Articles

Where Does FIDO Fit?
by Michael Wilson (1:143/370)

There has been much talk of the shrinking nodelist. Many commentators believe this is a sign of a shirking FIDOnet. Many also say that FIDO is in cometition with the Internet. With all these tales of woe, we must ask where does FIDO fit in the over scheme of world-wide communication.

FIDO is a hobby. It consists of a loose federation of sysops, many who have BBS systems. It is apparent that the heyday of independant BBS systems located in people's garages, bedrooms and basements is gone. I started my first BBS in 1985. I have been running this current incarnation of THE VILLAGE since 1991. I used to boast 75-90 callers per day. I was forced to get a second phone line to minimize busy signals. I was able to charge for access, and people glady paid. Today, however, I am lucky to get fifteen calls per day, and no one will charge for access.

This drop in BBS callers is directly related to the rise of the internet. As more and more people get WEB access, the ANSI world of a BBS looses its appeal. It is difficult to complete against thirty-two million color jpegs of Cindy Crawford, and Pamela Lee. I believe the shirnking of the nodelist is directly related to the decreasing number of BBS systems. We must understand that for someone to maintain a line in the nodelist, they must dedicate a computer system and phone line. If this "hobby" gets too expensive, then the BBS goes away, and the nodelisting goes away.

Perhaps the nodelist is not the place to look to determine the size of FIDO. When America On-line publishes their numbers, they do not publish the quantity of access numbers. Instead, they publish the number of people who regularly interface (through memberships). We really have no idea how large FIDO is from a user stand point, we just know how large it is based on access points.

Also, accessing FIDO is much more difficult than using the Internet. If someone wants to use America On-line, MSN, a web browser, or some other online service, they simply start the application and dial a single number. No matter where they are, or where they want to go, a single access number is all they need to dial. In FIDO, a user will need to dial up systems all over the U.S. or world to get various applications, or obtain support for various products. This is too time consuming for the computer user of today.

I believe FIDO offers a service and has a place today. The file distribution and message distribution are quick and painless. However, the Internal, and most email programs are quicker. Therefore, I make the following suggestion. FIDO needs a downloadable front-end with address book and look-up capabilities.

We need a program that callers can download, and use to dial into a FIDO system to get mail and/or files. If the callers want the normal BBS with its doors and such, they can use any comm program. However, if they want quick, easy and painless FIDO access, they can use the FIDO front-end. This front-end will need to auto-update the nodelist on the callers local machine, and allow them to maintain an address book of favorite sites.

If we want the FIDOnet to only be sysops, then the nodelist will shrink. However, you will see your nodelist grow if we came up with a way to increase callers based on the nodelist. Give people with modems a reason to call FIDO boards, and a quick and easy (maybe even Windows!) front-end, and FIDO will grow. FIDO is not dead, it just needs a prettier front door.