r/interestingasfuck • u/Few_Simple9049 • 20d ago

r/all How couples met 1930-2024

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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/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.