Every time I drive by Stateline Electronics in East Ridge, Tennessee, I smile. Back when we had a desktop IBM compatible computer, Stateline is where I took it for service problems. They were always able to diagnose the problem and fix it for a reasonable price. On this particular day when I picked it up, the technician said, "By the way I put several BBSes in your dialing directory." 'You put what in my what?" "Bulletin Board Services. Just find the dialing directory and dial the number. You'll figure it out".
In case you have never heard what a dialup modem sounded like when it connected to another modem, I have provided a link in the comments for you to hear it. When you listen to the video, you are hearing the near simultaneous sounds from both modems as they introduce themselves and try to connect. There was something very soothing about that horrible noise and very satisfying when the modems finally shook hands. My first modem was a 1200 baud modem. Then I graduated to a much faster 2400 baud modem. Finally, I inherited a 9600 baud modem from a friend. Looking back, I'm fairly sure that he "brought" that one home from TVA, but I had no way of knowing that at the time.
A Bulletin Board Service, or BBS, provided the most enjoyable experience of anything I've ever done online. I learned over time that a System Operator, or Sysop, dedicated a partition of his or her computer to the BBS. This person gave their BBS a name having to do with dragons, sorcerers or the like. They wanted to create the illusion of a magical place and at least as far as I was concerned they did just that. Looking back on it, the experience was really not much different than texting. But it felt like so much more. The user logged onto a BBS, left a message and loggged off. S/he logged onto the site later to read the reply and to reply again. By being active on several BBSes, the user was able to carry on a number of conversations.
So that day I brought my computer home and found the dialing directory. As he suggested, he had loaded about fifteen numbers with interesting names into the directory. I chose one particular BBS that was named something like The Dragon's Lair and I dialed the number. Much screeching noises ensued. I was unsuccessful at first. But on the third or fourth attempt after all the screeches there was silence. I had successfully connected to a BBS. An astronaut docking to the space station the first time couldn't have been much happier. The very first thing I read was "Welcome to La La Land." Some months later when I actually met this Sysop at a BBS meeting, he said that he had just gotten home from the dentist and from using nitrous oxide when he posted that. Until I met a real, live Sysop I thought that they, like the Wizard of Oz, were some sort of gods who graciously bestowed their technology on mere mortals like me. I was surprised that they were just ordinary people wearing blue jeans and t-shirts. And they drank beer. The Sysop of The Dragon's Lair and I even played a few rounds of golf.
Although I quickly became active on several BBSes, it was The Dragon's Lair where I spent the most time. BBSers used a handle, like a CB handle, on a BBS and not our names. My handle was Stryker and I decorated it like this >::::::Stryker:::::> Stryker gained quite a reputation as quick-witted and a person not easy to categorize. Like in the "real world", there were liberals, fundamentalist, atheists and agnostics who frequented those sites. Nobody ever figured out who Stryker really was. I really enjoyed being Stryker. He had a way of invading any conversation and interjecting his sometimes bizarre opinions. At The Dragon's Lair I co-wrote an Arthurian legend with several other users who I never met.. I remember a particular passage I wrote on Merlin that the other users were particularly complimentary of. BBSing was great entertainment.
The strangest thing that happened was the time I connected with a BBS and instead of seeing what I was expecting, the C prompt of the Sysop was blinking on my computer. My computer had become his computer. This was DOS days, remember, when the user was a rudimentary programmer. I could have destroyed his computer if I had been so inclined. I was not so inclined. You have a C prompt on your Windows computer, but you have to know where to look. That day I was tempted to at least look around on his computer when my better nature told me to just log off. The Sysop later thanked me profusely for not crashing his computer.
At some point we upgraded our computer from a modem and a phone line to a coaxial cable. It was so much quieter and faster than the modem. And for technical reasons that I don't recall, the BBSes went away as well. At the time I thought, "I can't wait to see what's better." I've never found anything else much better. I enjoy the internet and have no desire for a dialup modem, but driving by Stateline Elecronics this morning I couldn't help but look wistfully over my shoulder and remember the good ole days of a modem and a BBS. BBSing is just one "B" removed from BSing, but it seemed like more. With BSing, there's usually just one person who's enjoying it. With BBSing there was a world of people enjoying it.
Sometimes I think I'll stop in at Stateline Electronics to say "hello." And I'll tell the service man how much enjoyment they brought to me back in the day. But he'll probably say, "A dialing directory? And a BBS?" And I'll say, "It's a modem thing. Just Google it."
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