Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!mit-eddie!apollo!nelson_p
From: nelson_p@apollo.HP.COM (Peter Nelson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: dial-up
Message-ID: <44bbdc16.c9b9@apollo.HP.COM>
Date: 30 Jul 89 18:43:00 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Apollo Division; Chelmsford, MA
Lines: 40



  In 1980 I had an account on Compuserve for about 6 months
  and didn't find much worthwhile on it.  You could have
  have lots of conversations and debates with people, sort 
  of like Usenet only you have to pay.  And for a fee you
  could get stock quotes and make airline reservations but 
  I can do these things for free through my broker or my
  travel agent.  They had a weak encyclopedia with no pictures,
  charts or maps.  

  It's been nine years now and there are a lot more services
  out there and I've wondered if things have improved.  

  How many net.readers have accounts with dial-up services and 
  how often do you use them?  What do you use them for?  
  Are they worth the expense?   

  A lot of people say they download software.  What kind of software?
  In what form?   Generally, I have little interest in games or
  recreational software.   If the software in question is a major
  tool then I generally prefer to buy commercial, well-documented,
  well-supported software, with a phone number I can call if I have
  problems or questions and some means of getting product upgrades.
  "Black box" or public domain or orphan software does not interest
  me.  

  The other category of software I'm interested in is source-code
  (in 'c') fragments that I can incorporate into my own programs.
  Is there much of this?  Is it organized or indexed in a useful way?

  I have a lot of other hobbies such as photography and ham radio 
  but there are already discussion groups on Usenet for these, and 
  even then I don't find them too useful.  

  What do people actually use these dial-up services for?

                                                     ---Peter