rcd@ico.ISC.COM (Dick Dunn) (07/15/89)
In article <17638@gryphon.COM>, brendan@gryphon.COM (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > If you want my opinion, it's not worth it. It's slow, is lacking in MANY > things, etc etc etc... There's also the question of just how much information about your personal life and habits you wish to bequeath to the brain(?)child of IBM and Sears! I always suggest thinking twice about these fancy (?), new (??) electronic services that offer you great convenience at the expense of producing, for someone else, a comprehensive record of where you are, what you do, or what you buy. -- Dick Dunn rcd@ico.isc.com uucp: {ncar,nbires}!ico!rcd (303)449-2870 ...Simpler is better.
crom@cuuxb.ATT.COM (Netnews Administrator) (09/29/89)
Does anyone know how the PRODIGY service from Sears/IBM handles the
communications between the PC and the host machine? I was wondering whether
it was custom software or whether there is an available library of functions
that provide the transport layer over a dialup link. I'm assuming that they
are using some error correcting protocol. Thanks for any info you can give.
--
--
Jack Dixon, AT&T
{ ...!att!vogon!jcd, jcd@vogon.att.com }tom@stiatl.UUCP (Tom Wiencko) (10/01/89)
In article <4185@cuuxb.ATT.COM> att!spock!jcd (Jack Dixon) writes: > >Does anyone know how the PRODIGY service from Sears/IBM handles the >communications between the PC and the host machine? I was wondering whether >it was custom software or whether there is an available library of functions >that provide the transport layer over a dialup link. I'm assuming that they >are using some error correcting protocol. Thanks for any info you can give. Last I checked they were using a *very* proprietary protocol, with custom software on the PC, a special set of comms code running on regional IBM Series/1 mini-computers, and some sort of (I believe) SNA flavored mainframe interface over MCI long distance lines. I got a call from some Series/1 contract head-hunters (I am one of the few people left in the world that speaks Series/1) about a long, long project fixing and enhancing Series/1 code for IBM to try to make this stuff work. Did not take the job. Near as I can tell, the code and the PC side protocols are *very* proprietary, and they are not even publishing an interface specification, much less a transport library. They want to *force* you to use their software, no matter how bad it is. (Can't have you taking out the ads or being able to print things....) Tom -- Tom Wiencko (w) (404) 977-4515 gatech!stiatl!tom Wiencko & Associates, Inc.