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Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie
For nearly two decades, computer-based Bulletin Board Systems were the primary method of communication between computer users. As suddenly as they gained popularity, they were made obsolete by the next big thing - a newfangled system called the Internet. Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie takes its readers on an exciting journey through the BBS era. Through the author's personal tales and adventures, readers will discover more about these amazing times and what it was like to grow up online. With tales of copyfests, BBS parties and random acts of online debauchery, those who were there will find themselves reminiscing, while those who weren't will enjoy learning about life "before the 'net." You know, back when we used to modem uphill, both ways in the snow.
168 pages, Paperback
First published August 19, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 14, 2016
As others have mentioned, this is a book that is best enjoyed by people with interest in the early computer and BBS scene.
Its not an analysis of those early days, its more a straight up "Here is my life from I was 5 until now"
And that makes it kind of compelling. I could see myself in many of the situations described in the book. From the early disk-trading to the LANs, a lot of the experiences in the book mirror my own.
Some might react to the tone of some of the book. The "my crew were fantastic and these guys were lamers". But that is how the computer culture was and is. I found it fitting.
By far, the most interesting aspect of it was seeing how isolated the early scene was. How the restriction of long distance calls created an arificial barrier that forced all these local scenes to develop.
As a Commodore Amiga fan, I am well aware of the faliure of that machine to gain any foothold in the US when it realeased. So I found i interesting to read about how these really hardcore Commodore 64 fans didnt even consider it when it realeased. They stayed on their C64 until finally getting an IBM. This stands in contrast to the European and the Scandinavian scene, where the Amiga was huge and had a gigantic demoscene and were King of the Hill until around 1994.
In the end, they were right. IBM was the future and Commodore went bankrupt in 94. Still, the choice not to upgrade when the A500 hit in the late 80's is interesting.
Anyway..
This is an entertaining book, but if you are not already into the subject matter, I dont think you will like it very much.
Its not an analysis of those early days, its more a straight up "Here is my life from I was 5 until now"
And that makes it kind of compelling. I could see myself in many of the situations described in the book. From the early disk-trading to the LANs, a lot of the experiences in the book mirror my own.
Some might react to the tone of some of the book. The "my crew were fantastic and these guys were lamers". But that is how the computer culture was and is. I found it fitting.
By far, the most interesting aspect of it was seeing how isolated the early scene was. How the restriction of long distance calls created an arificial barrier that forced all these local scenes to develop.
As a Commodore Amiga fan, I am well aware of the faliure of that machine to gain any foothold in the US when it realeased. So I found i interesting to read about how these really hardcore Commodore 64 fans didnt even consider it when it realeased. They stayed on their C64 until finally getting an IBM. This stands in contrast to the European and the Scandinavian scene, where the Amiga was huge and had a gigantic demoscene and were King of the Hill until around 1994.
In the end, they were right. IBM was the future and Commodore went bankrupt in 94. Still, the choice not to upgrade when the A500 hit in the late 80's is interesting.
Anyway..
This is an entertaining book, but if you are not already into the subject matter, I dont think you will like it very much.
January 16, 2014
As a former Commodore 64 Sysop from the 403 and Commodore Sales Guy, this book brought back a lot of fond memories for me. I honestly could not put the book down and read it cover to cover in a day.
I actually followed @Commodork on Twitter a few months ago when I myself and some of my buddies from back in the day experienced a 2d20+10 of Commodore Nostalgia.
Having also experienced the good old Warez days of "Sneaker Net" I can recall many fine "Pirate Partys" (a.k.a. Copyfests) where drinking came only secondary to the number of discs that could be copied in an evenings time.
We actually coined the phrase "Di-Sector Eyes" back then, when we stayed up too late copying discs, and looked away from the screen to see said familiar flashing screen while looking at the white walls or ceilings. (Those from the era can relate).
To say that Rob's book has rekindled my desire to get back into the Retro Computing scene is an understatement.
In fact, I even booted up the old BBS software I ran - and reread all the posts c.a. 1986. The fact that those discs still load after 27 Years is a testament to - they don't make 'em like that anymore.
AFTER finishing his book now, I will be checking out his podcasts from his blog. Listened to the first one today and they compliment the content from the book nicely.
Nicely Done Rob, again so many good memories from that age that parallel your own it's uncanny. So glad you took the time to jot yours down and share them with others.
I actually followed @Commodork on Twitter a few months ago when I myself and some of my buddies from back in the day experienced a 2d20+10 of Commodore Nostalgia.
Having also experienced the good old Warez days of "Sneaker Net" I can recall many fine "Pirate Partys" (a.k.a. Copyfests) where drinking came only secondary to the number of discs that could be copied in an evenings time.
We actually coined the phrase "Di-Sector Eyes" back then, when we stayed up too late copying discs, and looked away from the screen to see said familiar flashing screen while looking at the white walls or ceilings. (Those from the era can relate).
To say that Rob's book has rekindled my desire to get back into the Retro Computing scene is an understatement.
In fact, I even booted up the old BBS software I ran - and reread all the posts c.a. 1986. The fact that those discs still load after 27 Years is a testament to - they don't make 'em like that anymore.
AFTER finishing his book now, I will be checking out his podcasts from his blog. Listened to the first one today and they compliment the content from the book nicely.
Nicely Done Rob, again so many good memories from that age that parallel your own it's uncanny. So glad you took the time to jot yours down and share them with others.
November 10, 2020
I have really mixed feelings about this book and I feel guilty as a result. I was so excited to find this book and during must of the first part, I remained excited. The author is a big C64 fan and probably close to my age because I got mine around 1983 and I went through much of the same stuff he did. However, after awhile, it seemed like the stories and the chapters just seemed to get redundant, so much so, that I felt bored after awhile, which is sad. If I didn't like the subject so much and relate so much to the author, I would give this book 3 stars, but for the very reasons I just mentioned, I'm giving it 4 stars. Recommended.
August 10, 2020
I am almost finished reading the Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie, which I bought
online from Amazon about two months ago. I think I remember seeing a hard copy version of the book in a used bookstore in town about 2-3 years ago. Trying to take advantage of what little time I have for the summer due to the recent coronavirus, I decided to continue my yearly reading of books.
In any event, the book started out great as a recollection of the author's youth growing up with the TRS-80, Apple II, and the Commodore 64. The reading of the book didn't seem to flow well after the author said he had graduated and had retired using his Commodore 64. But then, it would have been nice if the author would have concluded the book that he longed for his youth by using Commodore 64 and trying to reconnect with friends.
It would have made more since if he would edited the rest of the ebook and included it within a follow-up book, which I presume is in the Commodorkier?
I can relate to the author in that I grew up with a Vic 20, but I was too young at the time to use BBS or any other online services at the time. I have an older cousin who had a Commodore 64, but he seemed to use it primarily for his schoolwork. Despite having a Vic20 at home, my cousin was protective of his C64. I think I only played just a few games on it, namely Hang On on it just once at my aunt's kitchen when I was 9 years old or so.
I never had TRS-80 or a Tandy computer, but I remember using one for a computer literacy class in in middle school.
I never had an Apple IIe, but one of my father's friend's lent me own when I was in high school.
I tried to use it for schoolwork, namely for Biology classes and for Chemistry.
It wasn't until later on that I got a 386SX Packard Bell PC in high school towards the end of my freshman year that I started becoming dabbling with BBSs. I tended to use BBSs in more a social way to connect with other like minded people at that.
I am not sure if copyfests existed at the time. I later attended some computer trade shows and, later on, a Linux meeting with a friend from high school.
online from Amazon about two months ago. I think I remember seeing a hard copy version of the book in a used bookstore in town about 2-3 years ago. Trying to take advantage of what little time I have for the summer due to the recent coronavirus, I decided to continue my yearly reading of books.
In any event, the book started out great as a recollection of the author's youth growing up with the TRS-80, Apple II, and the Commodore 64. The reading of the book didn't seem to flow well after the author said he had graduated and had retired using his Commodore 64. But then, it would have been nice if the author would have concluded the book that he longed for his youth by using Commodore 64 and trying to reconnect with friends.
It would have made more since if he would edited the rest of the ebook and included it within a follow-up book, which I presume is in the Commodorkier?
I can relate to the author in that I grew up with a Vic 20, but I was too young at the time to use BBS or any other online services at the time. I have an older cousin who had a Commodore 64, but he seemed to use it primarily for his schoolwork. Despite having a Vic20 at home, my cousin was protective of his C64. I think I only played just a few games on it, namely Hang On on it just once at my aunt's kitchen when I was 9 years old or so.
I never had TRS-80 or a Tandy computer, but I remember using one for a computer literacy class in in middle school.
I never had an Apple IIe, but one of my father's friend's lent me own when I was in high school.
I tried to use it for schoolwork, namely for Biology classes and for Chemistry.
It wasn't until later on that I got a 386SX Packard Bell PC in high school towards the end of my freshman year that I started becoming dabbling with BBSs. I tended to use BBSs in more a social way to connect with other like minded people at that.
I am not sure if copyfests existed at the time. I later attended some computer trade shows and, later on, a Linux meeting with a friend from high school.
April 16, 2018
I am a few years older than the author, but was also hugely enamored with the C64 an the BBS scene. I was a military brat, so I had most of my modem age in Germany. It was very different, but also quite similar. In Germany you paid by the minute even for local calls, so we never uploaded or downloaded software. Just messaging, and arranging local meetups. Everyone met up for copy fests.
When the Amiga came along I dropped the C64 like a hot rock. I LOVED the Amiga, and I went the route of writing code for it. I made an 8 Line BBS for the Amiga (QUEBBS) and sold it as shareware. Here I was in high school making good money off shareware. We moved back to the US and I was the only person who had 8 phone lines installed. Even the installers were really confused, they thought I was running a call center.
The book was a good romp though nostalgic times. But the author has serious hording tendencies - get help for that. When you have a machine, and a backup to that machine why would you need dozens more of the same machine? Let them go!
When the Amiga came along I dropped the C64 like a hot rock. I LOVED the Amiga, and I went the route of writing code for it. I made an 8 Line BBS for the Amiga (QUEBBS) and sold it as shareware. Here I was in high school making good money off shareware. We moved back to the US and I was the only person who had 8 phone lines installed. Even the installers were really confused, they thought I was running a call center.
The book was a good romp though nostalgic times. But the author has serious hording tendencies - get help for that. When you have a machine, and a backup to that machine why would you need dozens more of the same machine? Let them go!
January 12, 2021
An enjoyable collection of disconnected stories that don't quite make up a memoir. Users and fans of early personal computers will probably find something interesting in Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie, regardless of whether or not they were involved in the BBS scene. But there's not a lot here to draw in readers who aren't already familiar with the era.
June 28, 2023
Very good personal account of technology of BBSs especially the darker parts like underground stuff like Cracking, Warez, Piracy etc
It's a very interesting personal account
But the author is ethically challenged and does things that as a normal person will make you cringe and he shows no remorse for his actions. This doesn't just include piracy. Piracy is the least offensive thing he committed. I don't want to spoil the book, but expect accounts of scumbaggish things and illegal things done by the author.
It's a very interesting personal account
But the author is ethically challenged and does things that as a normal person will make you cringe and he shows no remorse for his actions. This doesn't just include piracy. Piracy is the least offensive thing he committed. I don't want to spoil the book, but expect accounts of scumbaggish things and illegal things done by the author.
August 10, 2019
Having spent my teens in the same era (albeit in a different hemisphere) I have almost the same fond memories of the bbs era and the dawn of the internet. For me this book was like a walk through memory lane with different screen names.
May 29, 2021
This is a 5-Star book if you grew up using the Bulletin Board System. Learning the back story of the BBS Super Star's back in the day was truly fascinating. It makes me nostalgic to have those days back.
January 8, 2017
A quick read, but it's more of a disjointed romp through memories than an actual memoir. I was disappointed that it was mainly about the darker fringes of BBS activity in the 80s - warez, cracking, phreaking, etc. I traveled in more "social" BBS settings where conversation and other exchanges were more the norm (something that this group would have called "lamers."). I was hoping for more about the BBS community in general - those who formed the basis of today's Internet forums, blogs, Reddit groups, and the like.
July 5, 2020
Interesting read, but the author shows no remorse or ethical dillemas making it more a description than a journey...
February 1, 2015
I adore this book!
Commodork is a book detailing the author's trek through the microcomputer age starting in the late 70's as experienced by millions of introverted but highly motivated and intelligent kids just like myself who came with a dash of the mischievous and a healthy dollop of natural curiosity and hidden confidence, and an extremely endearing trip through memory lane for same. It is a smile-fest, often leading for those who lived through the times to uncontrollable laughter, but even for those who were not jumping headfirst into the world of these desktop thinking machines and the culture built around them, it will bring that laughter anyway simply because of the author's writing style.
If you ever saw the 80's classic movie Wargames, you know the culture of this book. With great descriptions of the pastimes and motivations of all the people in his life, from parents, to girlfriends, and of course to that obligatory "weirdo" who lived across town, was a few years older and had all of the newest games, the book is a wonderful window into what created the adults of Generation X - the first generation to really inherit the (arguably) darker legacy of the decadence of the Boomer Generation and also the generation that accelerated the transition into the Information Age. He defines the BBS craze of the early 80's, outlines the almost limitless freedom kids of the time had to devote to intellectual pursuits, with the money to support those pursuits and an increasingly out of touch parental society that wonders if it will be sorry it bought the kid a computer, and in contrast, what became of the kids whose parents straddled the line between geeks and hippies and celebrated their kids taking the same path.
The time was all about rudimentary computer gaming, Dungeons and Dragons, BBS drinking parties chock full of computers trailing ribbon cable, and a fledgling hacker and phreaker society just getting on its feet. With kids learning to program by copying game code out of trade magazines, buying shareware programs and ignoring the warnings about copying and redistribution, and kids signing up for computer class at school just so they could rip off the programs from school computers and upload them to their BBS friends, all in the effort to be underground computer rock stars.
This is the world I grew up in with my brothers and sister and the decade between 1979 and 1989 will always in my opinion be the most cherished decade of my life other than this current one where my daughter is in formative years. This book is precious to me and I can't say enough that anyone who grew up in this culture or wants to understand where the Microsofts and Apple Computers came from, and what kind of people became the Silicon Valley gods, will love this book too. Highly recommended!
March 2, 2011
Another book I picked up because of my own history with and emotional attachment to the BBS/90's PC hacker scene. This one was quite a let-down, for a handful of reasons.
1) Editing: probably should have had some. Unevenly paced, with almost no sense of proportion.
2) He was a Warez guy. I always thought warez guys were boring, because all they cared about, or could talk about, was how many fucking Megs (now Gigs) of SW they had / you had to give them, or who took credit for their cracks etc etc. This book confirmed all of my negative perceptions of warez guys.
3) Characterization. O'Hara likes to tell us how wonderful and important to him his BBS friends were, but the only sense of those people we get are (a) their handles (b) a few pix scattered throughout the book (c) broad talk of 'misfit cameraderie'. I think the only characterizations we get of any of his friends - including his wife - are that one is "skinny", and a couple are more excitable than others. Or like particular bands, when it is important to an anecdote. One could leave this book with the impression that he was the only fully formed human personality in the 405 area code.
This latter is more a crime of omission (and again, lack of editing), but it makes for painfully solipsistic storytelling, and robs the story of any weight or relevance to anyone who wasn't a member of one of these communities themselves, which is a crime as I think that period has a lot to learn from for broader audiences (biased!).
1) Editing: probably should have had some. Unevenly paced, with almost no sense of proportion.
2) He was a Warez guy. I always thought warez guys were boring, because all they cared about, or could talk about, was how many fucking Megs (now Gigs) of SW they had / you had to give them, or who took credit for their cracks etc etc. This book confirmed all of my negative perceptions of warez guys.
3) Characterization. O'Hara likes to tell us how wonderful and important to him his BBS friends were, but the only sense of those people we get are (a) their handles (b) a few pix scattered throughout the book (c) broad talk of 'misfit cameraderie'. I think the only characterizations we get of any of his friends - including his wife - are that one is "skinny", and a couple are more excitable than others. Or like particular bands, when it is important to an anecdote. One could leave this book with the impression that he was the only fully formed human personality in the 405 area code.
This latter is more a crime of omission (and again, lack of editing), but it makes for painfully solipsistic storytelling, and robs the story of any weight or relevance to anyone who wasn't a member of one of these communities themselves, which is a crime as I think that period has a lot to learn from for broader audiences (biased!).
September 17, 2012
De toda mi colección de libros sobre la historia de la computación, éste es el que más he disfrutado (tal vez junto Masters of Doom) y definitivamente el que más me ha influenciado a seguir mi camino de coleccionista y aficionado. De hecho, por este libro dejé de sólo interesarme por la Commodore 64 y pasé a convertirme en coleccionista y restaurador.
Commodork trata no de la historia del C64 o de los BBS, sino de cómo la vivieron los usuarios a nivel personal (lo cual es mucho más interesante).
No es sólo nostalgia porque yo no conocí esto en sus tiempos, sino ya en mi vida adulta; es más bien una auténtica admiración por un sistema que cambió la computación personal más que cualquier otro (sí, hasta más que la Macintosh).
La C64 junto con los BBS (los foros en línea de los 80s) abrieron la puerta a la era de la colaboración online de amateurs que fue tan importante para mí, a pesar de que a mí me tocó 10 años despues, cuando Commodore ya no existía y la WWW había reemplazado a los BBS. Los "sceners" fueron los precursores y guías de quienes una década después hicimos cosas similares con los foros, el IRC y ya mucho depués con las redes sociales. Ellos son los originales, los que inventaron las dinámicas sociales que 30 años depués seguimos usando en Twitter y Facebook.
Commodork trata no de la historia del C64 o de los BBS, sino de cómo la vivieron los usuarios a nivel personal (lo cual es mucho más interesante).
No es sólo nostalgia porque yo no conocí esto en sus tiempos, sino ya en mi vida adulta; es más bien una auténtica admiración por un sistema que cambió la computación personal más que cualquier otro (sí, hasta más que la Macintosh).
La C64 junto con los BBS (los foros en línea de los 80s) abrieron la puerta a la era de la colaboración online de amateurs que fue tan importante para mí, a pesar de que a mí me tocó 10 años despues, cuando Commodore ya no existía y la WWW había reemplazado a los BBS. Los "sceners" fueron los precursores y guías de quienes una década después hicimos cosas similares con los foros, el IRC y ya mucho depués con las redes sociales. Ellos son los originales, los que inventaron las dinámicas sociales que 30 años depués seguimos usando en Twitter y Facebook.
July 2, 2012
loved how this book started. I am a bit too young to remember bbs systems or the commodore but had an interesting talk with my dad about them. this book is just a small glimpse into the early world of computers and the internet. re#lly though this is a look at the birth of software piracy and where it all started. some of the stories in this book didn't seem to fit in and not sure why they were there. regardless, interesting to learn about the early days of computing.
January 19, 2013
An enjoyable read for anyone who was part of the dialup BBS world in the late 80s/early 90s. A lot of the stories and anecdotes could easily have been retellings of the boards in our area code. The book probably only has limited interest to those who don't have a nostalgia for those times, however and the last third is a bit too filled with 'had to be there' stories. Still, for those of us who lived it its a nostalgic trip!
September 15, 2014
A light and entertaining read full of authentic anecdotes for those that are nostalgic for the pre-internet age. Basically a biography of a computer geek in Oaklahoma: more entertaining in many ways than Wozniak's autobiography except that Rob didn't co-found Apple for millions of dollars. Both of them are obsessed with computers so much that in hundreds of pages they have only about a couple sentences about their wife and marriage. =)
December 13, 2014
For somebody who grew up just a little too late to experience the Commodore 64 and the early internet world of BBS, this book was the next best thing. Full of insights and interesting anecdotes from the author's personal experience, it was an easy but worthwhile read.
July 10, 2014
Rob O'Hara is a wonderful storyteller and he captures the time period perfectly. This is a great read for anyone who lived through the BBS era and wants to rekindle some of the spirit of that time.
January 20, 2014
A great insight into the workings of a prolific BBS user and the community surrounding 'warez'. And how the BBS scene was consumed almost overnight by the internet.
March 22, 2016
Rob's stories echo the stories of many of us who grew up before the Internet. The book was a nice trip down memory lane. I just wish the book was bigger with more details from the time.
July 8, 2021
I can totally relate
I was born in 1985. But... I can totally relate. I never own a C64 in my life, my home comp was a Spectrum 48, but... I know what good old days are :)
I was born in 1985. But... I can totally relate. I never own a C64 in my life, my home comp was a Spectrum 48, but... I know what good old days are :)
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