GROWING PAINS
by Andrew Finkenstadt


Once upon a time there was a 14-year-old boy who just loved to play with computers. He had noticed that some computers had telephone lines so people who wanted to could dial the telephone and use a funny kind of computer called a terminal to get another computer to do some work. He also noticed that some people wrote letters (word processing) and sent them across the country (electronic mail) to someone they had not ever met "in- the-flesh." He thought, "Boy! If only we could do that right here in Lafayette, Indiana, without having to pay a lot of money. Ya know, I'd use that kind of service."

And thus began the little boy's journey into telecommunications.

That was five years ago. Today, that little boy is a man. He's still telecommunicating across the country.

Some things have changed, though. A couple of years ago other people began calling *me* on their computers, instead of me calling other people. I wrote a couple of programs to run what were beginning to be known as Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs). My first BBS, running on an old IMSAI, was crude and little more than a glorified, electronic poster board like the one at the local Krogers announcing jobs and activities. But it worked and was used extensively. Having a far better memory than I did, my BBS would remember that 4000 people had called to date and would tell everyone that Granny's cat had a litter five kittens. Still, that was about all that first BBS could tell people.

The second program, adapted for an Apple ][, was a bit more refined. It remembered when people had called in last. It kept track of personal mail. It could store programs for other people to take and use in their own computers. It let people who called "CHAT" with me, the system operator (SYSOP). CHAT was the most used part of the board, too. People would call in and talk with me about anything and everything: computers, what happened at the Mall, how ol' granny's kittens were taking the heat (not very well). I'd pass on what was going on at school, how the other users of the system were faring, and news of the latest love of my life.

The other most often used part of the board consisted of discussions posted as public mail. At any once time, several trains of thought could be found: everything from "Who'll win the Democratic Nomination for president?" to "How's school?"
People would call in, read what others had said, and type their own opinions. It was informative to read why someone thought Jesse Jackson would be our next President and how David Martin, a close friend of mine, was doing in Indiana History class.

Unfortunately, this good thing did not last. Young people started calling in to try to "crash" my BBS. Daily, I would come home and find my computer blithely munching on a floppy diskette. Security measures were introduced to make the BBS more private, but they only inconvenienced those who were legitimate users and didn't slow down the hackers (in the newer sense of the word). Finally, things became too much to handle, and I faced the sad task of telling the users what was happening and informing them that the BBS was going to close. My heart was broken. The users were hurt and lonely without their periodic "fix" on my BBS. The hackers lost a toy. In the end, no one benefited from shutting down my BBS.

Thinking back on the whole experience I realize that I am better able to communicate and relate to people through written words (and an occasional ) instead of replying on tone of voice and body language. I can see many other ways in which my experiences running my own BBS and using other telecommunication systems affected me. I am now a man who is not afraid to meet people. I am able to relate to many different kinds of people in the computer profession. I am always glad to volunteer my time and hardware for good, worthwhile projects when I see that they will benefit everyone concerned. And last, but certainly not least, my experiences helped me earn my college tuition in full, as well as helped make me financially solvent.

-----

Author's note: Andrew Finkenstadt is a third year student at the
Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. He is majoring in
Mathematics and Computer Science. He currently works as a free-
lance programmer and consultant. He can be contacted care of
University of Steubenville, Box 22, Steubenville, Ohio 43952.