Topic: from BBS to multi-million $ marketing tool...
started by: whiskey@throttle
Can you remember the ol' glory days, in which you would rush home from junior high to flip on your external 2400baud box of joy and dial up a BBS? You'd race through the message boards, leave a message for the trusty sysop (who was either a Monty Python freak or a Repo Man fanatic), play some Tradewars, et cetera...
Now, in the wake of Internet Explorer 5.5, we fester in the wake of an ever-expanding cesspool. Sure, Phillips/the Beatles is/are right..."things are getting better all the time." However, things are also getting worse. What was once a novelty of youthful curiosity and a token of spirited invention is now a blunt instrument tailored to sell, swindle, and ultimately profit.
Sure, I know what you're thinking: tell us something we don't know.
But it's still cracks my ass.
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whiskey_throttle.mullet@boozin.meth.org
[This message has been edited by whiskey@throttle (edited September 06, 2000).]
Mind you, it has to be said, it was a shit BBS, but there was something non-mainstream about the persuit.. I admit i used to get quite annoyed at how computing was being opened to the public. TV shows teaching the basics of computing irked me.. I prefered to be part of a small scene of leet haxors to being in a free-for-all lamors that wanted to learn.. But that's just me...
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"Everyone's favorite implement for any task"
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Now *that's* resolution.
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-marcc
< lmao.cjb.net - funny pictures >.
There were generally never enough users to justify ads on BBSes, but there were registration fees for some. And online games had registration fees. And fucking Wayne Bell..I saw the source code for WWiV everywhere...for every person who paid him, I'm sure 10 or 15 didn't
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I never let my schooling get in the way of my education - Mark Twain
jeez, they've got overhead flight shooters on that thing. and I just can't get enough chu chu rocket.
as this is a topic about bbs and money, I digress. the problem with our society is that when we get something really cool, everyone grapples on to it and pretends to know all about it. while most of this phenomena only lasts a few months (mars rover, comet halebopp, y2k to name a few), computers, and the fact that you can make billions from one, has always been around. that's because you CAN make billions of dollars. however, you'll find some sites that don't sell out, but they're very few in breed. try weblogs, hahaha.
it's funny you should mention this because I was just taking a break from making the ultimate online industry, that will probably get some venture capital, and will allow me to retire at the ripe age of 18.
if it's worth a shot, why shouldn't everyone do it?
One of the best parts was how everyone would know each other and live around the same areas. Nobody would tolerate assholes because everyone communicated and word spread quickly if anything of note happened. One had a much greater sense of personal responsibility because of it.
I remember back in '91 or '92 a well-known bbser- Cha0s -was busted here in 619 by the feds for phreaking with a phone system in some construction site. It was huge news, and everyone knew what was going on. His parents got fined some ungodly amount of money and he was not allowed to use a computer for like 5 years.
I had a BBS running from 92 till 96 that was fairly popular here.. I ended up taking it down in 96 because NO ONE called anymore. I got like 2-3 calls a week, where i had been getting 40-50 a day back during the heyday.
I was soooo pissed at the internet
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aventari
"Anarchy may not be the best form of government, but it's better than no government at all"