They may be a bit harder to get to, but they are often worth the extra effort. With the development of the World Wide Web as an easy and inexpensive publishing platform, bulletin board services may be a dying breed. On the other hand, the use of telnet links to bulletin boards have made them more easily accessed than having to dial a phone number for each. Whatever their future might be, bulletin board services are an important evolutionary step in the development of information utilities. First developed as a way to provide online product support to hardware and software buyers, bulletin boards started to become popular computer hobbyist services and evolved into an important medium for associations and groups wanting to get information out.
Bulletin boards are systems set up on a computer that is running bulletin board software.
The software allows callers to dial into the bulletin board and do a number of things. Sometimes, however it can be sent to any e-mail address. Equivalent to Internet news groups , these are public messages posted in the boards' message areas that are available for reading and comment by anyone who signs on. Areas on the service where people upload articles, lists, documents, photos, or software which others can download and use. While on a bulletin board, you can read messages and if there is one you'd like to reply to, you can post a response.