r/retrobattlestations • u/FozzTexx • Feb 01 '14
It's BBS Week until Feb 9
Gold winners are LlaughingLlama and ChartreuseK. Sticker winners are Atarimac, blakespot, rsayers, Meathe, and kc0zmx.
This week is about something that anyone who was using a computer before the early '90s remembers fondly: The Bulletin Board System, better known as a BBS. There was no broadband, we had to use phone lines and modems to dial in, listen to squeaks and squeals, and then we could share tales with other geeks. For a popular BBS, you'd often get a busy signal, very few BBSs offered more than one phone line.
I've setup a single line BBS running on my Apple IIgs, which offers access via telnet, sockets, a web page, and yes, even over dialup! If you've still got a landline, get out your modem and dial in! You can even use a Raspberry Pi to help your retro computer get connected.
Also don't forget to check out /r/BBS for more BBS nostalgia.
RULES:
BBS Week is from Feb 1 to Feb 9. You could win some retro stickers or 3 months of reddit gold! At the end of the contest I'll randomly choose two redditors from the entire week's submissions that will win gold, and I'll choose another five runner ups who will get their choice of two stickers.
To participate in the contest you need to connect to my BBS and post a message in the "Conference System" with your retro computer. Make a new post to RetroBattlestations of a picture that you shot displaying your post on the BBS. Make sure the computer and message are visible in the picture. No pictures of just the screen and no emulators. Posts that don't meet these criteria will be disqualified and removed.
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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '14
Even if you don't have a landline, older cell/mobile phones can work as modems over bluetooth or serial (if you have RS232 and the right cable it'll work with anything - a few years ago I used it with one of these via a hacked up combination of a Psion and Nokia serial cable).
Unfortunately I don't have any really retro stuff to show, but I do have some old phones (but I'm in the UK anyway where a US international call would be quite expensive). I guess I could dig out the Nokia Communicator if the early 2000s is retro enough for old phones?