A computerized bulletin board system (BBS) is a personal computer equipped with a modem, a few disk drives, and special communications software. It is usually a clearinghouse for information, gossip, and uncopyrighted software. Anyone who knows the phone number can call the bulletin board, leave messages, read messages, and download software.

Bulletin boards came into being in 1978 as a way for members of local users groups to exchange messages with each other and share programs by phone. Today there are hundreds of computerized bulletin boards in the United States, and you don't have to belong to a users group to use one. All you need is a computer, a modem, communications software, and the phone number of your local bulletin board system. You can get that from your authorized Apple dealer (in some cases, he'll be a SYSOP, the system operator of a bulletin board), from a users group, or from one of the BBS articles that frequently appear in computer magazines.

Bulletin boards are popular for three reasons:

• They're usually free. You don't have to subscribe or pay for connect time the way you do with an information service.
   
• They're a source of free software.
   
• They're a good way to meet people.

The communications application is your gateway to information services, bulletin boards, and other personal computers. It simplifies the procedure for logging on to information services (by letting you store on the application disk the phone number and other critical information about how to communicate with the other computer) and makes it possible to prepare messages in advance (which saves you money) and to save and print information you receive over the phone lines.

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Chapter 5: Application Programs