Hey there Zippy Zapp!
Getting numbers on old 8-bit and 16/32-bit systems is HARD. So many of the documents from back in the day were either never digitized or shared publicly (except in broad terms for those that were publicly traded). I've researched Amiga, Commodore and Atari. The numbers are all so frustratingly incomplete.
I've even tracked down some old sales figures for Inform at one point this year and half of the numbers are hand-written onto notepaper! It's totally tragic.
Trying to break things down on a country level is virtually impossible in most cases, too. And then that leads many (in some forums) to use anecdotal memories as factual evidence of this and that. Here, I like to try and at least do my homework in terms of what is online anymore and go from there. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
So glad you found us! And so glad you've joined the site. 2016 has been a fun ride and 2017 should be great.
It was that year that I discovered the many BBS being run in my area and Zippy Zapp was my handle then in my teens and now.
I've only this week finally gotten my C64 online via WiFi and have been hitting some telnet-capable C64 boards. There is a
very vibrant retro scene on a few of them. These days there are probably less than 50 people talking on the board, but I know half of them (via Twitter) and everyone is really into it. I actually find it quite relaxing - and ironically exciting at the same time - when I'm catching up on messages each day. I am in the process of writing up a post about it that I hope to publish soon.
I'm even kicking around the idea of (maybe) using one of my spare Amigas to launch a simple BBS myself. We'll see. I have to admit the PETSCII 40 column mode (color) BBSes have hit my nostalgia buttons big time right now. Little "off the grid" communities that still exist - mainly for communication these days and less so for file swapping ... the pirating days are over. And from a communication standpoint, it's pretty fun. And no - we're not doing dial-up! Haha The Amiga could easily handle some of the 80col BBSes I've run across. ..
See you around the site!