Good job Jeff - I urge anyone who can to donate a few bucks to Jason, his work is really important in this world of corporate cynicism! And do buy the BBS Documentary 
Iāve noticed a couple of common themes in the comments that should be addressed. Folks are correct in the fact that preserving everything isnāt always worth it. There are many buildings that should be torn down and replaced with something good, Penn Station and MSG in NYC come to mind. However, itās often difficult to know what is good and what is crap, thatās why we need skilled people ā otherwise we end up tearing down good buildings, like the old Union Station in NYC or the failed effort to tear down Grand Central.
Some folks say, okay, but Google collects everything. Thatās kinda true. Google collects what has been around since Google has existed. Jason is going further back than that. Furthermore, even if Google collected it all, we need someone to go through and find the good stuff in the sea of crap. Thatās where historians come in. Unfortunately, when digital items disappear they often leave no trace, making Jasonās task even harder.
So yes, a lot of it is crap. And yes, Google collects a lot of this information. But what Jason is proposing is a whole lot cooler than just collecting crap that Google already has. For that, he deserves some support.
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The CIA probably has your digital history archived and marked classified.
I remember fondly my 300 baud modem and contributing to thread stories and such. The most important thing though historically is preserving the billions upon billions of Windows problem questions and arguments threads on all these systems. It is important that while we may forgive MS for all the pain, we must never forget itā¦
You guys sure are old. No basic for my generation thank you.
Wait, isnt the web archive project, aka the way back machine, about the same thing? http://www.archive.org/index.php
@Past data is overrated.
Data from the early internet is generally more useful, to be on the net in the early 90s meant you were in a university or pretty technical and had something to publish - not twittering ever movement on facebook.
Checking my bookmarks there is a site explaining everything you need to know about map conversions (Airy36->WGS84 etc) that was geocities.
I had already pledged $75, but Iāve now adjusted my pledge to match Jeffās. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of (I assume ;-)) a wider audience.
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I have a personal example of why archiving of past items is VERY important. There was this quote from Wilhelm Weber back in 1834, and I loved it, but I canāt find it now because I forgot the exact words.
Itās something like this:
Imagine a future when all the world will be connected with railroads and motor roads criss crossing all the continents and wires will connect all people to everyone, like thoughts are linked in a human brain.
Itās 2009, Weberās idea is still not implemented. 
And now Iāve spent abuot 2-3 hours looking for it - googling - (thatās a lot, ok?) and still no luck.
However, you see Kevin Kellyās talk on how the web has now got enough nodes and conncetions to match one single human brain.
Then the Weber quote hits you. 1834-2009 implementation of a simple idea. So thatās a quote fit to stay for millenia.
But whereās it now? I canāt find it.
Then thereās ordinary folks out there on āideas sitesā that come up with real gems. You wonder why no one listens to them. Corporations and Govts decide the implementation. But the idea can change an age, not only a century or a country. Or it could help your local neighbourhood network of gamers.
Itās all there and we dont know it. Thatās just one of the motivations of āstore-it-allā.
There is, of course, an entire discipline of professional historians of computing. They have conferences, write books, etc. Some are actually pretty good!
Will all you guys that are donating also please send some money my way? I cant be bothered getting a job either, and Iād love to actually earn more money for sitting around and doing my hobby.
Next thing you know the wikipedia authors will be asking for money, and then the linux coders. You know, the people that enjoy doing stuff for a larger community because - well - they enjoy it.
@Scandalous: if the output from your hobby is even a fraction as important as Jasonās, Iāll gladly contribute. Sign up for a Kickstarter account and show us what it is you do.
Iāll bet you donāt contribute much, though.
Contributing ā¦
Google has a lot of the web archived, but for you youngsters, there is a TON of information that isnāt on the web. (I know, hard to believe).
Did anyone notice our beloved Raymond Chen made an appearance in one of those files?
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wish netflix had the BBS Documentary. Iād like to see itā¦ but not so bad Iād drop $40 on it
I think digital history is preserved in Google cacheā¦
Frontdoor Version 2.02
Press Escape Twice For Renegade
Its been a long time since I spent any time at textfiles.com, thanks for the reminder. My first real experience with C was kicked off after receiving the source code to the WWiV BBS system. What they didnāt tell you was the code was recently (automatically) converted from Pascal. I picked up so many bad habits trying to hack more and more cool features into my BBS. Its what started me out as a programmer.
I eventually went multi line with something else ā¦ for a couple of years I was doing really well, especially for a teenage kid. Then AOL came along and ruined the entire world.
I canāt believe that was 20 years ago.
Believe it or not, Telnet BBS systems still have a community around them. Check out vert.synchro.net for a little nostalgia.
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Itās always a shame to see something lost because a server goes offline and the Wayback machine has missed it, or has only got part of the site. Iāve been trying to archive everything on certain subjects, but I can only do so much 
I heard Jason Scott speak earlier this year at KansasFest (http://www.kansasfest.org/), and heās an amazing speaker filled with fascinating stories about technology and people. He opened my eyes to how quickly and easily we forget our history.
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