derek@sask.UUCP (Derek Andrew) (04/29/84)
On the market today are at least 3 news/information services, CompuServe,
the Source, and the Dow Jones News Service. I have heard that CompuServe
has over 100,000 subscribers while the Source is just in the process of
installing their 21st Pr1me 750. It sounds like these services are big
business with lots of members.
If you have an account on one of these services, why did you choose that
one and what benefits do you receive? I saw a rate sheet for Compuserve
and got the impression that one would pay between $10 and $25 an hour,
depending on time of day and baud rate. Why would people pay such an
amount? Is it for entertainment or are there any practical uses?
I would like to hear opinions as to which service is the best and why.
--
Derek Andrew, ACS, U of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W0
{ihnp4 | utah-cs | utcsrgv | alberta}!sask!derek 306-343-2638 0900-1630 CSTsmith@umn-cs.UUCP (Richard Smith) (05/08/84)
#R:sask:-3800:umn-cs:6900026:000:2096
umn-cs!smith May 7 18:26:00 1984
If you have an account on one of these services, why did you choose that
one and what benefits do you receive? I saw a rate sheet for Compuserve
and got the impression that one would pay between $10 and $25 an hour,
depending on time of day and baud rate. Why would people pay such an
amount? Is it for entertainment or are there any practical uses?
It looks to me as if there are two reasons to use one of those electronic
services (Source, Compuserve, etc):
1. To indulge in transcontinental electronic bull sessions and, occasionally,
pick up a useful tidbit of information.
2. To access electronically structured databases (stock quotes, library
searches, airplane fares, etc).
I get more than my share of (1) for free thanks to Usenet. I get more than
my share of (2) in a cost-effective manner thanks to MCI-MAIL. My account
on MCI-MAIL lets me use the whole Dow-Jones system, which has several nice
services that I sometimes use. I've used it to watch stocks, look for cheap
air fares, and to look at fast-breaking news reports.
One nice thing about MCI-MAIL is that MCI has its own digital network
(by BBN, the Arpanet people) and that you pay NOTHING for a userid or for
simple connect time. You only get charged for sending mail or for connecting
to Dow-Jones. And I don't have to pay some 'monthly minimum' to keep my
account active. This is perfect for me; I don't use MCI very often but
it's there when I want it.
The mail system is quite nice. Besides electronic mail you can
also send laser-printed letters via USPS. When you type in a letter to
mail, MCI forwards the message electronically to the closest city they
can and then they laser-print the letter and mail it. The letter will
usually reache its destination the next day (except in New York
City). Compare this to E-COM, where you have to submit the message to
the post-office where you want it printed. MCI also has '4 hour'
messages that use a courier service instead of snail mail.
For me, the main features are 'no initial fees' and 'pay as you go'
usage of Dow-Jones.
Rick.seaburg@uiucdcs.UUCP (05/09/84)
#R:sask:-3800:uiucdcs:10400144:000:243 uiucdcs!seaburg May 9 11:02:00 1984 I too have been pleased with my MCI Mail account, except maybe for the quality of their laser printer output -- it ain't that great. But nobody ever sends me mail... <sigh> G. P. Seaburg GSEABURG (via MCI Mail) ...pur-ee!uiucdcs!seaburg
smith@umn-cs.UUCP (Richard Smith) (05/18/84)
#R:sask:-3800:umn-cs:6900027:000:2487
umn-cs!smith May 17 15:55:00 1984
Re: MCI-MAIL, more details and how to subscribe
Several people asked for more info about MCI-MAIL, and now that I've
unpacked my computer (and related documentation) I can reply. Sorry
about the delay.
About 6 months ago Telecom Digest published brief details of how to
self-register for using MCI-MAIL so I tried it. They have a toll free
number (800) 323-7751 that supports both 300 and 1200 (212) baud modems.
MCI prompts for a user name, you type "register" with password "register",
and you go right into an interactive registration procedure. A week or
two later they'll send you a packet of information including your user
name and password. They didn't charge me a thing until I really used
the system a couple of months later. Here are example costs:
Sending messages: there's no charge to RECEIVE, only to SEND. Also,
you can send to user "MCIHELP" for free. Note that there's NO
connect time charge.
Electronic letter: $1.00
Mailed (paper) letter: $2.00
Overnight (paper) letter, delivered by courier: $9.00
4 hour (paper) letter, delivered by courier: $25.00
Dow Jones Services: these are charged by "connect" time according to
which service you're using (i.e. which "menu" was most recently
printed). Note that costs are for 300 baud access; they DOUBLE
the fee if you're running 1200 baud (it's worth it!). "Day" and
"Night" refer to prime and non-prime time rates.
Day Night
INTRO menu (help info) FREE FREE
Stock quotes 1.20 .20
News, general info services .60 .30
Airline & other financial databases 1.20 .90
The stock quotes are delayed by at least 15 minutes by stock exchange
rules. They also have 'historical' stock prices online. They have quotes
for "stocks, bonds, Treasury issues, options, mutual funds, national OTC
qoutes, foreign bonds..." etc.
For airline information they have "OAG Online" which lets you look up
plane flights by date and airports, listed by fare or by daily schedule.
The listings give details of fare restrictions if relevant.
To keep the cost low, I enter the Dow Jones menus for only brief
periods, and give the command to switch back to MCI whenever possible.
I don't let Dow Jones charge me for 'think time' and MCI doesn't charge
me for 'network' time.
So, I'm hardly tempted by other database services -- they're all so much
more expensive than MCI with its Dow-Jones gateway.
Rick.
[smith.umn-cs@CSNet-Relay]
[...ihnp4!umn-cs!smith]