Who Really Sold BBS to the World? with Jim Spigener

Although Geller and Krause argue about who invented BBS, DuPont had already been doing it for years. And that’s the point: BBS was not new but it became the topic of conversation in the early 1990s, and by the mid-90s it was global. Why did it take so long to “tip” and spread like wildfire?

Or, is the real question: “Who.” Who got it to tip? To use Malcolm Gladwell’s jargon, maybe Krause was the “maven” or expert, but Jim was the front-man or “salesman.”

However, there’s a twist because the third leg of Gladwell’s stool is a “connector.” And when it comes to making a connection with safety or getting people to connect with safety, few people compare with Jim. (Larry can still remember stories he told at least 30 years ago—that’s the kind of impact he has).

In the episode, Jim explains how it was in the beginning: the early days of BBS and how it went from relative obscurity to mainstream technology. And then, where it went after (we went one way and they went another). And finally, what he sees in terms of the future and where or if BBS fits in.