(Editor's note: this is the story of the birth and death of a great private online service, a "bbs," as it were. The lesson to be learned from this? Once you begin, you may not be able to stop, except upon bearing the pain of stopping. In that the pain may not be avoided, consider wisely beforehand what you are about to begin.)
EPITAPH FOR AN OLD FRIEND
There are a lot of hard things you must do throughout the
course of your life; difficult decisions, hard choices, and, of
course, good-byes are always a part of growing. Good byes to
friends, acquiatances, and loved ones - even pets are one of the
hardest things with which you will ever have to deal, but a BBS?
When I bought my first computer (lo, those many years ago),
the choices were very few. I made my selection of computer based
upon experience and ease of use. I had learned on an Apple II
(not even a Plus) computer; had gone through both the instruction
manual, and the Reference Guide (who remembers the green & white
Apple II Reference Guide?) in about a month. I was hooked!
After I had made my purchase (which is a whole story in
itself) I closeted myself in my little "computer room" and from
that day to this, my wife has seen more of the back of my head
than she has the front. She was VERY surprised to learn that my
hair line had receded as much as it has (but then it was about a
four year period since she had last seen my face).
I started with my Apple II trying to teach myself programming:
BASIC, PASCAL, and 6502 Assembler. I also learned a lot about the
operating system (or DOS 3.2 and DOS 3.3, remember those?)
through various publications. One such publication became the
early focus of my attention. A magazine devoted solely to the
Apple II family, SoftTalk. I was an avid fan of the monthly
Uncle-Dos column (and still read A2-CENTRAL every month). I
bought anything and everything that Beagle Brothers published,
and I carried the manual for "Bag Of Tricks" around with me like
a Bible ("Have you heard the Word of DOS today?").
In spite of all that, I knew that my computer was deaf, dumb,
and blind to any information that I did not put into it myself. I wanted to communicate! So... I made the second biggest (best?) mistake in my life, I bought a modem.
Now in those days, there weren't a lot of modems to choose
from, and most were external (which required the additional
purchase of an interface, or serial card). I wanted an INTERNAL
modem, and that limited my choices even more. I ended up buying a
Novation Apple Cat, 300 BPS modem. I had the computer... I had
the modem!... I had the phone line and the manual! I even had the
SOFTWARE!!!!! But - I didn't have any phone numbers. In
desperation, I called Novation, and a young tech-weenie (now a
near-famous Apple tech-weenie, and good friend; Willie Collier)
gave me a few numbers in my area code. I found a BBS across the
San Francisco Bay from me, and spent WEEKS reading, posting,
inter-acting, and chatting with the sysop. BUT! (and I hope
you're all sitting down) when the phone bill came in - - $252.00
for a TWO WEEK PERIOD IN THE SAME AREA CODE! I honestly came as
close to passing out as I think I ever have been. Naturally I had
to curb my calling out to BBSs. But... I was hooked!
I had to get that "BBS Fix"! The only alternative open to me
was to start my OWN BBS. So I called back down to Novation, spoke
with my friend Willie again, and he recommended a BBS software
program that worked with my computer and modem. It was called
T-Net at that time, and was written by a young student in Warren,
Michigan, named Dean Drako. I bought a copy, and started my own
BBS. I advertised on a few other BBSs, and soon found that,
because I had one of the very few Apple II systems in the area,
that I attracted a lot of Apple II users. Many were from the
local user group (San Francisco Apple Core) and told me that the
group no longer had a BBS, so I went to the group leaders (of
which I would become one in later days) and asked if they wanted
a BBS. They said "How much will it cost us?". "Not a thing!", I
replied, and we were in business! This all came about within
about the first nine months of operation. In that time I had seen
a number of other BBSs open and close quickly. Usually run by a
seventeen year old, and called "The Dragon's Sphincter" or
something like that. I learned two valuable lessons from those
days: be consistent; and provide substantial information
regularly.
As time went on I took up support for two other user groups:
The Apple II Users of Northern California (ATUNC), and the
Peninsula Apple Users Group. Then I got ambitious. I was aware
that a number of large user groups had BBSs, but the largest,
International Apple Core did not. I got on the phone, talked with
the president, Karen Zinsmeister, and asked if she wanted a BBS.
She said "How much will it cost us?". "Not a thing!", I replied,
and we were in business! So now I was running the BBS for IAC! It
was about this time that I decided to upgrade the software and
changed to another system called Alpha-III (by a company called
ProTree). The author, Bob Garth, later created a multi-user BBS
called ELITE, and I ran that for about 2 years (it required an
Apple II+ for each modem and an Apple IIe for a file server).
Then I got ambitious again... Softalk had folded shop some
years ago (and I still have all those back issues), and I had
become an avid reader of A+ Magazine (Maggie Canon, Fred Davis,
Chip Carmen, Gary Little, and Michael Fischer)! So... I got on
the phone to Maggie and asked... and she said ... and so we were
in business!
By this time I had two 60 Mb drives on the system, and was
getting about 90 calls a day. I needed three other sysops to help
with answers ('cause I don't know much myself), and a software
librarian!
It was about this time I saw an ad in a magazine for a new
network just about to open (you know how you get a magazine for
the next month, 7-10 days before the end of the month?). The new
network was called "GEnie", and there was a demo number you could
call for a free "tour". Being a solid "modem junkie" by now, I
dialed in and immediately went to the Apple II section. Naturally
I couldn't read messages or download files, but the way the
system functioned was pretty easy to understand and... WHAT'S
THIS??? THEY ARE LOOKING FOR AN APPLE II SYSOP???
Quick - where is "GEnie" located... 301 area code? Where the
hell is that? Maryland? Ok... [DIALING SOUNDS] "Hello, I'd like
the number for GEnie in Rockville" ... "I don't know, it has
something to do with General Electric!" ... "General Electric
Information Services? Yeah, sounds close enough to me!". I called
and spoke to a gentleman named Bill Louden. "Hey, I see you're
looking for an Apple II sysop? I run a BBS system out here on the
west coast, and I think we might have something of mutual
interest to talk about.". And so it came about that I started
working for GEnie as the first Apple II sysop.
It consumed a lot of time and energy. My wife saw even less of
my face, and the users of my BBS saw even less of my messages
(probably many of them were greatly relieved). I got another
sysop to run the entire BBS, and I devoted most of my time to
running the "American Apple RoundTable" on GEnie. What followed is history...
In all this time the BBS remained running in my office (no
matter where I moved), and the regular users kept calling in.
However the number was dwindling, the user groups had either
folded or faded, A+ was absorbed by InCider, and I was
tremendously occupied with what had now become a time and a half
job!
In it's last incarnation, the BBS (now called "Draco Apple
Information Service") was moved over to a Macintosh computer (oh,
the indignity of it all), and served no more than 50 regular
callers with about 60 Mb of storage and two phone lines.
Now a brief explanation is due... in all the years I've been
sysoping, and producing or doing whatever it is I do online, I've
developed some operating principles that I know are true; they
are simple, basic, and they work. Some of these principles
involve the running, management, and ultimate success of a small
BBS (others are more applicable to national information services
like GEnie). One of these principles requires that who ever runs
and manages the BBS must (repeat MUST) also provide an engaging
personality (either pleasant or controversial, but it must cause
people to want to come back for more). Since I had more or less
abandoned the BBS to the care and ministrations of others, it
lost something.
They were there to learn. The BBS had become a training ground
for sysops, and had declined in the service it was providing to
the Apple II users in the community. (Note, almost ALL of the
sysops who have worked on the system have gone on to become
sysops on national services: Leonard Reed, (AOL, GENie); Bob
Mulligan, (GEnie, AOL); Rick Mulligan, (GEnie, AOL, GEnie); Rod
Whitten, (AOL); Tom Carlton, (AOL); Kent Fillmore, (GEnie, AOL,
GEnie)). It would also be unfair to mention the BBS without
mentioning that these people were largely responsible for its
success, with thier diligence and hard work. They didn't get to
where they are now, on the national systems, by mistake.
On the other hand, the number of Apple II users who were
calling in also declined. I tried focusing on Mac information as
well to supplement the messaging, but that didn't help either
(there are a number of GOOD Mac BBSs in the San Francisco Bay
Area).
It becomes a very sad point when you realize that something
you've started, something that has become a tradition, and a
benchmark in its time, has outlived its usefulness. This was the
situation I faced. Finally, on Sunday, December 22nd, 1991, after
some ten years of continuous, non-stop service, I turned off the
power to the computer, parked and powered down the hard drives,
and let it rest. It had been a constant companion, a good friend,
and a virtual help mate. It had seen many Apple II users through
insoluble problems, and had lightened many dark evenings with a
little chuckle ('cause I don't believe ANY information is worth
spit if it doesn't have something entertaining to go with it).
For me, it had been a point of pride, frustration, honor, and
anger. It had helped me realize that there IS truth in Apple's
promise "The power to be your best" even though they may not have
seen the full potential of that promise, and had always been a
refuge where I could communicate with those who knew me best. I
think it may have been that to others as well. Ultimately it was
fun, and really when you get right down to it, isn't that what
makes it all worth doing?
Good bye, old friend - you've earned your rest. Sleep well.
Kent Fillmore (Draco)
GEnie: DRACO
AppleLink: DRACO
The Well: draco
AOL: Draco
(Editor's note: Kent Fillmore, who began the Computer Forums for America Online, lives in San Mateo, California, where he works by means of modem representing companies in the communication field.)
