Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!ames!oliveb!3comvax!bridge2!ngg
From: ngg@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM (Norman Goodger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Best Commercial BBS for Mac Programmers (WHICH?)
Message-ID: <713@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM>
Date: 7 Jun 89 18:43:28 GMT
References: <8905252306.AA02845@jade.berkeley.edu> <31670@apple.Apple.COM> <655@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM> <19029@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: ngg@bridge2.3Com.com (Norman Goodger)
Organization: 3Com Corp., Mt. View, CA
Lines: 43

In article <19029@cup.portal.com> ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith) writes:
>I agree with Chuq on this one.  CIS has a nicer interface than GEnie.
>The problem with GEnie is that there is too much!  With CIS, I can
>log in, do a "quick scan" of the forums I am interested in, while
>capturing the text, log out, look at my scan, note which articles
>I want to read, log back in, use the "read individual" command
>to grab the articles that looked interesting, and then log out.
>GEnie seems to me to be much more inflexible.  It would be fine
>if I wanted to read all new things that have appeared since I
>last was on, but I don't.  I want to be more selective.
>Someone once described this to me as the "news vs. notes" issue,
>and having used both news and notes, I think they were accurate.
>The bottom line is that I have found that GEnie gives me more
>information that I don't want.  CIS is easier to weed out the
>junk on.
>If I'm looking for something to download, however, GEnie is the
>place to go first.  ( Well, actually, Portal is the place to
>go first ).

Actually if you take the time to learn the commands, Genie is probably
more flexiable, since you can easily ignore the areas you are not interested
in reading and collect messages by date from the areas that you do, and
more ways to selectively read if you wish. If you want to learn how to make
effective use of Genie,  all you have to do is either ask, or check out
the online help.

Granted Nav makes CI$ seem easier, but you take that away and CI$ can become
a real pain to use. Like anything, it takes time to get used to GEnie, but 
once you do, you can see that its just as flexable, if not more than CI$.
not to mention cheaper since GEnie is now $10 hour/2400 baud with no surcharges.

The biggest problem of all is not asking or taking the time to learn how
to make effective use of the service you are on. If you give up after one
or two tries and never ask any questions, you will always be frustrated and
perhaps spending $$ for online time that could be spent doing something if
people took the time up front to make effective use of the system.


-- 
Norm Goodger				SysOp - MacInfo BBS @415-795-8862
3Com Corp.				Co-SysOp FreeSoft RT - GEnie.
Enterprise Systems Division             (I disclaim anything and everything)
UUCP: {3comvax,auspex,sun}!bridge2!ngg  Internet: ngg@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM