Every once in a while I stop and think about this. Internet message boards are in their relative infancy, and for most there isn't more than 6 or 7 years of history. As I think toward the future, I wonder what it's going to be like when it'll be commonplace for an 80 year old to read his own posts and conversations from 60 years before, when he was likely a very different person. To a certain extent, revisionist history will be a thing of the past. Every thought or comment will be readily available for all to see. Kids will post on the same message boards that their parents joined a generation before. Someone will make a "the longest thread ever" post that goes on for decades. It will not be unusual for a member to stop posting simply because they've gotten old and are physically unable, or have passed away. As time passes, the internet (and message boards in particular), becomes as much a time capsule as it does a communication tool. It's an intriguing concept, and I think some of us (myself included) may not realize just how special it is that we get to witness the birth of such a revolutionary technology. Anybody else thought about this stuff before?
I am basing my entire new company around it..........it is going to be much more dynamic and conversational...with video and audio playing a bigger role. DD
That will be a huge plate of turds and a FAIL. The whole basis of the BBS success is the certain anonymity with which it works. Imagine, moestavern19 hates me, right? Sometimes, and .0001 of the times, he agrees with me, but the rest of the 99.999 of the time he doesn't. Also, he doesn't really know who I am and I am the one who is annoying him with emoticons. If you add video, well, he will find out I'm his neighbor and come over to the house and shoot me. Video and Audio make it easy for him to "find me" or to associate me with an image that... Oh, never mind.
Dude I don't what you are worried about. I already know where you live... Theres only one of you in the Katy Directory (my fiancee looked it up not me). Plus I'm not the one in my apartment who has you on ignore cough*MIGUEL*cough ha... ha... ha?
DAMN YOU. or Yeah, right "My fianceé looked you up...", my fianceé... or Oh yeah? Let's get together! Call me, you guys!
it's true. we even googlemapped your address. We were thinking about tp-ing your house, but....toilet paper is awfully pricey these days... :[
What? Oh, YOU c'mon... don't tell me you're not enjoying this... ? You're going to see these posts in 60 years and think: " You know what...? Those peeps in that BBS really made me mad... but I loved it! "
dude... We were hanging out with Dave2000 and his cousin and telling Mig he can't hang out with us because we happen to all be taking this Chemistry Class together but Mig isn't... so anyway I tell him yeah It'll be the "No Miguels" Club and then Mig will say "But you let in Swoly-D!" and then Swoly will pop out of a window and flash about 6 different smilies. epic Simpsons reference. true story.
I guess you've never heard of World of Warcraft, which maintains complete anonymity via draping people in video 3D-avatars (so to speak)...not to mention every other internet gaming engine. that said, if video/audio anonymous bbs's take off...there are plenty of 3D engines out there that pretty much do it right now. The only hurdle would be to make it work through browsers...Flash anyone...vs installed apps. But who knows. If the World of Warcraft people want to spawn bulletin boards using their engine, it would be tough to ignore their installed user base. but i agree...without anonymity...it sounds more like a business application than a new form of personal chat. And I would not want to take on Cisco in the audio/video conference room sector.
The good thing about message boards is that it has increased interest in various topics (technology, news, sports, politics), while bringing people together to freely b**** about whatever they feel like. It's a novel concept, but internet boards are still in their beginning stages, and proof is given by how crappy other sites are. This is still the best message board in sports, with a nice, sleek design, very well moderated, and actually intelligent discussion -- it's certainly FAR better than other ones. Honestly, I have probably learned more on this site than any other newspaper, news feed, blog, or news station. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how discussion boards play a role in the future.
