Quickly Remembering The Bulletin Board System

I sometimes think about the days before the internet exploded onto the scene. Simple times when kids weren't afraid of the sun. Simple times when, if you couldn't get together with somebody to play chess you would play mailbox chess. Simple times when playing a round of paintball meant wearing shorts in the fall, grab a bucket of freezing water, fill it with horse chestnuts, stick the bucket of chilled chestnuts in a mutually agreed area, run for the bucket, grab chestnuts and throw them as hard as you can at your victim's exposed legs. Simple times when the BBSes ruled the roost.
A BBS was a computer which ran software that people could log into using a terminal program. Once you were jacked in, you could download programs, chat(multiple phone lines multiple chat), access forums and do all kinds of stuff. If you jacked into a BBS which was considered long distance, you would be charged for it.
Sysops were the people who ran the boards. I still fondly remember the following BBSes: The Wizardry, Eclectus, Dogpound....there's a bunch more reg sites who's name i've forgotten.
The best was when you dialed into a BBS and somebody in your house picked up the phone line, they'd be greeted with that screetchy static sound and then you would lose the signal. You'd yell at everyone not to use the phone again for an hour and then you'd dial back in. Hopefully you wouldn't be greeted by a busy signal over and over and over until finally after 20 mins you were in.

Goodbye BBS, it's been fun.

Vanilla Assassin