If the person at the desk next to you is staring at his computer screen with a grin on his face, don't be alarmed. He's probably only looking at a bulletin board.
Exactly what kind of magnetism do these electronic bulletin boards have to enthrall "netters" for hours on end, to the exclusion of everything else? And if you run a bulletin board, what special features should it have to succeed?
Sun Yat-Sen University Institute of Information Management associate professor Chen Nian-shing says it depends on whether a server gives the participants a "sense of belonging." If there are only two or three people snooping around a forum, then it isn't much of a hit.
Chen Pai-lin, associate professor at National Chengchi University's department of journalism, observes that although the hardware is important, the content of the software cannot be overlooked. Absolutely no one can afford to think, "The hardware is in place, so the software will come on its own." If one doesn't want this expensive network to become a "high-class video arcade," one must provide sufficient information for the user to view.
Eat, drink, be merry. . . and then?
Electronic bulletin boards really do have everything--eating, drinking and being merry, all in equal abundance. Of course, you can't actually chew and swallow over the Internet; it just gives you the information to do so. If you want to know where to go for a good meal in Hsinchu or what pubs in Taipei host live jazz, if you want a recommendation on an interesting book or a movie worth watching or a good CD, you have friends on the Net ready to pass the news your way.
Information on leisure and entertainment is hardly a rarity. The BBS can put you in contact with fellow travelers who like classical music, comic books, films or professional baseball. Or if you're looking for the latest computer technology or want someone to talk to, you've definitely come to the right spot.
But with more than 100 servers, how can you read it all? Allow us to take you on a little tour.
Inside Sun Yat-Sen University's "South" server can be found the South Community Culture Interactive Database (SCCID), a reservoir of information with a distinctly local flavor.
The Internet, which spans the entire world, can also serve up the unique features of small locales. The Net also provides important community services: Do you have any questions about consumer protection? Do you have legal difficulties concerning intellectual property rights? Leave your queries on the bulletin board, and a professional lawyer will come on-line to answer them.
One individual dedicated to propagating the growth of the Net is medical student Chen Feng-wei. Frequent "surfers" have probably seen some pieces by this amateur writer who signs off with the sobriquet "Roach." In addition to fiction, he writes a newspaper column on the Net. Why did he choose the signature Roach? Because "roaches have a strong vital force," he says.
He raises funds from community organizations, and part-time workers key in nearly 500,000 characters of information every month. With permission, they re-publish the literary works of such writers as Liu Ko-hsiang and Yeh Shih-tau, and outstanding articles from periodicals about indigenous people, like Aboriginal Post and Hunter Culture. "The younger generation is the group farthest removed from their native soil. I hope through the Net to arouse young people's affection for their native land," avers Chen Feng-wei.
The information explosion age
Now let's take a look at some of the information coming out of Hsinchu. The "Arabia #1" server at Chiao Tung University offers the "Dead Man's Rock 'n' Roll Guava Group," which specializes in contemporary music. Here you'll find detailed introductions to jazz artists, avant garde rock, the blues, reggae, and the latest fashions and groups in the alternative music scene. If you're interested in the trends and developments of rock 'n' roll, you'll certainly strike a rich vein here.
Where will this newly emerging technology ultimately take us? What changes will electronic bulletin boards and the information highway make in the lives of average people? If you want to know the answers, you can't afford to ignore the Chengchi University journalism department's "Communications Technology" forum. One particular item on their board is the translated article, "The Truth About the Information Highway." Originally, the scientific community reacted warmly to the development of the Internet, believing that the information highway would create many new job opportunities in the communications industry. But recently 1200 workers at the Bell Laboratories in Atlanta, Georgia took to the streets to protest management's laying off 5600 employees.
The article points out that while government and the media tout the promising future of the information highway, the potential harm of this new technology has yet to be addressed. To save on the cost of salaries, computers are being substituted for human beings in the communications industry, and people's career hopes are seemingly being gobbled up by machines.
After you have cruised a few bulletin boards, you may get a little tired. They say the "Psychology" forum and the "Literature and Arts" forum at Sun Yat-Sen University, as well as the "Taiwan History" forum at Chiao Tung University, are chock full of reading material. But the amount of information available is really too overwhelming. Even if you want to stop and smell the roses, the stroll through the garden will take a lot of time. Furthermore, the Infobahn has its fair share of traffic snarls. We can only point you in the right direction. Now it's up to you to try the Net for yourself, and see what treasures are out there to unearth.
[Picture Caption]
p.102
Leisure and entertainment information is abundant on electronic bulletin boards. If you can't catch a professional baseball game or attend a concert, other netters can play the role of reporter for you.
