Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Prodigy Pulls Plug on Email Users Message-ID: <14602@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 12 Nov 90 08:48:52 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 57 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 812, Message 1 of 6 Adam M Gaffin most correctly enscribes: > What's really happening is that Prodigy is proving its complete > arrogance and total lack of understanding of the dynamics of on-line > communication. They just don't get it. People are NOT going to spend > nearly $130 a year just to see the weather in Oregon or order trips to > Hawaii. > Even the computerphobes Prodigy wants to attract quickly learn the > real value of the service is in finding new friends and holding > intelligent "discussions'' with others across the country. Amen and Amen. Some years ago, when I had divested myself of the nightmare called Interconnect Telecommunications Systems (don't ask -- but some will anyway), I decided to get back into "computing". It had been some years since the Altairs and Imsais had been relegated to the garage for the purpose of dust collecting. It was necessary to go "au currant", and an IBM PC clone was obtained which sported a gold plate Hayes 1200 bps internal modem. Packed with the modem was the obligatory Compuserve intro package. I bit. Got my account going and after a number of months of playing with OAG, "weather in Oregon", and endless reading of news articles from the St. Louis somethingorother, discovered e-mail and discussion groups. And then I discovered CHARGES. You know, those which occur when you stay connected for long periods. But I had learned something: the real fun of connectivity was communicating with people--friends, strangers with common interests, even strangers that would like to string you up by your thumbs. But sitting online with the clock ticking seemed most inefficient. Then some friends introduced me to UNIX, and the rest, as they say, is history. For the free-wheeling, uncensored, internationally distributed, fully gatewayed, fast, and unmeasured Internet, the price of admission is a system, the software and a friendly (or several friendly) local business(es) who has a gigantic VAX or some such who enjoys being connected to smaller sites. No per-message charges. No censoring of news submissions (Moderation is not censorship). No advertising. Just mostly responsible people who can share ideas. But this is not the purpose of Prodigy. The purpose of Prodigy is to sell computers, products, services, and itself. The interaction of subscribers is not only secondary, but probably undesirable to those in charge. Other than the graphics (and the apparently restrictive interface), what would Prodigy offer over, say, Compuserve? Many banks offer online banking direct without a third party. OAG is available as a separate subscription. Games are available from many sources. Anyone who operates a computer network that aspires to greatness will have to remember that the real goal is communication. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !