BBS: The Documentary

A warm, nostalgic look at early online communities, told through talking heads and archival footage, celebrating hobbyist ingenuity.

Created by

Jason Scott

Genres

Documentary

Overview

Long before the Internet escaped from the lab, connecting the planet and redefining what it meant to meant to be a computer user... ...there was a brave and pioneering band of hobbyists who spent their time, money and sanity setting up their home computers and phone lines to welcome anyone who called. By using a modem, anyone who knew the phone number of these machines could connect to them, leave messages, play games, send and receive files in a virtual community... and millions did. They called these places "Bulletin Board Systems", or BBSes. Their collections of messages, rants thoughts and dreams became the way that an entire generation learned about being online.

How it feels

Warm, earnest, melancholic and whimsical. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Technology, friendship, isolation, identity

Content

Mild language. No violence, gore or sexual content.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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