Beth.Hatch-Alleyne@f207.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Beth Hatch-Alleyne) (06/18/91)
Index Number: 16097
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Hello, all. I've noticed a lot of people on this echo use Genie.
I've been looking for an online information service to receive the
news wire, leave message, get files, and amongh other tings. We all
know about protigy, I was one of many who wrote letters complaining
about the lack of access for blind users. Compuserve charges way
too mch, $6.00 per month, and .23 a minute! There's got to be
something better out there? What is Genie like, and how much does
it cost per month and per minute? What services are there, and how
does it work with speech. Any information anyone could give me on
this subject would be greatly appreciate, thanks in advance, Beth.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!260!207!Beth.Hatch-Alleyne
Internet: Beth.Hatch-Alleyne@f207.n260.z1.fidonet.orgLes.Kriegler@f207.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Les Kriegler) (06/18/91)
Index Number: 16098
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
HI BETH. I RECENTLY SUBSCRIBED TO GENIE, SO I'M STILL IN THE PROCESS OF
EVALUATING IT. THE MAJOR CHANGE IS THAT FAIRLY RECENTLY, THEY WENT TO A
SYSTEM REFERRED TO AS THEIR BASIC SERVICES. IT COSTS $4.95 FOR UNLIMITED
USE DURING NON-PRIME TIME, (6 P.M.-8 A.M, WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS. IF YOU
LEAVE THE BASIC AREA, YOU PAY BY THE HOUR, $6 PER HOUR DURING NON-PRIME
TIME. THE PRIME TIME RATE IS $18; I TRY TO USE IT ONLY DURING NON-PRIME
TIME. THERE ARE A VARIETY OF SERVICES IN THE BASIC AREA, INCLUDING THE BBS
ADDRESSING ISSUES RELATED TO VISUAL IMAPIRMENT. GENIE DOES WORK WELL WITH
SPEECH AND IS A GOOD OPTION FOR THOSE OF US USING SPEECH AT A REASONABLE
RATE. FINALLY, THE MANUAL FOR GENIE CAN DE DUMPED TO A DISK FILE USING THE
CAPTURE CAPABILITY OF MOST SOFTWARE PROGRAMS. HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL.
REGARDS, LES.
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!260!207!Les.Kriegler
Internet: Les.Kriegler@f207.n260.z1.fidonet.orgMika.Pyyhkala@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Mika Pyyhkala) (06/18/91)
Index Number: 16128
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
In terms of Genie's Services, here is what comes to mind:
The Genie Mall has a variety of stores in it.
Probably one of the best is Noteworthy Music, which allows you to
search through CD's, and look at Album titles, and aritists.
Genie also has a variety of what are known as round tables.
A round table is devoted to a topic, for example
scuba divingf*, although they have a lot of
topics. In a round table, there is a bulleten board, which
is included in your $4.95 a month. Also, they have
software libraries, and you pay for downloads, but not uploads.
You also pay to browse the library. Also round tables contain
conferences, and chat. I know you pay for a conference, as in
the case that a guest comes to give a talk, but I'm
not sure but I think you also pay to chat on-line with other
users.
Genie also has interfaces with Dow Jones, (at additional
cost), and American Airlines Easy-Saver (no
cost, and included in basic services). They do have
news wires, but these aren't included in Basic Services,
I don't think.
Also, there is pop-med, with medica l information, (at a higher cost)
There is also the Grouliers encyclopedia, (no additional cost, and
included in Basic Services.)
When you exit basic services, you pay a rate bassed on
your baudarate, during onprime time. During prime, you always
pay a standard rate. In both cases, your charged for 6-second
increments.
In the above paragraph I mentioned things that costed
additional. This means that you pay Genie's connect rates, for
something out of basic services, but you also pay what they call
a "value added " charge, that is particular to the service.
It is a good service, and the manual should explain more.
-Mika
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!101!460.0!Mika.Pyyhkala
Internet: Mika.Pyyhkala@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.orgrudy@mtqua.att.com (Rudy Vener) (06/25/91)
Index Number: 16379 In article <16097@handicap.news> Beth.Hatch-Alleyne@f207.n260.z1.fidonet.org writes: >Index Number: 16097 > >Hello, all. I've noticed a lot of people on this echo use Genie. >I've been looking for an online information service to receive the >news wire, leave message, get files, and amongh other tings. We all >know about protigy, I was one of many who wrote letters complaining >about the lack of access for blind users. Compuserve charges way >too mch, $6.00 per month, and .23 a minute! There's got to be >something better out there? What is Genie like, and how much does >it cost per month and per minute? What services are there, and how >does it work with speech. Any information anyone could give me on >this subject would be greatly appreciate, thanks in advance, Beth. > There is something better. Portal information services costs about $14 / month without Clarinet newswire services or $18 / month WITH newswire. There is no per minute charge. It is accessible through Telenets PC Pursuit which (last I checked) was $30 / month for 90 hours if you get a handicapped account. Regular PC Pursuit accounts give you 30 hours for $30/month. Bottom line is that if you get a handicapped account on PC Pursuit you can access Portal for 90 hours a month at a total cost of about $48 / month. Portal is a sort of scaled down Compuserve. There are no commercial areas for shopping, airline ticket purchasing, etc. But it does have online chat areas, electronic mail, file sections, conferences (real-time and Bulletin board) and a wide selection of the Usenet newsfeeds (including misc.handicap). The Clarinet section includes the UPI news briefs, feature writers (Dave Barry, Mike Royko, Miss Manners, etc) as well as local and world news, sports, weather, business, etc etc. For you Speech board users you can set your terminal type to tty which essentially just dumps everything to the screen as lines of ascii text. You can connect (via PC Pursuit) by issuing a :c portal from the PC Pursuit prompt. Then sign up online. Good luck. -- Rudy Vener uucp: att!mtqua!rudy internet: rudy@mtqua.att.com OR salt@cup.portal.com