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June 14, 2005

BBS - The Documentary

My big brother Jeff is featured quite prominently in Jason Scott's newly released "BBS - The Documentary" 3 DVD set. I remember Jeff being fused with a pair of Apple II's in his bedroom for a few years while he ran Xevious, a BBS (bulletin board system) off a 300 baud modem, and a gigantic 6 megabyte hard drive (yes, a 6 MEGAbyte hard drive). This of course was way back in the pre-internet days, when you watched the text scroll across the screen as it trickled in. I snuck on to the Apple II and dialed up to some of the BBS's when Jeff wasn't home as a kid, and got really swept up in it. It reached it's zenith with Diversi-dial (D-Dial), where more than one person could dial up at a time, and actually chat with each other in real-time! It was pretty amazing...

Anyway, Jason Scott has put together an pretty thorough account of those heady days, interviewing all of the orginal geezers responsible for the earliest BBS's creation. What it lacks in production quality, in makes up for in sheer content. This has a ton of really fascinating interviews, and I'm glad someone has taken the care to create such a through document of this often-overlooked critical time in the pre-dawn of the Internet. Check it out if you have ever used any modem slower than 1200 baud.

Here's a bit my brother wrote up about Xevious:

"Xevious was originally written by George Kasabgi of Needham Massachusetts. It ran on two Apple II computers, connected with two serial cards and a serial cable wrapped in tin-foil. It had a 6-meg hard drive. Two distinct features were a two-person chat system (where you could chat with whomever was on the other computer, not just the sysop), and Xevious Trek (a highly addictive grid-based trek game, with multiple planets, hidden galaxies, and the ability to attack other players while they were offline). When George Kasabgi had to go to Canada for several months, he considered closing the BBS. I (Jeff Keegan) offered to run it in his absence, and the BBS was moved to Stoneham, MA. If I remember correctly, the two lines there were 617-279-0354 and 617-438-???? Anyway, I ran it there for several months, eventually it went back to George, and then later he decided to call it quits. Nels Anderson stepped in, offering to move the BBS to Framingham, Massachusetts. At some point someone made the joke that since it was born in Needham, moved to Stoneham, and then moved to Framingham, it should probably go to die in Dedham." - Jeff Keegan

Link: "BBS - The Documentary" - http://www.bbsdocumentary.com

Posted by keegan at June 14, 2005 01:39 AM

Comments

Posted by: Jason Scott at October 13, 2005 06:10 PM