What is a Bulletin Board System?
A Bulletin Board System is an Online Service that allows callers to Send and
Receive Private E-Mail, Read and Post Messages under Topic Forums, Upload and
Download Files, find Tech Support, have live "Chat" conversations with other
callers (public and private), play Online Games, and much more. See the image
above? That's a typical BBS Main Menu (for ANSI Telnet and Java Telnet Browser
Modes). It is NOT the Internet. For example, America Online and CompuServe are
just BIG Bulletin Boards! What makes a local BBS special, is the system speed,
personal service, the support, and the members. People tend to get to know one
another on a local service. And they even develop relationships! And keep in
mind - these are people in YOUR AREA - not someone from halfway around the
globe! Believe it or not - the Internet DOES NOT HAVE EVERYTHING! Local Services
are usually free-of-charge, are MUCH FASTER, and usually much easier to use than a big
online service or the Internet. The Internet has it's purposes, but comparing it
to a BBS is like comparing apples and oranges! Think of it this way - where
would you rather hang out to relax - at the Club (A BBS) or at an overcrowded
mall (The Internet)? Also a local online service can be customized to the
callers' needs. It adjusts to the members wants and desires, where as the
Internet is merely impersonal content. It just sits there like a bump on the
log.
Attention Ex-BBSers!
Remember life before the Web? When you spent hours calling BBS systems?
Remember the online games you use to play? Remember the national and
international message conferences and forums? Remember when these systems were
your source for the latest and greatest shareware software out there? When did
you last call a local BBS? Bet you have been too busy surfing the Web! Well, BBS
systems have not gone away. There are still a few out there. Most have become
internet accessible now and are still a source of fun, interest, and
entertainment.
Try a BBS for a Change!
For those who have never logged onto a BBS, try it! The majority offer free
access to the public. You have nothing to loose! Download one of the
communications programs below and try "calling" some BBSes in your area. Visit the Christian BBS link on the main page and find a listing of BBSs in your area. Also visit the World Wide BBS List
for info and links to telnetable BBSes on the net. Feel free to help yourself to
any of the following BBS related Programs!
Freeware Telnet Program for visiting Internet BBSes(MTELNET.ZIP, 110 K)
Shareware DOS Comm Program (TELIX351.ZIP, 836 K)
Win 95/NT Comm Program (QMPro21.ZIP, 3.8 MB)
Shareware Mac Comm Program - Requires BinHex 4.0 (ZTERM101.HQX, 413 K)
What's so Special about BBSes?
Well for one the BBS is local. Generally most of the callers for a BBS come
from the local area and "call in" via telnet. More and
more BBSs are getting connected to the internet every day, like *Square One's
BBS. The biggest advantage to connecting to a BBS
is for a *community* feel. Also, on most BBS systems, downloadable files are usually well organized
in libraries and have full descriptions.
Also, a connection with a BBS is not subject to slow down because there is not as much traffic on many BBSs. While it is true that you can do chat
(sorta) and e-mail and other things on a web page. The web page doesn't have the
local flavor of a BBS. Most BBSs are one or two-man operations and as such they
tend to have a more personal atmosphere than a web page. Many people get on a
BBS in the late afternoon or early evening just to unwind and talk and joke with
friends. As I said before, a BBS tends to have more of a *community* feel, much like a favorite
restaurant or bar where you meet with friends.
You can't really compare posting msg's on a web site to msg's on a bbs...A bbs
is instant real time chat and messageing. A bbs is a place that you feel you go
to, a web page sits and stares at you. Compared to a bbs the web doesn't even
have the right to use the term "interactive". I'm not down on the web, but I am
really sick of everyone comparing them. They no more compare than apples and
oranges in my mind. Each has features that the other lacks with a few overlaps
of course. To say one is better than the other would be an injustice to both.
Most BBSs have an ANSI (Text with colors) interface versus a Windows (Graphic)
interface - although many are converting to a Windows interface. Some people
find this to be a drawback for the BBS. The ANSI interface is not mouse oriented
but tends to be faster and in some respects easier.
Trying to chat on a web page is a good example - you write a line and have to
click in the "send" button and wait for another single line to come back. On a
BBS you type a line and press return - things continue instantly from there, as
each user adds his comments the text just scrolls line by line from the bottom
of the screen to the top with no delays. Most of the "point and clickers" have a
little trouble with the ANSI/text interface at first but most pick it up fairly
fast and some find they don't want to use the Windows interface anymore to
access the BBS :).
The BBS and the Web page tend to be compared over and over, but really the BBS
is a different animal. The BBS from the start was meant to be a meeting place
for people with like interests to chat, send e-mail, play games, and just
generally have fun (although sometimes a BBS is used for a tech support or
information access functions). The web page, while it does have similarities to
the BBS, it is meant more as an infomation providing device. As such you click
here and you click there and look at different pages, but it doesn't have the
same sense of community that a BBS can.
FTP is another major difference. Most BBSs that are connected to the internet
offer FTP. (*Square One's BBS does). But (for the files local to the BBS) the
BBS has an interactive file system that lets you read a description of each file
and then tag it for download later. In FTP you can download files but if you
don't know what you are looking for it can be confusing as there are no
descriptions to read by each of the files. Also the BBS lets you search for a
file by description or file name and other factors - much the same as a search
engine like Yahoo does, only it's local to the BBS. Most BBSs have between 500Mb
to several Gigabytes of files online.
Both the Web page and the BBS have much to offer and their offerings do cross a
bit, but they are not same thing and should not be thought of as such. The BBS
tends to be more personal and local, while the web page tends to be more
"internet wide" and commercial. Please don't get the idea that I'm trying to
start a "down with web pages" debate - I'm not. One is not better or worse than
the other. BBSs fill one need in the online world, and web pages fill a
different one. Really the best way to find out more about the BBS (and it's
general feel) is to experience it for yourself - log onto several BBSs. Try to
find a BBS that is popular in your area. You might just find one that kinda
feels like home and you might find that you want to come back from time to time
to visit.
Well I hope I have given you *some* idea of what a BBS is like and how it is not
the same as a web page. Again, go visit some BBSs! Like this one. 
I've found that those people who started out in the online world with BBS's, now use BOTH the WWW and BBS's, for they realize the strong points of each. Those who started out with the WWW generally don't know about BBS's, and think the WWW is the sum of all online experience.