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The following is not about PD per se, but is concerned with how people access the list. The message from Michel Margosis quoted at the end of this message sparked the desire for me to try and assist my companion cyber-citizens. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I give Internet presentations at one of my local bookshops. A common question beginners (and even somewhat "seasoned" 'Net sufers) have is: what is the difference between a "Commercial Provider" (COM) like AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy, etc, and an "Internet Service Provider" (ISP)? Well, to state it simply, MONEY! A COM will charge variable monthly rates, offer a few free hours per month, and then charge an hourly fee after the free hours have been used. (When i had an AOL account, the charges were: $9.95/month, and $2.95/hr after 5 free hours). Now, if you only use COM to receive and send Email, then 5 hours should be enough. However, it has been my experience at Internet Presentations that once people get a COM account, they get hooked and begin surfing the Web, doing UseNet News, etc. I have heard many stories about people getting a $500 or more monthly bill from a COM. Many people are completely unaware that ISPs exist. An ISP offers complete Internet access for a fraction of the above example; the average monthly fee is around $20-25. There is usually no hourly charge. A COM is charging people by the hour for access to a medium that is essentially free. With an ISP you must pay a monthly fee--but that's it! There are no secondary charges accruing in the background while you surf the Web. The functional difference between COM and ISP is that with a COM account your modem dials up, connects, and everything pops up on your screen; you are using the COM's computer power and memory to do everything. With an ISP account called SLIP/PPP (the graphics oriented account) you must maintain all the 'Net applications you want to run on your system. Whenever you dial up an ISP, and your modem makes the connection, nothing will pop up on your screen unless you initiate it. It's a little more work in the beginning with an ISP opposed to a COM, and the several COMs do offer things not available on the Web, like access to popular magazines and databases. Many people have a COM account for those amenities, and an ISP account for Email, Web, etc. In my opinion, i do not prsently require anything offered by a COM. I save money by having an ISP account and managing my own system. There are other pros and cons in this COM vs. ISP question which i did not want to list here and thus make this message tediously long. If anyone has further questions, please feel free to Email me privately at: [log in to unmask] At 1:04 AM 1/2/96, Michel Margosis wrote: >Dear Judith: > >I can indeed read you as plain as the nose on Bob Hope. But I am getting >ready to join the boycott of America on Line tomorrow the 2nd to register my >displeasure for raising the rates. But I am still here reading your >messages, but yet have nothing to offer in return as a care partner,..yet. > Happy New Year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeffrey R. Romanyshyn, M.A, M.H. "Myth Hawk" Email: [log in to unmask] 28/Diagnosed 3yrs/Sinemet 10/100 4x/Permex .375mg 3x/Eldepyrl 5mg 1x/Lift Weights-Cycle--4-5 times per week "Summoned or not, (the) god will be present." (Oracle at Delphi motto) Please find some of my poetry (under the psuedonym ROM CARPATHIAN) at: http://www.mdle.com/jefflist.htm...or...http://www.mdle.com/htext.htm