I was just a fledgling in the late days of the BBSs, so I didn't spend too much time there!
Fair points about the trouble of finding the right expert. I also wasn't on any of the math-related Usenet groups back in the day (I was more of a comp.lang.* lurker), but I wonder if there was a good mingling of experts and novices in those groups. These days, you can (e.g.) visit /r/math or /r/mathematics on Reddit, and you'll occasionally see interesting novice questions being picked up by PhDs across various math fields -- sometimes with surprisingly deep responses. It's rare that a novice question merits such attention, but the fact that it can can happen -- that such a forum exists -- is delightful.
You've also reminded me of something, vaguely -- one of the major US universities used to have a phone number that you could call and ask them about nearly anything. They would research the question and get back to you with an answer if they could. I wish I could remember which university it was, maybe the number still exists?
Fair points about the trouble of finding the right expert. I also wasn't on any of the math-related Usenet groups back in the day (I was more of a comp.lang.* lurker), but I wonder if there was a good mingling of experts and novices in those groups. These days, you can (e.g.) visit /r/math or /r/mathematics on Reddit, and you'll occasionally see interesting novice questions being picked up by PhDs across various math fields -- sometimes with surprisingly deep responses. It's rare that a novice question merits such attention, but the fact that it can can happen -- that such a forum exists -- is delightful.
You've also reminded me of something, vaguely -- one of the major US universities used to have a phone number that you could call and ask them about nearly anything. They would research the question and get back to you with an answer if they could. I wish I could remember which university it was, maybe the number still exists?