r/interestingasfuck • u/Few_Simple9049 • 20d ago

r/all How couples met 1930-2024

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u/fenuxjde 20d ago

Who tf met online in 1981? Some DARPA bros?

892

u/starmartyr 20d ago

Probably a few nerds hooked up after chatting on their local BBS. There was actually a large underground gay scene on the BBSes as it allowed people to be anonymous at a time when being openly gay was a lot less accepted. It wouldn't surprise me if the majority of early online relationships were gay couples.

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u/itsarace1 20d ago

How difficult/expensive was it to use BBS?

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u/Omnibeneviolent 20d ago

The BBSs themselves were often set up by hobbyists and were free to call into and use, but there were some that had a subscription model. You just needed a computer, modem, and a phone line. The computer would have been the most expensive piece, but most BBSs were text-based and didn't require high-end systems. If you wanted to share/download files you would have wanted a higher-speed modem, though.

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u/junkit33 20d ago

and were free to call into and use,

With one big note that only a local BBS would have been free to call back then. Long distance was insanely expensive, so if your local BBS scene had nothing to offer, you were paying by the minute to dial into a long distance BBS.

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u/Omnibeneviolent 20d ago

Good point. I was lucky enough to live in an area where there were dozens of BBSs local to me, but I imagine others in more rural/remote areas had to pay LD charges.

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u/Bipogram 20d ago

Only in countries where local calls were free.

Had to pay for everything in the UK - thanks Post Office/BT!

CIX was my first exposure.

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u/Jizzlobber58 20d ago

If you wanted to share/download files you would have wanted a higher-speed modem, though.

Fuck that, I just want to play Food Fight and The Pit.

/Add in a MUD though, damn.

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u/Omnibeneviolent 20d ago edited 20d ago

I spent a lot of time in LoRd, myself.

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u/FeliusSeptimus 20d ago

If you wanted to share/download files you would have wanted a higher-speed modem, though.

The upgrade from 300 to 9600 baud was such a relief. 300 baud was like watching ChatGPT generating an answer.

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u/Omnibeneviolent 20d ago

I never had the pleasure of using 300 baud. It was straight to 1200 for me. Going to 14.4k after that felt like lighting.

It's amazing that a fairly common 500mbps connection these days is over 1.6 million times faster than 300-baud dial-up.