Power Station, Acenet Shut Down

February 11, 1999

(Kalamazoo, Michigan) -- What was possibly Kalamazoo's last computer bulletin board service has gone off-line as of January 3, 1999, according to system operator Ace Armstrong. The closure of The Power Station BBS also terminates "Acenet," a national computer BBS network based at the Power Station.

In a memo to users of the BBS, Armstrong noted that it no longer made sense to maintain the board due to the rise in popularity of the internet, the corresponding lack of interest in local bulletin boards, and overwhelming business concerns.

"Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for the BBS, my media production business, Wild Card Media, has taken off in the last two or three months, requiring that I send and receive a high volume of faxes," Armstrong said. "The BBS happens to be residing on the fax number. At first, the automatic fax switcher that I bought handled the task, but that switcher does cut off incoming faxes from time to time, and I can no longer afford for that to happen. Since it doesn't make any sense to shove out fairly large amounts of cash to maintain a line for a BBS which receives no calls, the BBS will have to go away in order to keep the fax number dedicated to receiving faxes."

The Power Station BBS first went on-line in 1994 in Flint, Mich. The board was praised for its lofty ideals and the courtesy of its users. Armstrong told users that "the goal of the Power Station BBS and Acenet has always been to provide a place where people can debate the issues calmly, and in a reasoned manner, and actually expect people to back up the things they say with verifiable evidence," adding that he was "quite proud of the fact that until the very end, both the Power Station and Acenet have stood by that principle."

Armstrong notes that users who miss the BBS can now join two Excite communities hosted by a former user of the BBS. Excite communities are discussion groups hosted by Excite, the well-known internet portal company.

Steven Shelton, who posted on the Power Station under the alias "Enigma," hosts the two communities: Reasoned Debate and Science & Technology. "These two communities offer the same kind of interaction that the BBS offered," Armstrong said, "but on a broader scale, since they can be accessed for free by anyone who has internet access."

Shelton indicated that with Armstrong's endorsement, the number of members in the community has grown rapidly. "We are now one of the more popular communities at Excite," he said. "I hope Ace will be a part in keeping it active and will be willing to give me a hand with administering it now and then."

Armstrong indicated that he had no plans to create his own communities, prefering to "pass the torch" to someone new. "I've done this a long time," he said. "Now I want to relax and just participate for a while."