-=> Quoting Eric Oulashin to Nancy Backus on 14 Jan 11  21:53:38 <=-

 > needing anything particularly on the internet, either...  I was getting
 > my email through gateways onto the bbs, was able to read some of the
 > burgeoning newsgroups on the bbs as well... why venture out further? 

 EO> :)  I guess if BBSs were providing what you need, then I could see
 EO> sticking with them.  When I first started using the internet, I guess I

Exactly.  :)

 EO> was captivated with the fact that the internet seemed so much bigger,
 EO> and that it was all available at your fingertips.  One thing I had used
 EO> BBSs for was downloading files.  But I had noticed that many times, the
 EO> latest verisons of software or other files were sometimes hard to find
 EO> on BBSs, since BBSs weren't always kept up to date, whereas on the
 EO> internet, it was always easy to find the most up-to-date things.

Not being much of a files person, generally what I did need either
didn't need to be the latest version, or showed up in good enough time. 
There was usually someone else on the bbs that was making sure that the
new versions showed up there...  ;)

 EO> Also, in contrast to the local feel of many BBSs, I thought it was
 EO> pretty cool to be able to talk to people around the world on the
 EO> internet..  I also thought newsgroups were fairly cool - but, I hadn't
 EO> seen newsgroups on a BBS before. 

I suppose my view was colored by the fact that at least some of the
genealogy Fido echos I was involved in were in fact drawing people from
all over the world, especially GENEALOGY_EUR which quickly became for
genealogy research anywhere in the world...  I also had some forward-
looking sysops, hence the newsgroup gating.  So, I had some of all the
best of the different worlds right there locally, including the local
aspect...  ;)   And, of course, today, many of the Fido echos are indeed
world-wide, from the support echos to such as ASIAN_LINK and even
COOKING and MEMORIES...  And, for a while, I was telnetting to a bbs in
UK, until he shut down...  ;)

 EO> I also thought the web was pretty cool when I first started using it..
 EO> I thought it was really convenient to be able to share information to
 EO> the whole world that way.

As a concept, I agreed even back then that the web was pretty cool...
but, for me, still a bit unnecessary...  ;)

 EO> As far as DOS, I imagine not many people/companies are making DOS
 EO> software anymore..  are  there?

Probably not many companies... dunno how many people on their own... but
my husband is still making DOS software, and I'm sure he's not the only
one doing such.  And there's still a lot of unbroken DOS software to be
found and used, even if it isn't generally still officially supported.

ttyl      neb

... Opportunities are often things you hadn't noticed the first time...
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20