Feb. 16, 1978 -- forty eight years ago today -- the first public dial-up bulletin board system or BBS went online.

Wired: "1978: Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launch the first public dialup bulletin board system. The two unleash the kernel of what would eventually spawn the world wide web, countless online messaging systems..."

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/0216cbbs-first-bbs-bulletin-board/

I got my first modem in the summer of 1986, a Prometheus ProModem 1200A (modem on a card) for the Apple II. The first BBS I logged in to was OxGate, an RBBS/RCPM system the phone number of which I still can remember (my earliest BBS software -- firmware-based on that modem card -- had no phone book). I used BBSs avidly until sometime in 1994, when I subscribed to a local ISP's (Widomaker of Williamsburg, VA) dial-up modem-based PPP service that brought TCP/IP to my 486 PC with Windows 3.1. I could then browse the web from home, and that was basically the end of BBSing for me -- for the moment, anyway.

For those interested in experiencing this early form of online community, there are many BBSs online right now, accessible via telnet on systems old and new. I've enjoyed getting back into BBSing this way, especially when using vintage systems to login.

Most any computer can do it, today. Tips on how: https://bytecellar.com/bbsing

#BulletinboardSystem #BBS #BBSing #telnet #dialup #modem #online #terminals #terminalprograms #computinghistory #history #computers #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #retrocomputers #nostalgia #ATDT #onlineforums #preinternet #internet #communication #RBBS #AppleII #CRT #memories #Wired #tech #technews #technology

Nos anos 90, descobrir o Cheech & Chong através dos samples do Planet Hemp era um feito quase arqueológico. Hoje, é conhecimento básico da tribo 420.
A banda fez mais do que música: fez tradução cultural e introduziu um universo inteiro pra uma geração. Eles eram a internet antes da internet. 💽🔥
#Nostalgia #PreInternet #PlanetHempFoiPioneiro #GeraçãoCD

"Ironically, my #nostalgia for a #preinternet age is being fed by #theinternet itself: the machine constantly feeding me clips of the past, footage of young people operating decades ago where everything seems refreshingly unobserved and carefree.
So the very engine of this nostalgia is the thing half of us wish to do away with, despite the fact that it’s an incredible resource, that has allowed unparalleled access to older music, knowledge, ways of living – and is also by nature democratic, questioning traditional media outlets on global affairs and challenging convention."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/31/internet-age-young-people-world-phones

Talking to my parents about when we went sailing around the South Pacific in the 80's and how you kept in touch pre-Internet. They had a ham radio, they did a check-in with a friend once a week.

But then there was Pacific Net. This was one guy, a hobbyist with a big antenna somewhere in Hawaii. He did a broad cast daily at a set time. Gave weather updates and did check-ins. You'd ask to be added to his check-in list. He would ask for your check-in and you would give your location and your heading. Tell about weather conditions and any other news you had. He would give you information about your location he'd gathered from everyone else he talked with. Like "this is what to expect at the port you are headed for" etc.

If you heard someone on the check-in that you wanted to talk to, you'd ask them to switch to another channel for a private chat.

Absolute early Internet vibes.

#sailing #HamRadio #PreInternet

Gah… now you've done it, @brooke. I am sitting here remembering old tech, like bumping into IRC and realizing it was like the weekly Starlink hook-up, only *it was always on!*

And more than one channel.

🤯

#nostalgia #preinternet

📚 Carmen Sandiego & Encyclopedias: The Original Search Engine!

Before Wikipedia, Carmen Sandiego on Nintendo made us flip through encyclopedias just to solve cases! 🕵️‍♂️📖 Who else had to cross-reference a Britannica to catch a thief? 😂

Find more at www.AwesomeCast.com & www.SorgatronMedia.com

#CarmenSandiego #RetroGaming #TechHistory #PreInternet #Encyclopedia #Nintendo #AwesomeCast

"I have no recollection of how I used to waste time."

ojocaliente asks how we used to space out and waste time, pre-internet.

https://ask.metafilter.com/378496/i-just-kind-of-wasted-my-precious-time

#AskMetafilter #daydreaming #PreInternet #technology #TimeWasting #ZoningOut

But we just went out, danced, listened to the radio, bought cassettes. By that stage I'd stopped buying music magazines. No internet. So had no information about things I was listening to beyond radio/ TV interviews & wandering around record shops. Actually the best thing ever was back in 83/84 trying to locate Nina Simone "my baby just cares for me" which was Blacksheep Disco last song. Who was Nina Simone? #music #preinternet (4) Now it's Shazam and Google!

The 1980s

#art #mastoart #fediart #1980s #preinternet #darkages #goodtimes #skateboard #yesyes

"And that, children, is what we did before AskMetafilter."

"When I was a student in the mid-90s, there was a cubicle in one of the University ladies’ toilets that was 'the problem toilet.' It was like a problem page..."

Great comment by penguin pie on wowenthusiast's question about pre-internet physical bulletin boards.

https://ask.metafilter.com/370857/Tell-me-about-your-adventures-with-pre-internet-physical-bulletin-boards#5277437

#PreInternet #BulletinBoards #history #TheBeforeTimes #communication #ProblemToilet #toilet #funny

Please Tell Me about Pre-internet Personals Ads

In Ask Metafilter, "I've always been fascinated by the personal ads of the pre-internet times and I bet there are people here on Metafilter who could tell me more about what the practical experience of using them was actually like..."

https://ask.metafilter.com/370406/Please-Tell-Me-about-Pre-internet-Personals-Ads

#personals #PersonalAds #newspaper #PreInternet #classifieds #dating

Who here remembers the #bbs days?

I started with Wildcat BBS and graduated to Renegade. (Wonder what Cott Lang is up to these days?)

To my high school self, only the rich ran Worldgroup (Major BBS).

#oldschool #preinternet

@jimdonegan Showing my age here... I used to run a BBS using OS/2 because it could run it in a virtualized environment, still allowing me to use my computer to do other things. Couldn't afford a dedicated computer just for the BBS.

It was all I could afford just to have the dedicated phone line for the BBS.

#oldschool #bbs #preinternet

👾A bit of #Irish IT / #preInternet #history:
I was digging though old stuff in a box in the attic and found a copy of Telecom Éireann’s predecessor to Google - a physical, printed directory of online information services from the early 1990s, pretty much in the format of a phonebook!

It even includes XtraVision (a once popular Irish video store chain) site running on #Minitel! 👾
Who needs Netflix?! 📼
#Ireland #computerhistory

@janebeta7 BBS! En mi casa teníamos un módem y me conectaba a las de mi ciudad, así que recuerde, Galata y EmporiumBBS . Usaba #bluewave para pillar los mensajes de los foros, contestar offline y luego conectar para subirlos. #preinternet

🤣 #90s #80s #PreInternet

https://www.reddit.com/r/90s/comments/wcmjjy/sometimes_facebook_ads_are_actually_useful/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf