<<<I feel the same way I see the local BBS's dying on the vine as Net Access becomes cheaper and easier. The Net accessable BBS's will be with us for a time but what will happen as html becomes more BBS like? Eventually you will visit a "site" that has all the functionality of a BBS. If you think about it you have already seen sites that have UD's (they call it FTP), and you have seen sites where you can post albeit crudely at this time. Text info is no problem (there is your library function) and chat and newsgroups are also an integral part of the web. It seems to me you already have all the functionality to a limited degree of a bbs. What will happen when someone finally puts it all together??>>>
It looks like I've started a decent conversation here! This is the thing I think BBSes (most likely ones accessible through the internet) are best for, and it's why I think they'll be around for some time to come. Certainly, BBSes are waning in popularity right now. But one thing I get from people I know who are constantly on the net, is that they lack a feeling of "community." This is what I think BBSes are good for. Files are nice, as are libraries....but those are MUCH better done on the net (multiple transfers simultaneously, etc., etc.). The thing you don't see on the net is community. Local people will always need help with local stuff (where's the best place in town to buy software, etc.). With the popularity of the net, it's often hard to get online with an ISP due to busy lines.
I also have a theory about the "peripheral network" that I'm currently working on...One of the major problems with the net is bandwidth. Getting to sites is more and more problematic with more and more traffic. Even T3's are filled with the Java and Shockwave stuff on the net these days. Not to mention big QT movies. The reason for this is that there is a "backbone" through which most long-distance interactions take place. I think there's room for a "peripheral net" which in addition to being connected through the backbone, also connect directly to other peripheral points, making sort of an outer loop. With slow modems, it won't have much of an impact. But when we start seeing ISDN and ADSL becoming more popular, the bandwidth becomes large enough for this peripheral circuit to be a useful alternative to the big, expensive backbones. Sort of like distributed computing.
Still, the main reason I still call BBSes is for local atmosphere. I can read NetNews till my face turns blue, but those people don't mean squat to me. I don't know them or their credentials. You guys, on the other hand, I feel like I know well enough to trust or discount your opinions, and likewise, I offer my opinions for your benefit. To me, this is the whole point of VMUGM, too.
