BBS the Documentary [Full HD]
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it as a definitive, nostalgic history of BBS culture whenever people ask what the pre-internet online world was like.
What it is
Jason Scott's multi-episode documentary on the bulletin board system scene of the 1980s and 1990s, built from over 200 interviews. It captures how hobbyists ran dial-up systems before the internet went mainstream.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2018 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends wmat · 2018-09 · on “Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?”
Some of my favourite nerdy documentaries: BBS: The Documentary [this video] The KGB, the Computer, and Me [LINK] 8 Bit Generation: The Commodore Wars [LINK]
Recommends aspenmayer · 2019-10 · on “The Life, Death and Resurrection of Computer Art Group Mistigris”
Not a write up but BBS: The Documentary is covers a lot of what you’re asking about. BBS: The Documentary (commonly referred to as BBS Documentary) is a 3-disc, 8-episode documentary about the subculture born from the creation of the bulletin board system (BBS) filmed by computer historian Jason Scott of textfiles.com. [LINK] [this video]
Cites lsh · 2019-02 · on “41 Years Ago, There Were BBS Instead of the Internet”
That seems be to a collection of clips and things. The 'BBS: The Documentary' was released as ~8 episdoes. You can find them collected here: [this video]
Cites toomuchtodo · 2026-03 · on “Ask HN: What was it like in the era of BBS before the internet?”
Related: [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [this video] [LINK] BBS: The Documentary (2005) - [LINK] - December 2023 (65 comments) Enjoyed Jason Scott’s BBS documentary - [LINK] - June 2022 (39 comments) Ask HN: What was it like to use BBS? - [LINK] - November 2021 (230 comments) The Full BBS Documentary Interviews Are Going Online - [LINK] - Jan 2018 (1 comment) BBS the Documentary (2013) [video] - [LINK] - May 2015 (23 comments) Others?