From: nospam.Simon.Geddes@f1.n770.z562.fidonet.org   
      
   Pa> Again does the BBS your connecting to offer CNet or Retronet?  Being a   
   Pa> Commodore teen and graduating to Amiga, this is why I offer those nets   
   Pa> along with the usenets on my BBS.  My personal goal for my BBS is to   
   Pa> offer the most active 8/16bit echo's/nets I can find so users can   
   Pa> connect with others all in one place.   
      
   It doesn't. It's a Synchronet BBS - Windows-heavy by the looks of things.   
      
   That sounds like a good goal - anything that helps people keep using their 8/16   
   bit hardware.   
      
   My personal goal is to help re-build something like an 'offline network', of   
   people who want to use their machines without recourse to the net. To be fully   
   immersed in their computing experience, without the pull and distraction of   
   forum posts, endless options for ADF or 'ROM' downloads etc. etc. I see this   
   loose network being based on dial-up bulletin boards (VoIP problems with this   
   recognised), disk magazines, support of physical magazines, swapping software   
   (legally) through the post. Essentially, pre-internet 1980s and 1990s   
   computing.   
      
   It's my hypothesis that such a computer experience could be a richer one..and   
   that the 'magic' of computing in the 80s and 90s had something to do with the   
   slower, more deliberate pace of computing (not in terms of CPU, but in terms of   
   waiting for a new (paper or disk) magazine each month, or waiting for a PD   
   library to send you a disk through the post), and the fewer options of things   
   we /could/ do on the computer (unless we created it ourselves).   
      
   I suspect it would only realistically work, if it would work at all, if people   
   severely reduced their general internet consumption. Otherwise why bother. And   
   plus, people's brains probably won't have the concentration spans and patience   
   of old required, if they haven't re-wired from constantly refreshing   
   Facebook/Amiga.org in the background.   
      
   Not sure if anyone else will agree however! Your goal sounds a lot more   
   realistic! :)   
      
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