While the rest of TEXTFILES.COM is about archiving and saving the textfiles of the 1980's, this section is about up-to-date essays and commentary about that time. We're looking for perspective here; you were young when these files made their debut, and now that the digital age is here, what do you look back and feel?
WHAT THIS PAGE IS ABOUT

The purpose of the history section is for people who lived through the "Golden Age" of BBSes to write about their experience. They can write about it from the point of view of someone looking back, or they can try to recreate the feelings they had when they went through it in childhood (or early adulthood).

A real nice bonus would be if people who wrote some of the textfiles on this site could cross-reference them and discuss what they were trying to achieve with the file, or give some context and perspective to the time the file was written.


Filename
Size
Description of the Textfile
EVILEXIDYMirror of Apple 2 Memory Page by Evil Exidy (August, 2005)
It is rare that I am compelled to mirror an entire page of history, including graphics, but this is one of the best compilations of someone's apple memories I've seen.
 
1ststop.txt 5042
Tales of the 1st Stop BBS in New Zealand, by Thomas Kanara (May 26, 2011)
alancasterteen.txt 5188
A Lancaster Teen Remembers BBSes (February 6, 2008)
apsnet.txt 3620
History of the APSNET BBS, by Russ Dale (2003)
basehead.txt 38319
Eight Years of Glory *sic* a.k.a. How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Scene a.k.a. Babehead 2: A Tracker In The City, by Basehead
bitbucket.txt 3528
Lee Manning's memories of the Bit Bucket BBS. (November 12, 2012)
c0dez.txt 63056
Diary of a C0dez Kid, by Dark Sorceror (February 20, 2001)
chickenheadbbs.txt 22139
The BBS Universe from the Perspective of a Simple Pleb, by Chickenhead (July, 2004)
crazy.txt 3940
The Legend of the Crazy Horse BBS, by Tim Grzechowski (November, 2004)
cybrtrsh.txt 37385
Cyberthrash (Story)
dalive 5273
"Dead Alive" by the Extremist, about the way BBSes changed with the Internet (March 12, 2000)
deadlysins.txt 10747
The Days of the Deadly Sins BBS, by Sysop Edward Crouser (2002)
dhobbs.txt 4856
A Brief Story of a Hacker, by Derek Hobbs (August 11, 2010)
drake.txt 4832
I was a Teenage Hacker, by Frank Drake (May 1, 2006)
draxamus.txt 4235
I Was Just Thinking, by Draxamus (June, 2005)
exidy.txt 6273
The Adventures of Evil Exidy and his Apple II Computer
exylic.txt 4650
Some BBS Memories by Exylic Xyth (September 20, 2005)
firescape.txt 10781
From the BBS Backroads to the Information Super Highway (or Where Did All The BBSes Go?!?) by Fire Escape
goldsmith.txt 5937
The Tale of Goldsmith, by Ryan C. Smith (September, 2012)
golnar.txt 15990
BBS Life in the 1980's by Scott (Golnar/Mr. Pez) (March, 2000)
hack7.txt 52648
Computer Hackers: Rebels with a Cause, by Tanja S. Rosteck (April 27, 1994)
hackingcracking.txt 87956
The History of Hacking and Cracking, by Hack3r02 (2007)
hackmorality.txt 83627
Hacking Morality, by Timothy Campbell (1995)
happyhack.txt 10796
What in the World is a Happy Hacker BBS? By David Bucci (2001)
hermsys.txt 2348
What Are Hermes Sysops? (November 1, 2001)
heroic.txt 2027
Memories from John Touzios (January, 2006)
iremember 3093
I remember Those Days, by raindog151 (March 28, 2000)
iwasthere.txt 5174
I Was There! By Frank Yantosca (Februayr, 2008)
jayjay.txt 7505
JayJay's Story (The History of T-Net) by John Hrusovszky (2001)
jimhood.txt 9846
C-Net and the MajorBBS, by James Hood (February, 2002)
jon.txt 4822
Jon's Story of His Time on the BBSes (October 7, 2001)
kilroy 2929
My experiences, by King Kilroy (May 17, 2000)
lansing.txt 5992
Some Memories of Lansing Michigan BBSes, by Robin Hood (Jason Artman) (December, 2005)
lifeonledge.txt 19195
Ten Years on the Ledge, by Joseph Sheppard of the Ledge PC-Board BBS (2004)
lipkovits.txt 13525
Some BBS Memories by Rowan Lipkovits (May 1, 2005)
mindvox 66115
Mindvox: The Overture (Voices in My Head) by Patrick Karel Kroupa (Lord Digital)
minn.txt 21622
Adventures in BBSing: BBSing Nostalgia in the Twin Cities. from Sash (2000)
mmm.txt 5643
The BBS Story of Mean Mister Mustard (September 6, 2011)
modemlife.html 21331
Thoughts on "The Modem Life: Is it Really Worth it?" by Bryan Nomad (January 19, 2002)
modemwld.txt 11323
The Modem World, by Charles P. Hobbs of the Blue Cafe (2000)
mog-history 25260
A History of BBSes and BBSing from 1990 to the Present, by Mogel (February, 2000)
moore.txt 7991
Fonts of Youth, by Michael Moore (1994)
msorrow 41151
The Story of Midnight Sorrow, by Michael Waas (1991-Present)
namaste.txt 3707
An Oral History of Alternative Lifestyles BBSes and Other Facts, from Namaste Master (October, 2004)
nameisreo.txt 22043
My Name is Reo: A Look at How the Electronic Me Was Born, by Tom Hare (July 7th, 2000)
necropls.txt 8134
The BBS Scene of Canton, Ohio, by Tom Bryant (September 3, 2001)
netmask.txt 4777
What are these things that the old guys talk about... BBS's? by Netmask (May, 1999)
onan.txt 8337
About the T.A.R.D.I.S. BBS, by Thomas O'Nan (November 17, 2006)
pat.txt 6049
My "Old Days Rant" by Patrick Guenette (June 18, 2001)
phxbbs-m.txt 36260
A History of the Golden Age of the Phoenix, AZ BBS Scene, by Mirage (March 25, 2004)
planetzero.txt 6412
The History of the Planet-Zero BBS, by Benjamin Hauger (October, 2003)
proudlyserve.txt 20578
Excerpt from "Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters: What I Learned in Ten Years as a Microsoft Programmer" by Adam David Barr (2000)
radexposed.txt 12368
Radioactive Aardvark Dung Exposed, by Mercuri of RAD (May 9, 2001)
reeves.txt 17141
Memories of a BBS Childhood, by Steve Reevers (January, 2003)
sawyer.txt 8981
Memories of the USS Enterprise BBS by Mike Sawyer (October, 2002)
silverclaws.txt 3872
Xao Silverclaw's Story of Barking Pizza (August, 2004)
stressman.txt 13862
Some Memories and a BBS List, by Justin Stressman (July 1, 2005)
thievco.txt 20677
The Story and the Truth about the Thievco BBS (And Computer Security in General) by the Blue Boar (August 28, 1998)
three.txt 6749
The Story of Two BBSes, Three BBS Names and Three Sysops, by Bill Mertens (August 15, 2001)
ukunderg.txt 23530
A Brief History and Guide to the UK Underground Scene, by Paris of Soljo Publishing (August, 2004)
whatbbs 4816
The Internet's Full Effect on BBS Use, by Mark Robbins of the Second Sanctum BBS (January 1, 1996)
wil.txt 13590
BBS Memories, from Wil (November 14, 2009)
yuban.txt 5465
Memories of Bowling for Jesus, by Reverend Ed Yuban (January 19, 2003)

There are 62 files for a total of 1,015,058 bytes.
There is 1 directory.

I hope to have this section grow to be one of the most complete and popular parts of this site. If you want to contribute, please don't hesitate to write to me.

If you wish to have the entire directory conveniently archived and compressed into one file, please download either history.tar.gz (1328914 bytes) or history.zip (1376926 bytes) instead of all the files separately.