A BBS (Bulletin Board System) is an independently run computer system that allows users to dial in using a modem and terminal software. Once connected, the visitor can download files, read news, exchanges messages with other users or view other content provided on the BBS. Some BBSes also allow users to run other programs (such as games) in addition to the BBS program. Some BBS programs allow the individual BBS systems to share messages by using a communications medium to exchange the messages via a standard protocol which the BBSes understand. Such systems are "networked" BBSes. There are several BBS Networks around the world. Among them are FIDOnet, WWIVnet, RIMEnet, VNET, Usenet and Battlnet.
The early BBS were run on single personal computers, usually funded out of the SysOp's pocket or perhaps with a few donations from friends and other users. They often had only one dial-up phone line connected to a single modem so that only one person at a time could connect and use the BBS. Later, multi-line systems developed. Eventually many BBS added Internet connectivity to allow dial-up users to access e-mail and/or actually connect through the BBS and out to the Internet itself.
Around the world, BBSs were a popular craze from the 1980s through the mid 1990s. In 1995, the Internet went graphic with the World Wide Web, allowing easy access through preconfigured Windows-based Internet software like NetCruiser. The popularity of the text-based BBS quickly faded.
In its day, the BBS provided the first taste of online connectivity for many people. Since phone charges applied for long distance calls, most users on a BBS were locals. This made it possible to meet offline, and once friendships were established over the BBS, social communities often grew. Many BBSs had regular, organized face-to-face get-togethers.
For the most part BBSs were free, though some did charge. These boards usually had a screening process and special protocols in the login process in an attempt to weed out undesirables. In many ways, the BBS laid the foundation for the experience that was to come on the Internet. Even today many BBS users from the 80s and 90s refer to USENET newsgroups as "boards" as a throwback to the BBS.
Today, USENET newsgroups provide the BBS-equivalent for online discussion. In addition, many web sites feature Internet forums where users can exchange messages on various topics. The Internet forum modernizes the BBS and integrates it into the graphic environment of the World Wide Web. Though these forums have flourished because of their easy access, USENET newsgroups provide a much more efficient environment for in-depth discussion.
Though the BBS has seen its day come and go, there are still quite a few functioning boards, some with graphic interfaces and Internet access.
Today, as in the 'old days', SysOps offer a wide variety of services to their community. Indeed, whether serving a small local town or a world-wide audience, a BBS is just that, a community. It offers personal flavor and service that is somehow lost in the cold, impersonal Internet.
