Fidonet: Technology, Use, Tools, and History (1993)

I have had points, like 2:463/702.160 and then 2:463/131.160

But then later I became a Boss and got my own Node address 2:463/1161

Circa 1985, I ran a BBS for my computer club and when a Fidonet feature was offered in the software I activated it and figured out how to connect to a larger relay BBS in my area code. It was really magical in those toll-call days to see messages that had relayed across the entire country in just a couple days - entirely FOR FREE. It was like a dial-up modem Pony Express! This was especially amazing for us 8-bit micro hobbyists in the early and mid-80s who were scratching out an isolated existence in the wild wastelands of ad hoc user's groups and BBS' far beyond the gated walls of universities, government and big corp IT depts - we'd never even seen early Usenet!

I lived near Los Angeles at the time and still remember meeting some guys in New York City entirely via free FidoNet messages. A few months later, for other reasons, I happened to make my first ever trip to New York and actually met up with those Fidonet friends and hung out with them. Good times.

Агонь! Харьков <3

The most surprising thing about early and mid-80s hobbyist computer culture (BBSes, users groups, etc) is despite being so open, egalitarian and easy to join, more than half of everyone you'd meet would be someone cool, interesting and worth knowing. I still have several close friends who I met in those days through random computer clubs. All of my little group of friends went on to have fairly notable careers involved in cool computer products, projects or companies you've probably heard of. And over the decades, many others that I'd hung out with at early user's groups and local computer shows became notable enough to follow their adventures in industry magazines.

I don't think that was just a fluke of random luck. I suspect early 8-bit hobby computing (especially outside universities) was an almost perfect gating filter. Nothing was very easy, little was well documented and frankly, it wasn't yet all that much fun. While there was some fun to be had, there were always bits of barbed wire and broken glass to crawl over first, whether typing in BASIC listings from a poorly printed 'zine (inevitably with a few misprints to debug), or figuring out at which volume level software might load from finicky cassette tapes. And even when you got something to finally work, the fun came in short bursts before the next cryptic barrier would arise.

The experience never quite lived up to what we'd imagined owning a hobby computer would be like while we were saving up our pennies to buy our own. But we persevered, driven forward by the sunk cost, brief interludes of fun and faith that tons of 'awesome' lay just ahead. The lack of relevant information beyond a few monthly magazines forced early hobbyists to find each other in ad hoc user's groups and then via BBSes. When I got my 4K, 800 Khz, 8-bit personal computer in 1981, no other person in my entire extended family's social circles knew anyone else who owned a computer at home. Even the concept sounded as strange as owning a "personal cement truck". The first question was always, "A what...?" followed by "Why?" So, despite being just a teenager, my desperation for information forced me to start a user's group simply for lack of there being any in my area. And it quickly grew to several hundred members despite my ineptitude and lack of experience at... well, anything. It turns out, the hearty souls both enthusiastic and naive enough to buy a computer for a hobby in those days, then persevere through failure and continue to connect with other lost users - ended up filtering for some unique qualities.

While the instant global connection (and gratification) of the web is amazing and immensely powerful, one thing we've perhaps lost along the way is that kind natural filter.

Yes, I was around the same time and had a moderately popular local BBS. Reddit (and arguably HN) do feel like the closest thing we have to BBSes today.