Google of the 80’s

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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Some people have way too much time on their hands and tend to fantasize about Google, a problem most of just don’t share. :D Those of you old enough to remember the pain of searching way back then on a 1200 Baud modem may get a kick out of the nostalgia. Click on the links for an animated view.
 
While that is pretty neat, it's kind of a mismatch. Back in those days you had to know where and how to search for things, it was quite the task. On the other hand, almost anyone you ran into online had at least a basic knowledge of computers and communications. Ran a few BBS' back in the day, it was much fun.
 
I miss my old BBS days. A much better class of people than the Internet of today.
 
NKDietrich said:
I miss my old BBS days. A much better class of people than the Internet of today.
Click to expand...

well yeah, back then you had to actually KNOW something to get it all to work

now we have made it so easy that every asshole, retard, pervert on the planet is flame on
 
I'll second the "you needed to know where and how" to work your modem, and only met other people who also knew how.

Miss the BBS days too...
 
I think it's hilarious that every search query typed in the interactive version returns out of memory.....
 
maboblivion said:
I miss the sound from my old 2400 baud modem ...
at least it can live on forever now...
Click to expand...

I had incredibly strong pangs of nostalgia when I was going through my boxes at my parents' house after a long overdue visit. Inside it I found my old external Supra Fax Modem. The one with the two character dot matrix LED that often said "OK"

The hardware inside was toast (corrosion took over) and the LED wouldn't have been salvageable. But I kept the shell. On a hunch, I opened up my dockstar and slid it into the back of the modem's shell. It fit perfectly. Only a small notch needed to be cut into the back plate and I could connect everything.

CEnwj.jpg


I like it.
 
jojo69 said:
well yeah, back then you had to actually KNOW something to get it all to work

now we have made it so easy that every asshole, retard, pervert on the planet is flame on
Click to expand...

True facts. I remember when I upgraded my 2400 baud modem to a 9600, the computer I was using was rather shit. I had to fight with that thing for hours after school everyday for like a week before I managed to get it to work. There was no Google to look up solutions. I basically just had to flail around until I eventually stumbled upon an undocumented jumper that disabled the onboard 2400 baud modem and freed up the resources needed for the new modem.
 
My first modem was a 600 baud modem for my C64 ... It was bleeding edge! Had to dial the number, unplug the headset and plug the cord into the modem, quickly press enter, and pray.

Viewing that website makes me want to play some Tradewars, Usurper, and Legend Of The Read Dragon.
 
My 13 year old nephew......Whats DOS? How do you get the mouse to work? Kids are so spoiled.
 
ITT: A buncha old farts. ;)








Proud to be a member of the Internet 0.1 myself. TBBS was all the rage back in the day. I still remember my and my cousins handles. He was "Young Lawyer" and I was "Chicken Guts". Never before had two minds wrecked so much havoc on the BBS world ;)
 
dbu8554 said:
I loved LORD!
Click to expand...

Me too, I had LORD games going on a number of boards. I seem to remember those door games being a pain to set up though, especially since I think they were one of the main reasons I switched from Wildcat to WWIV which was better BBS software but much more complicated.
 
Anyone remeber C-net?

hehe I ran a c64 bbs for a few years on a LTK 20mb HDD a couple of SFD-2001 drives and a 2400bps modem.... Started with a 300b modem tho...

If I remeber correctly the site would call the next closest member site in the area ( to cut down on LDcharges) and do a data swap of forum posts ect... and so on and so on...

Everyone I knew from those days was a top quality person, gawd I miss those days......

the internet sucks compared to the bbs culture we had....
 
Ebernanut said:
Me too, I had LORD games going on a number of boards. I seem to remember those door games being a pain to set up though, especially since I think they were one of the main reasons I switched from Wildcat to WWIV which was better BBS software but much more complicated.
Click to expand...

I still have my registration codes for that door game and several others from the time I ran BBSes. You're not kidding about it all being a pain to set up. I'm still convinced how well it worked depended on how much magic smoke your modem and BBS system had. ;)
 
Yea I miss the old days of BBS as well. I started with a 300baud modem on my C=128. I remember downloading all kinds of cool warez, games, apps, and of course demos! It was so slow it took a whole day just to download 1 game. The over time got modem upgrades until I got to 56k. Most of my BBSing was on my Amiga 1200, I used to DDial, play MUDs over telnet. The BBS games were great too, played LORD and many other games i don't remember the names of. It really was a great time and it does suck that it's gone and the internet has taken over but it was fun while it lasted.
 
I don't know about that magic smoke thing, in my experience the biggest x factor was copper to your house and the wiring inside. I had a laptop(386/25 64 shade greyscale) that I used to test a couple BBS setups and I had all sorts problems using some outlets(all the outlets at one friend's house), I also remember running a new phone line directly to the box outside that fixed some issues I was having.
 
I'm pretty sure that back then there was a clear-screen/home ascii command, so that the Google home page should load without scrolling.
 
I remember buying an external 2400 baud Supramodem for my Amiga 3000 for $130 and surfing bbs's, IRC, and the usenet.
We had 2 phone lines as well, so you could still talk while on the computer.
Was also part of 2 local Amiga groups and a video toaster group back then.
Those were the good old days.
 
I remember being 12 and configuring 14.4 modems to play Doom so I could call up my buddy and play coop matches. That was the beginning...
 
Agh... EGA monitors..... such a profound step up from CGA... then to VGA...


kids doing understand now-a-days....


Off to find my Geritol, Metamucil, and Depends...
 
Agh... EGA monitors..... such a profound step up from CGA... then to VGA...


kids don't understand now-a-days....


Off to find my Geritol, Metamucil, and Depends...



Tired and can't speel worth a dad gum dilly do.....
 
I still have my 300 baud for C64 :D There was a local BBS in Puerto Rico...the first time I connected I felt like a computer genius! :D
 
Good times. Doom over serial cables. BBS's, knowing AT commands by heart. And yes, DOOR games...the beginnings of game addictions, the beginning of using the intarwebz for hookups, etc.
 
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