tim@cithep.UucP (Tim Smith ) (09/25/85)
Has anyone done any serious comparison of USENET with Compuserve ( or any of the other non-free networks ( I know USENET is not *really* free, but it appears that way to the typical user ) ) ? I don't know how many poeple Compuserve has, but the forums ( sort of like newgroups on USENET ) that I read on compuserve have a lot more traffic than the corresponding newgroups on USENET, and do not have a problem with lots of junk. I do not know exactly why this is so, but if someone could discover why, maybe it could be applied to USENET. Besides the issues of how to deal with a large number of users, perhaps there would be some relevence to the legal issues that USENET brings up. The forums on Compuserve are not moderated, yet there does not seem to be a lot of worry about legal problems. -- Tim Smith ihnp4!cithep!tim
caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) (09/27/85)
I don't think the signal to noise ratio on the Compuserve bulletin boards is any better than the corresponding groups on Usenet. If one downloads all the messages in the PC related SIG's (two of them) the cost can run to a hundred dollars a month without any trouble. Just grabbing the subject names is not inexpensive, especially since Compuserve refuses to replace gobs of spaces with tabs. And, the subject lines of articles are often irrelevant to the contents therein. There is a potential for an intelligent bulletin board with powerful commands to select articles by combinations of keywords, but Compuserve has shown no inclination to make any enhancements that might act to decrease connect time and $$$. -- Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf CIS:70715,131 Omen Technology Inc 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231 Home of Professional-YAM, the most powerful COMM program for the IBM PC Voice: 503-621-3406 Modem: 503-621-3746 (Hit CR's for speed detect) omen Any ACU 1200 1-503-621-3746 se:--se: link ord: Giznoid in:--in: uucp
mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) (09/29/85)
In article <136@cithep.UucP> tim@cithep.UucP (Tim Smith ) writes: >The forums on Compuserve are not moderated, yet there does not seem to >be a lot of worry about legal problems. No, but the CompuServe Forums are MONITORED by a sysop. Maybe the monitoring idea is a good one for the network news, but there's a major difference. A sysop on CompuServe stands a very good chance of seeing and deleting an offensive or out-of-place message before many other people do. That wouldn't be the case on USENET. (Hi Tim -- class of '78 Ruddock) -- Mojo ... Morris Jones, MicroPro Product Development {dual,hplabs,glacier,lll-crg}!well!micropro!kepler!mojo
jpn@teddy.UUCP (09/30/85)
>I don't know how many poeple Compuserve has, but the forums ( sort of like >newgroups on USENET ) that I read on compuserve have a lot more traffic than >the corresponding newgroups on USENET, and do not have a problem with >lots of junk. I do not know exactly why this is so, but if someone could >discover why, maybe it could be applied to USENET. There are two reasons why Compuserve has a much lower noise level. 1. If you are being charged by the minute, you thing twice about wasting time by posting a long-winded or useless article. 2. Compuserve has MODERATORS!!! They are PAID to police their own forum. They are actually paid proportionally to the amount of traffic the forum has, so it is in their own interest to improve the quality of the traffic!
slerner@sesame.UUCP (Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner) (10/04/85)
>.... > I don't know how many poeple Compuserve has, but the forums ( sort of like > newgroups on USENET ) that I read on compuserve have a lot more traffic than > the corresponding newgroups on USENET, and do not have a problem with > lots of junk. I do not know exactly why this is so, but if someone could > discover why, maybe it could be applied to USENET. > The answer is simple: when you have to pay for being on the system, you don't waste any time by sending junk. -- Opinions expressed are public domain, and do not belong to Lotus Development Corp. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner {genrad|ihnp4|ima}!wjh12!talcott!sesame!slerner {cbosgd|harvard}!talcott!sesame!slerner talcott!sesame!slerner@harvard.ARPA