rfm@urth (Rich McAllister) (04/21/89)
In article <161@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu>, verber@miami (Mark A. Verber) writes: >Prodigy is a Sears company. It's a partnership between Sears and IBM. (CBS was involved but dropped out.) >Prodigy has a pretty sexy frontend that runs on IBM-PCs. Well, depends what you think is "sexy". It draws pictures, etc. (like a weather map) but on the other hand, for text it makes a 2400BPS connection an a VGA screen show about 12 lines of 40 characters at an effective rate of <1200BPS. I guess that it uses NAPLPS or a similar "videotex" protocol. >There prices are that low because you have to put up with ads on our >screen. Whenever new things are being downloaded to your machine, rather >than getting a spinning clock (a la Mac) or a message "Please Wait" you >get ads scrolling across your screen (sigh). Not quite like that; every "panel" will have a ad "teaser" covering about the bottom sixth of the screen. If you decide the ad sounds interesting, you can branch off to look at it and come back to what you were doing. I was a "charter member" of Prodigy, getting it for about a year and a half for FREE. I would log on about once every two weeks to see if there was anything interesting, there usually wasn't. Jon Carroll called Prodigy "the USA Today of information services -- short stories, lots of ads, but a great weather map." The news stories, articles, etc. tend to be the same level of detail you'd get on CNN Headline News. For example, the Sports News section covers baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. Forget it if you want to find out the Tour de France standings... However, they did add one service that made me sign up again when they started charging: American Airlines' fare quote/schedule system "Eaasy Sabre". The interface is pretty clunky but it *does* do a good job of finding low fares -- I then call up the airline and keep asking "isn't there a $73 fare" until they admit it. I've saved enough on airfares to pay for the Prodigy subscription. Compare this to using the Online OAG on Dow Jones News Retrieval, which usually ends up costing more than the ticket... Rich McAllister (rfm@sun.com)
crs@cpsc6b.cpsc6a.att.com (Chris (Life is hard, and then you die) Seaman) (04/21/89)
In article <9292@mhuxu.UUCP>, skeeve@mhuxu.UUCP (Chris Riley) writes: < I just got an ad yesterday for a service called PRODIGY. It looks like it < offers the same kind of services as Compuserve. The major difference is < the price: about $10 per month, with unlimited connect time for the month < (I think) as opposed to $12.50 per connect hour for CIS. < < Does anyone have information on how good this really is? < < Chris Riley My mind isn't always in the gutter < -- sometimes it comes out to feed. < chris.riley@attbl.att.com < att!attbl!chris.riley What I think has no bearing on what AT&T thinks. I've been a Prodigy subscriber for about 4 1/2 months, and I like it. There are no connect time charges, just the $10.95 (I think that's what it is) monthly fee. You can also add up to 5 additional users, each with their own personal profile, under the same main account. The way they get around the connect charges is by placing small 'ads' on the bottom of the screen. I don't find these obtrusive, and they generally have only a few words, and a picture of some sort. I can see more of the ad if I want to, but I'm not FORCED to. As far as content of the service, it ranges from SIG's, to consumer help, to games, to contests, to special goods and services for members only (recently, they offered Hayes 2400 bps modems at a really good price), etc... All in all, I'm pleased with the service, and my family likes it as well. Incidentally, if you are at all familiar with the 'Carmen Sandiego' computer games, Prodigy has an online version that changes every week, and my 10 year old son loves it. -- Chris Seaman | o\ /o crs@cpsc6a.att.com <or> | || See "Attack of the Killer Smiley"! ..!ihnp4!cpsc6a!crs | \vvvvvv/ Coming Soon to a newsgroup near you! | \____/
verber@miami.mps.ohio-state.edu (Mark A. Verber) (04/21/89)
I have talked to Prodigy people a bit. Prodigy is a Sears company. Prodigy is in few markets at this time.... mainly west coast at this point. They are saying by the end of 1992 they will have local access in 99% of the US. They are "looking in to" international access. Prodigy has a pretty sexy frontend that runs on IBM-PCs. I believe they also have a Mac frontend. This software comes standard with your membership. There prices are that low because you have to put up with ads on our screen. Whenever new things are being downloaded to your machine, rather than getting a spinning clock (a la Mac) or a message "Please Wait" you get ads scrolling across your screen (sigh). Mark A. Verber | There are two major products that verber@mps.ohio-state.edu | come out of Berkeley: LSD and BSD OSU Physics, 174 W 18th, Cols, OH 43210 | UNIX. We don't believe this to 1-614-292-8002 | be a coincidence.
carlson@gateway.mitre.org (Bruce Carlson) (04/21/89)
In article <9292@mhuxu.UUCP> skeeve@mhuxu.UUCP (79533-riley c) writes: >I just got an ad yesterday for a service called PRODIGY. It looks like it >offers the same kind of services as Compuserve. The major difference is >the price: about $10 per month, with unlimited connect time for the month >(I think) as opposed to $12.50 per connect hour for CIS. >Does anyone have information on how good this really is? >Chris Riley I got an offer for 3 months of Prodigy free, so I can provide some input. I don't have a compuserve account so I can't make a direct comparison. The major limitations of Prodigy: no file upload or download available your screen is in graphics mode so you can't even print it out by turning your printer on; prodigy disables ctrl-prtsc you can only print if it is an option on the prodigy screen all e-mail perishes after 14 days, whether you have read it or not I don't think there is a bridge to any other e-mail it is relatively slow because of the graphics screens; their update is dependent on the modem baud rate and the part of the prodigy application that is running on your PC; the system uses an IBM 3070(?) with IBM series ones distributed to the remote locations, your screen may come from the local series one or may come over a T1 from the mainframe; sreens are supposed to update faster if there are more users because more of the screens will have been downloaded and stored locally (at the series one) there are no connections to large databases like Dialog or other information services there are advertisements on the bottom of almost every screen, this is one way they keep subscriber costs low Some good points of Prodigy: its cheap some of the services are useful, airline reservation, accu-weather, etc. one account services your whole family (up to 6) and each one has their own USERID and profile Synopsis: it seems to be the cable tv of online services, which makes sense when you consider its Videotex background; it is designed for the average consumer, not the computer scientist/engineer buy it for your kids or your spouse/SO that wants to play with a computer information service, you can always keep using USENET Bruce Carlson
hardin@hpindda.HP.COM (John Hardin) (04/21/89)
skeeve@mhuxu.UUCP (Chris Riley) writes: >I just got an ad yesterday for a service called PRODIGY. It looks like it >offers the same kind of services as Compuserve. The major difference is >the price: about $10 per month, with unlimited connect time for the month >(I think) as opposed to $12.50 per connect hour for CIS. > >Does anyone have information on how good this really is? ---------- Prodigy compares favorably to CompuServe if all you want to do is do some shopping, get some stock quotes, and check airline faires. You can do these same things on CIS, but the connect time will cost you much more. If, however, you want to exchange information with other members online, get access to PD and Shareware programs, or get access to late-breaking news, Prodigy is not for you. Prodigy's equivalents to CIS forums are clumbsy and slow to access, contain little information, have few active users, and cover very few topics. Prodigy does not give you access to downloadable programs at all. Prodigy's new service is limited to headline-level information about a half dozen news stories each day. I recently signed up for a 3 month trial and currently do not plan to continue after that time. John Hardin hardin%hpindda@hplabs.hp.com ------------
) Seaman) (04/22/89)
In article <1470@cfa.cfa.harvard.EDU>, verber@miami.mps.ohio-state.edu (Mark A. Verber) writes: < < I have talked to Prodigy people a bit. Prodigy is a Sears company. IBM also has some stake in it (though I'm not sure how large). < Prodigy is in few markets at this time.... mainly west coast at this < point. They are saying by the end of 1992 they will have local access < in 99% of the US. They are "looking in to" international access. It is a fully graphics based interface, which allows it to display fairly detailed pictures (in EGA/VGA modes). < There prices are that low because you have to put up with ads on our < screen. Whenever new things are being downloaded to your machine, rather < than getting a spinning clock (a la Mac) or a message "Please Wait" you < get ads scrolling across your screen (sigh). < < Mark A. Verber That's not the way it works at all. The 'ads' never occupy more than 10-15% of the screen, and are not a substitute for a 'Please Wait' message. In fact, during download periods, Prodigy simply says 'Working...' in a small box in the upper right corner of the screen. You also don't have to 'put up' with the ads. Since they are small, they don't contain much other than a picture and a few words. If you *want* to see more, you select the 'LOOK' icon, and a full screen ad pops up. But you aren't *required* to see it. I'm not trying to flame, but I much prefer the tradeoff of on screen ads to $12-15 per hour connect charges. I can stay connected to Prodigy all evening (it's a local call), and incur no charge other than my standard monthly fee. Disclaimer: I have no connection with Prodigy/Sears other than as a satisfied customer. -- Chris Seaman | o\ /o crs@cpsc6a.att.com <or> | || See "Attack of the Killer Smiley"! ..!ihnp4!cpsc6a!crs | \vvvvvv/ Coming Soon to a newsgroup near you! | \____/
burton@mitisft.Convergent.COM (Philip Burton) (04/22/89)
In article <161@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu>, verber@miami.mps.ohio-state.edu (Mark A. Verber) writes: > > I have talked to Prodigy people a bit. Prodigy is a Sears company. > Prodigy is in few markets at this time.... mainly west coast at this > point. They are saying by the end of 1992 they will have local access > in 99% of the US. They are "looking in to" international access. > > Prodigy has a pretty sexy frontend that runs on IBM-PCs. I believe > they also have a Mac frontend. This software comes standard with > your membership. Not only that, you CAN'T use a normal comm program, such as ProComm. > > There prices are that low because you have to put up with ads on our > screen. Whenever new things are being downloaded to your machine, rather > than getting a spinning clock (a la Mac) or a message "Please Wait" you > get ads scrolling across your screen (sigh). We gave up on Prodigy because we got tired of seeing al those ads. It seems that the performance of the "ad section" is much better than the update and refresh time of the "information" section. It ended up that my 10 year old daughter was the main user, and it didn 't seem worth the $10/month.
jeffw@con.uucp (Jeff Wallace) (04/25/89)
In article <51039@linus.UUCP> carlson@gateway.mitre.org (Bruce Carlson) writes: >In article <9292@mhuxu.UUCP> skeeve@mhuxu.UUCP (79533-riley c) writes: >>I just got an ad yesterday for a service called PRODIGY. ... >>Does anyone have information on how good this really is? > There is a package of utilities written by Pete Royston that help to make life with Prodigy considerably easier. See my next posting for information on how to get them. >The major limitations of Prodigy: >no file upload or download available Very true and I doubt they'll change that for a long time. >your screen is in graphics mode so you can't even print it out by turning > your printer on; prodigy disables ctrl-prtsc > you can only print if it is an option on the prodigy screen One of Pete's programs re-enables print screen. Another program scans through the graphics and prints out only the text. It's pretty impressive. >all e-mail perishes after 14 days, whether you have read it or not >I don't think there is a bridge to any other e-mail > You can save the mail as long as you want but you have to toggle the save flag every 30 days (or is it two weeks?). Right, there's no connection to any other e-mail service. >it is relatively slow because of the graphics screens; their update is >dependent on the modem baud rate and the part of the prodigy application >that is running on your PC ... > Agreed, it is slow. About 2-3 seconds per screen for me. I've got a '386 and a 2400 baud modem, so that's about as fast as it gets. If you're using an XT and/or 1200 baud modem, it will be more along the lines of 7-10 seconds per screen. >there are no connections to large databases like Dialog or other >information services > There used to be an on-line Encyclopedia Brittanica. I don't know why it disappeared. >there are advertisements on the bottom of almost every screen, this >is one way they keep subscriber costs low > The ads on each normal screen are little "teasers" of 2 or 3 lines each. You can jump to the full ad from any screen. Some of the products/services in the ads are worthwhile and interesting. Most of them are typical fluff. >Some good points of Prodigy: > >its cheap Yeah, that's the best part. If you're in an established Prodigy area then it's $9.95/month (or $89.95/year) for unlimited connections. But, when they start up a new service area they give away 3-month trial memberships to anyone who wants one. They just brought NYC on-line last week, so if you're in that area, take a look. Their current service areas include: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Connecticut, Boston, Detroit and New York City. They claim that Prodigy will be available in 99% of the U.S. by the end of 1990. I consider Prodigy to be the USA Today of information services. Most of their news/information is very short and simple. It is obviously a vehicle for the commercials not the "real" information. The bulletin boards are buried deep inside the menus, but are well worth a look. I believe there are now over 200 boards open. The PC Club has 15 topics right now. Travel has about 10. If you've got an opportunity, I'd say try it out. You'll either get it free or real cheap, and it can't hurt to take a look. Jeff Wallace, Experimental Computing Facility (XCF), U.C. Berkeley ARPA/Internet: jeffw@scam.Berkeley.EDU UUCP:...!ucbvax!scam!jeffw
pete@wlbr.EATON.COM (Pete Lyall) (04/26/89)
For what it's worth, Easy Sabre is also available on Compuserve - it
is not a Prodigy exclusive.
Pete
--
Pete Lyall Contel Corp.(818) 706-5693
Compuserve: 76703,4230 (OS9 Sysop) OS9_Net: (805)-985-0632 (24hr 300/1200/2400)
Internet: pete@wlbr.eaton.com UUCP: {hacgate,jplgodo,voder}!wlbr!pete