama, people getting banned from BBSes or signing up with a name designed to look like somebody else's, etc.

teknolog 5y ago

I still remember the very moment I first got my 1200 bps ISA modem to connect. It probably greatly influenced my life trajectory.