BBS VS Forums

[Toxn]

I was wondering why people still use BBS’s like

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm?hl=en

I find them hard to navigate and generally chaotic. Is there any benefit of them over the Forum?

 

[FurryFury]

I was wondering why people still use BBS’s like

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm?hl=en

I find them hard to navigate and generally chaotic. Is there any benefit of them over the Forum?

Okay, first of all what does BBS mean exactly?

Looking at the site linked above, I'd have to say there wouldn't be a benefit to me. However if you had some good buds there I could see that would be a nice thing.

I belong to a couple of groups from which I get auto e-mails (because I set it up that way) about munches, play parties, demos and other stuff. So that's a benefit to me.

Does that answer the question?

Fury

 

[graceanne]

Probably they're creatures of habit. They like what they know.

 

[Toxn]

Okay, first of all what does BBS mean exactly?

Looking at the site linked above, I'd have to say there wouldn't be a benefit to me. However if you had some good buds there I could see that would be a nice thing.

I belong to a couple of groups from which I get auto e-mails (because I set it up that way) about munches, play parties, demos and other stuff. So that's a benefit to me.

Does that answer the question?

Fury

Bulletin Board Service. From what iv gathered they are the predecessors of the Forum...I just don’t know why they're still in use.

 

[Etoile]

Actually, what you are talking about is called Usenet. It is a predecessor to forums like this one, in fact it's been around since before the web. Each individual section is called a newsgroup, and Usenet runs over a protocol called NNTP. Google Groups is a web interface for Usenet.

A BBS, in the classical definition, was a system that you called up with your modem over the phone lines. It predates the Internet altogether. They were text only and frequently had discussion sections, files to download, games, and sometimes real-time chat. There used to be thousands of these, and of course you could only call one that was in your local area (or you had to pay expensive long distance charges!). BBSes mostly don't exist anymore. The term has come to mean any sort of discussion area.

Why would somebody prefer newsgroups over forums? Well, it probably does have to do with habit. Some groups have been around for 15-20 years, and they have their friends there, and they like it. Forums provide a lot of advantages though - registration mostly keeps the spammers out, you have colors and sizes and bold etc, you can subscribe to topics...and more. Usenet is definitely more chaotic, threads get all mixed up with each other, but many people don't mind that and so they keep using it.

Wikipedia can tell you more about BBSes, Usenet, and other computer history.

 

[Evil_Geoff]

Actually, what you are talking about is called Usenet. It is a predecessor to forums like this one, in fact it's been around since before the web. Each individual section is called a newsgroup, and Usenet runs over a protocol called NNTP. Google Groups is a web interface for Usenet.
...

Oh...

My...

Gawd! ! !

Etoile, I'm in lust! Keeping talking computer nerd at me! 2400 baud! Strap-on (MODEM! Sheesh! Perverts!) Tape drive! Single sided, single density 8" floppy! DEC printer! Mainframe!

Oh dear, I think I had an accident!

 

[Toxn]

Actually, what you are talking about is called Usenet. It is a predecessor to forums like this one, in fact it's been around since before the web. Each individual section is called a newsgroup, and Usenet runs over a protocol called NNTP. Google Groups is a web interface for Usenet.

A BBS, in the classical definition, was a system that you called up with your modem over the phone lines. It predates the Internet altogether. They were text only and frequently had discussion sections, files to download, games, and sometimes real-time chat. There used to be thousands of these, and of course you could only call one that was in your local area (or you had to pay expensive long distance charges!). BBSes mostly don't exist anymore. The term has come to mean any sort of discussion area.

Why would somebody prefer newsgroups over forums? Well, it probably does have to do with habit. Some groups have been around for 15-20 years, and they have their friends there, and they like it. Forums provide a lot of advantages though - registration mostly keeps the spammers out, you have colors and sizes and bold etc, you can subscribe to topics...and more. Usenet is definitely more chaotic, threads get all mixed up with each other, but many people don't mind that and so they keep using it.

Wikipedia can tell you more about BBSes, Usenet, and other computer history.

Thanks Etoile!

 

[m wisdom]

Ahhh, happy old days.

I used to run a BBS in the early nineties, it was the only source of free porn before the Internet.
(That and my dads porn magazines of course )