Scott Hanselman

Hanselminutes Podcast 161 - BBSs and Wildcat! from Mustang Software

May 13, 2009 Comment on this post [12] Posted in Podcast
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SmallWc4logo My one-hundred-and-sixty-first podcast is up. Scott chats with founders of Mustang Software (creators of Wildcat! BBS) Jim Harrer and Scott Hunter about the BBS era. We start at 300 baud and work our way up. Remember Hayes modems, v.32bis, Fidonet, Compuserve? This is the show for you.

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As I've said before this show comes to you with the audio expertise and stewardship of Carl Franklin. The name comes from Travis Illig, but the goal of the show is simple. Avoid wasting the listener's time. (and make the commute less boring)

Enjoy. Who knows what'll happen in the next show?

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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May 13, 2009 15:12
Great show, I really like those "history channel" talks mixed into the regular schedule :)

Minor nitpick: baud does not always equals bps, although probably for modems of back them it was true. See here.
May 13, 2009 15:50
The show brought back fond memories of waiting to download files until late at night when I could hope to get files at 239 - 240 bytes/sec.

It was a different time, I was a kid and the most I had to worry about was my mom picking up the ph#@#$#@%#@#%# NO CARRIER
May 13, 2009 19:36
I was more of a WWIV guy myself. The Devil's Playground was the name of my board...way...way...way back when.
May 13, 2009 21:04
GapBBS for the win! Ahh, the good ol days!
May 14, 2009 0:45
Compuserve was nearly as revolutionary from a tech support perspective as the Internet. I say that because for many of the big name vendors, you could get to all their support sites from one Compuserve account. As a consultant out solving problems for a myriad of users it was great (most people who came along with the WWW may take it for granted, but prior to Compuserve it usually meant a phone call to the vendor for even basic support) OR trying to keep track of a whole bunch of phone numbers (long distance) to dial into their private BBS etc...
Once again, another great trip down memory lane.
May 16, 2009 1:30
Crazy flashbacks. Thanks for that! I remember playing BBS games that only allowed one play per person/day.

Here I'll plug my long defunct BBS: VisionQuest BBS. sigh...
May 19, 2009 0:26
Hey, the date is at the top of the post! Sweet!
May 19, 2009 16:42
I was a Renegade man myself. Never quite got into Wildcat.
May 19, 2009 20:19
Am I the only TBBS guy? Still have the software and manuals on the shelf...
May 19, 2009 20:39
This was a GREAT listen. I was just going into Junior High school and convinced my folks to get into BBSing. I never got my own BBS up and running, but I loved the Chatlink and the QWK mail readers that really opened up my eyes to the world.

...and you're right. The world was much "friendlier" online then. I think that is due in part to computers being really more of a hobbyist group back then and we could all share our horror stories of configuring interrupts, ports, and what have you for sound cards and even our mice! Then we'd want to share our "victory" of a proper configuration with others and also want to get others up and running.

Many thanks Jim and Scott! You guys enabled this "kid" from a small town to open his eyes to the world.
May 20, 2009 0:41
really enjoyed this, thanks.
May 20, 2009 21:43
What memories!

I didn't have a PC until college, but faithfully logged in to many a Commodore 64 BBS. I was psyched when I moved to Atlanta in the Fall of 1987 and discovered a MUCH LARGER toll free dialing area, with a list of hundreds of BBSs to call--all for free!

Definitely true about the "friendly-ness" of the era. I still try to treat others the same as I did back then (and as I was treated, myself).

Thanks for this podcast!

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.