rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks) (05/21/91)
I recently purchased a Teleport modem for my Mac which included a free (1 month) subscription offer to America Online. I would like to get the Nets opinion of America Online before subscribing. Is the service worth the $5.95 a month? How responsive is the system during the evenings and weekends? Is the system so slow that you use up your monthly hour waiting for the system to respond? My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs. Does America Online have a large archive? How easy is the navigation software to use? Any other comments? Thanks for your advice, Rodney *********************************************************** ** Rodney Jacks ** ** Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas ** ** E-mail: rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com ** ***********************************************************
cwagar@ducvax.auburn.edu (Clayton Wagar o Auburn University) (05/22/91)
In article <1991May21.160855.21767@oakhill.sps.mot.com>, rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks) writes: > I recently purchased a Teleport modem for my Mac which included a > free (1 month) subscription offer to America Online. I would like > to get the Nets opinion of America Online before subscribing. > > Is the service worth the $5.95 a month? How responsive is the system > during the evenings and weekends? Is the system so slow that you use > up your monthly hour waiting for the system to respond? > My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs. > Does America Online have a large archive? How easy is the navigation > software to use? Any other comments? I personally think that America Online is God's gift to Macintosh users. (Yes, I know that there's PC and A2 version, but I'm speaking in context.) It's tremendously simple, downloads are usually excellent, and I've never had any problems with the service at all. In fact, I can hardly wait for AOL 2.0 to come out... it should be great. You really owe it to yourself to at least sign on and take a look... You can cancel your membership if you don't like it, but since I've gotten AOL (1 1/2 years now) I've been on CI$ only twice.... Sounds good to my wallet, how 'bout yours? Clayton cwagar@ducvax.auburn.edu AOL:"YenSid1" Auburn University
woody@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Bill Woodcock) (05/22/91)
I've had an account on AOL since August '89, and it's grown quite a bit since then, and the character of the service has changed a bit, especially since Quantum (the parent company) merged their IBM PC network (Promenade) into AOL this spring. Overall, I'd say it's a really good deal. A lot of the folks who used to hang out on CONNECT/MacNET switched over to it when CONNECT started the new Fascist Pricing Regime, last summer. The service is fairly fast. SOme people have complained about dialin nodes dumping them, but those, to my knowledge, were mostly folks with pretty flaky modems. It's got a graphical user interface, which doesn't slow it down too much. Much prettier, _and faster_ than AppleLink, for instance. The shareware library (keyword "MUT") is fairly complete, and fairly up-to- date. A little better than sumex. In addition, there are special-purpose, and utilities libraries in other forums. Pretty good online news services. UPI wire, weather all over the world, and a lot of syndicated columns, in- cluding Denise Causo's _Inside Technology_ from the San Jose Merc. -Bill Woodcock BMUG NetAdmin
marosen@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Mark Rosen) (05/22/91)
AO is pretty decent. It's not the fastest, but it's not slow either.
At peak times, it can get slowed down, but not enough that you waste
an hour waiting for the system to keep up. jThe navigation software
is by far the easiest of the online services, though Navigator makes
compuserve alot easier than it was for me without it. It has plenty
of files, and gets most of what the other services get. For example,
sys7 was available at 12:01 AM on the fifteenth, just like everywhere
else. For sure, it's worth a free month just to check it out.
AO excels at some things that the other services can't even begin to
compare with. It's chat features are great, for real time chatting.
The online games in real time, like trivia, used to give out free
hours of time to the winners, but they don't anymore, except for a few
events, and certain weekly "center stage" events where LOTS of people
play. They've recently merged with PC Link, a similar service on the
PC side, so that there's a lot more people on now than a while ago.
There software will be updated this summer, and supposedly the update
is going to be truly outrageous! We'll see. The message threads are
less dealable than compuserve's (with Navigator) but they're pretty
good. Additionally, they have a lot of companies on line that keep
their products updated. Mail implementation is nice, but as yet
there's no gateway to the INternet. They say soon, maybe. File
downloading is not as fast as compuserve's but for 5.95 a month, it
ain't bad. At least there's no advertisements, like a certain other
service that charges 12 bucks a month. Since I quit playing the
games, I've averaged under an hour a month, since you can compose mail
offline and send it once you get on. Usually, though, I try to get
files from the INternet, since that's cheaper anyway. For small
files, though, I use AO with no qualms. Let me know if you need more
info, and when you sign on, send mail to "Grok", that's me.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------
Mark J. Rosen | Internet: marosen@elbereth.rutgers.edu
| CIS: 72717.2733@compuserve.com
-------------------------------------------------------------bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) (05/22/91)
In article <1991May21.160855.21767@oakhill.sps.mot.com> rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks) writes: > >Is the service worth the $5.95 a month? How responsive is the system >during the evenings and weekends? Is the system so slow that you use >up your monthly hour waiting for the system to respond? For an online service, the price is extremely competitive. Since it isn't a pure text interface, navigation from one area to another is slightly slower than, say, CompuServe, but it's not bad. I haven't noticed any problems in terms of system load, etc. >My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs. >Does America Online have a large archive? How easy is the navigation >software to use? Any other comments? > The archives aren't as large as CompuServe's, but there's quite a bit there and it's growing all the time. In terms of the software, if you've ever seen AppleLink, you'll feel right at home. Since you have a free month's worth of access time, you should jump right in and look around. John Heckendorn -- /\ BMUG ARPA: bmug@garnet.berkeley.EDU A__A 1442A Walnut St., #62 BITNET: bmug@ucbgarne |()| Berkeley, CA 94709 Phone: (415) 549-2684 | |
hayes@Apple.COM (Jimmy Joe Jim Bob) (05/22/91)
Rodney Jacks writes: >My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs. >Does America Online have a large archive? How easy is the navigation >software to use? Any other comments? One important thing to note: Downloading is done within the AOL application using a sliding-window protocol which saturates the link to 100%. A constant flow of data means faster downloading and less $. I've been very impressed by the speed. -- Jim Hayes, Network Management Weenie Engineering Network Services, Apple Computer Inc. Inet: hayes@apple.com UUCP: {amdcad|decwrl|ames}!apple!hayes
basil@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Basil Hashem) (05/22/91)
A few days ago, someone wrote:
=
= >My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs.
= >Does America Online have a large archive?
=
Incidently, does anyone know if AOL supports Zmodem transfers? I hear that that's
the fastest method right now for downloading.
Just wondering, thanks.
--
Basil Hashem
basil@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory La Canada Flintridge, CAtonym@polari.UUCP (Tony Mann) (05/23/91)
In article <1991May21.160855.21767@oakhill.sps.mot.com> rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks) writes: >I recently purchased a Teleport modem for my Mac which included a >free (1 month) subscription offer to America Online. I would like >to get the Nets opinion of America Online before subscribing. > >Is the service worth the $5.95 a month? How responsive is the system >during the evenings and weekends? Is the system so slow that you use >up your monthly hour waiting for the system to respond? >My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs. >Does America Online have a large archive? How easy is the navigation >software to use? Any other comments? > >Thanks for your advice, >Rodney > >*********************************************************** >** Rodney Jacks ** >** Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas ** >** E-mail: rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com ** >*********************************************************** AOL is both amazing and disappointing. It has a complete Mac interface, including multiple forum windows open simultaneously. It makes it easy to understand the system. It makes other BBS interfaces seem ugly and archaic. Surprisingly, the system almost never feels sluggish. Unfortunately this ease of use has a price. Some operations tedious are quite as there are few "shortcuts". To compound the problem, there are no batch operations, limited automation facilities, and almost everything must be done on-line. Also, X-Modem is used for file transfers, even though they could have used a faster protocol considering that you have to use their software. There are lots of great programs in the archives ("libraries"). Most software gets posted to info-mac, Compuserve and AOL. The off- peak price of $6.95/hr is very reasonable, but the amount of time one must spend to do things makes Compuserve (using Navigator) seem competitive at almost twice the price. If you want to be "in-touch" in the Mac world, get AOL. Between the libraries, the forums, and other services (Grolier's encyclopedia, Eaasy Sabre, etc) I guarantee you will use you $6.95 /month minimum. -- Tony Mann, Spontaneous Software.
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (05/23/91)
In article <1991May22.065212.29985@agate.berkeley.edu> bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) writes:
The archives aren't as large as CompuServe's, but there's quite a bit
there and it's growing all the time. In terms of the software, if you've
ever seen AppleLink, you'll feel right at home. Since you have a free
month's worth of access time, you should jump right in and look around.
I have accounts on both AO and CServe and find that I rarely use
CServe anymore. The biggest difference for me is being able to
browse the libraries and find what I'm looking for -- quickly and
without a lot of guessing and wasted time. I don't use the chat
feature or email too much, so my evaluation is strictly on finding
software I want and getting it downloaded.
I can't stand looking at CServe's cryptic file names anymore... it's
the difference between:
"GTKPRA12.BIN"
and
"GateKeeper Aid 1.2"
(Real, understandable file names is another one of the things that
the Mac has over DOS and Windows.)
Also, they have a "Fast Find" feature that's very fast and searches
all libraries (if you want), so you don't have to know where something
is. Just type, for example, "Gatekeeper", and and a list of all
programs where that string occurs in the title or in the keywords is
created. Double-click on one of the names in the list, and the full
description appears, complete with a button that downloads it.
AO uses their own protocol for downloading, but I've always found it
pretty fast. The modem is almost always receiving, so at least
they're not using XMODEM or something.
The only thing I don't like about downloading files from AO is that
there's no way to batch them up and download them all at once. So if
you have six or seven files to download, you pretty much have to
babysit the machine until they're done. But that's a small quibble;
AO is otherwise a pleasure to use.
It's definitely worth checking out for a month or two.
--
Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you."
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com |
cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Lettermansjhg9320@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Showered ) (05/23/91)
basil@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Basil Hashem) writes: >Incidently, does anyone know if AOL supports Zmodem transfers? The answer is no, and according to the responses I have recieved to such inquiries, the answer will still be no for quite some time. My 2 cents worth on this thread: AOL has a nice interface, but file transfers are Glacial and the file libraries are nearly identical to anything you could get for free from a good user group library or by hopping around the Internet. Since last October, GEnie has had the same rates as AOL, and you can nearly duplicate any of the nice features AOL has with cookbook Microphone II scripts. (More work reauired for WK 11.99, but the end result is the same.) These are opinions, not facts. -- ______________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
george@swbatl.sbc.com (George Nincehelser 5-6544) (05/23/91)
In article <53210@apple.Apple.COM> hayes@Apple.COM (Jimmy Joe Jim Bob) writes: > >One important thing to note: Downloading is done within the AOL >application using a sliding-window protocol which saturates the link to >100%. A constant flow of data means faster downloading and less $. >I've been very impressed by the speed. > Let me first say I love AOL and the downloads are speedy....sometimes. It may be a localized problem, but AOL is next to useless during certain time periods (such as Friday night). If I try to use it during busy times, I often get disconnected or the host just stops responding. I've taken this up with AOL several times, but to no avail. I've just learned to try to do everything on Wednesday nights (great response then). -- / George David Nincehelser \ george@swbatl.sbc.com \ / / Southwestern Bell Telephone \ Phone: (314) 235-6544 \ / / / Advanced Technology Laboratory \ Fax: (314) 235-5797 \ / / / /\ 1010 Pine, St. Louis, MO 63101 \ de asini umbra disceptare \
johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Erik A. Johnson) (05/23/91)
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) writes: >AO uses their own protocol for downloading, but I've always found it >pretty fast. The modem is almost always receiving, so at least >they're not using XMODEM or something. >The only thing I don't like about downloading files from AO is that >there's no way to batch them up and download them all at once. So if >you have six or seven files to download, you pretty much have to >babysit the machine until they're done. But that's a small quibble; >AO is otherwise a pleasure to use. Yes! this would make downloading much nicer! Does anyone know if this is a planned addition to version 2.0 (supposedly out summer 91)? My only other gripe is that AOL has no gateway to the rest of the world. I would love to have some sort of way to e-mail to and from Internet. Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \ Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering \ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign \ AmericaOnline: ErikAJ
gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu (05/23/91)
In article <BAUMGART.91May22150849@info7.esquire.dpw.com>, baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) writes: >Also, they have a "Fast Find" feature that's very fast and searches >all libraries (if you want), so you don't have to know where something >is. Just type, for example, "Gatekeeper", and and a list of all >programs where that string occurs in the title or in the keywords is >created. Double-click on one of the names in the list, and the full >description appears, complete with a button that downloads it. There is a File Finder on CompuServe, which contains a reference database for all the files in all the Mac Libraries on CompuServe. However, the database is not directly tagged to the files, which means it isn't "automagically" updated with each new upload (it's manually updated by CI$ folks about once a month) You can search by file name, keyword, uploader, library, date uploaded, etc., and can narrow a search by applying more than one criteria. GO MACFF from any ! prompt. Granted, it's still not AOL's user interface, but it's an answer to the age-old "How do I find X in all these libraries?" question... --- Jim Gaynor - AgVAX System Manager - Academic Computing - Ohio State University VMS:<gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu> UNIX:<gaynor@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Disclaimer : All opinions expressed here are mine and only mine. So there! Witty Quote: "Think, think, think, think..." - Winnie-the-Pooh, Taoist Bear.
dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (05/23/91)
>My only other gripe is that AOL has no gateway to the rest of the world. >I would love to have some sort of way to e-mail to and from Internet. >Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get from AOL that you don't from the Internet? I have had a GEnie account for years, but I almost never use it, since almost everything it offered was duplicated on the Internet, only faster and better (ever try GEnie's mail?). I don't cancel it only because a) it doesn't cost anything if I don't use it and b) I'm too lazy to figure out how. -- Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner
peirce@outpost.UUCP (Michael Peirce) (05/24/91)
In article <1991May22.162054.27873@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov>, basil@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Basil Hashem) writes: > > A few days ago, someone wrote: > = > = >My primary interest is in downloading free or shareware programs. > = >Does America Online have a large archive? > = > Incidently, does anyone know if AOL supports Zmodem transfers? I hear that that's > the fastest method right now for downloading. AOL doesn't use the 'standard' protocols to download - no ZMODEM or XMODEM, or whatever there. Because you must be running the AOL program on your computer they can implement file downloading in anyway they want. So they achieve very high download rates with the incoming data soaking up close to the maximum bandwidth. Of course, if there is exceptionally high load either on their Stratus hosts or on your access link (Telenet, etc). downloads can be slowed down. I've been very happy with AOL. -- michael -- Michael Peirce -- outpost!peirce@claris.com -- Peirce Software -- Suite 301, 719 Hibiscus Place -- Macintosh Programming -- San Jose, California 95117 -- & Consulting -- (408) 244-6554, AppleLink: PEIRCE
rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks/vlk9) (05/24/91)
>My only other gripe is that AOL has no gateway to the rest of the world. >I would love to have some sort of way to e-mail to and from Internet. >Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu >>One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >>for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >>from AOL that you don't from the Internet? >>Steve Dorner \Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu -- This is one thing I failed to mention in my original post which started this thread. I am interested in America Online because we do not have a direct Internet connection here at Motorola. Therefore I cannot FTP to any of the archives. A lot of things never make it to mac.binaries. I have tried using the Rice mail server for downloads but large files never reach me. I receive small binhex files just fine, but not anything over 150kb. Anyway, I have received a number of opinions concerning AOL... 90% have been positive. I have saved all (including net replies) and will send a summary to anyone who is interested. Thanks to all. -Rodney *********************************************************** ** Rodney Jacks ** ** Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas ** ** E-mail: rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com ** ** Time is just nature's way of keeping everything from ** ** happening all at once. ** ***********************************************************
dana@are.berkeley.edu (Dana E. Keil) (05/24/91)
dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes: >One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >from AOL that you don't from the Internet? >I have had a GEnie account for years, but I almost never use it, since >almost everything it offered was duplicated on the Internet, only faster >and better (ever try GEnie's mail?). I don't cancel it only because >a) it doesn't cost anything if I don't use it and b) I'm too lazy to figure Ditto here. I went out and subscribed to a number of online services with the idea of trying them out to see which was better. It turns out that all my online time is spent here and I rarely ever log in to any of the ones I'm subscribed to. I did finally get bothered enough to figure out how to cancel Prodigy and Connect, though! -- Dana E. Keil Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics University of California, Berkeley dana@are.berkeley.edu
lorner@ecst.csuchico.edu (Lance Orner) (05/24/91)
I think one of the neatest features in AO that isn't available on any other service is its ability to mutiltask (sort-of). I will normally open up a conference window, move it to the corner of the screen so I can monitor it, then go around and look around at the downloading libraries which the chat window keeps chatting in the back. Nobody said that conferencing had to be non-productive, did they? Also, if you've got the "Window-to-back" Fkey, when downloading, you can put the downloading window to the back and be monitoring that conference or looking through directories while downloading. Although at 2400 or worse, this can be pretty slow, and you can end up waiting 10 sec or more for windows to pop up, but conferencing isn't bad, although the messages come in between blocks. And this really doesn't slow down the downloading any significan amount, as I can tell. In addition to the software being really resistant to line noise, I'd say that their format is really well done. -- Lance M Orner | To get a hold of me -- Computer Engineering | --from Internet: lorner@ecst.csuchico.edu California State | --from America Online: Caradoc University, Chico | --from Eighth Ave.: "Hey! Lance!"
george@swbatl.sbc.com (George Nincehelser 5-6544) (05/24/91)
In article <1991May23.125934.10345@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes: > >One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >from AOL that you don't from the Internet? > I've found that the commercial on-line services have newer programs than the internet ftp sites. -- / George David Nincehelser \ george@swbatl.sbc.com \ / / Southwestern Bell Telephone \ Phone: (314) 235-6544 \ / / / Advanced Technology Laboratory \ Fax: (314) 235-5797 \ / / / /\ 1010 Pine, St. Louis, MO 63101 \ de asini umbra disceptare \
awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) (05/24/91)
In article <1991May23.125934.10345@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes: >One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >from AOL that you don't from the Internet? I don't use AOL, but I do use CI$ in spite of what is offered on the Internet. More companies make official announcements and press releases on CI$ than on the Internet. More reps post more frequently on CI$. Bug fixes are availabe in dedicated vendor forums. In my experience, there are more high-end users who respond to posts on CI$. Most of the major Mac mags have an editor or writer that read and respond regularly. I've seen more niche products discussed on CI$, and new products are also usually discussed before I see similar topics on the Internet. CI$ also has online conferencing, and the Mac forums sponsor a monthly guest poster. John Sculley was the listed guest a few months ago. (I hedge because not much beyond standard press release stuff was posted.) This friday (if my memory serves), a special conference (basically like IRC) about 7.0 with Apple reps will be run. Finally, CI$ has a pretty broad spectrum of users, and it "feels" richer in terms of topic breadth and the number of people who bridge topic areas. The downside is the $ of course. I know people who spend hundreds of dollars monthly in connect time. I get by on $50 a month with Navigator, CI$'s automated comm program.
johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Erik A. Johnson) (05/24/91)
dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes: >>My only other gripe is that AOL has no gateway to the rest of the world. >>I would love to have some sort of way to e-mail to and from Internet. >>Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu > >One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >from AOL that you don't from the Internet? > >I have had a GEnie account for years, but I almost never use it, since >almost everything it offered was duplicated on the Internet, only faster >and better (ever try GEnie's mail?). I don't cancel it only because >a) it doesn't cost anything if I don't use it and b) I'm too lazy to figure >out how. One reason I have both AOL and Internet access is that I do not necessarily expect to have Internet access forever. Second, reasons similar to those of awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) for CI$: >I don't use AOL, but I do use CI$ in spite of what is offered on the Internet. >More companies make official announcements and press releases on CI$ than on >the Internet. More reps post more frequently on CI$. Bug fixes are availabe >in dedicated vendor forums. > >In my experience, there are more high-end users who respond to posts on CI$. >Most of the major Mac mags have an editor or writer that read and respond >regularly. I've seen more niche products discussed on CI$, and new products >are also usually discussed before I see similar topics on the Internet. > >CI$ also has online conferencing, and the Mac forums sponsor a monthly guest >poster. John Sculley was the listed guest a few months ago. (I hedge because >not much beyond standard press release stuff was posted.) This friday (if my >memory serves), a special conference (basically like IRC) about 7.0 with >Apple reps will be run. Furthermore, some "official" Mac software is not (legally) available simply through ftp/Internet/comp.sys.mac.* but AOL is licensed to distribute said software. Case in point: ResEdit 2.1. Yes, much of what is available through Internet (ftp,usenet newsgroups,etc.) is an overlap of AOL, but they do have distinct differences that have caused me to use both. Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \ Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering \ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign \ AmericaOnline: ErikAJ
dburr@sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU (Captain_Picard) (05/24/91)
In article <4179@polari.UUCP> tonym@polari.UUCP (Tony Mann) writes: >In article <1991May21.160855.21767@oakhill.sps.mot.com> rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks) writes: >> [ request for info about AOL ] >> >>*********************************************************** >>** Rodney Jacks ** >>** Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas ** >>** E-mail: rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com ** >>*********************************************************** > >AOL is both amazing and disappointing. It has a complete Mac interface, >including multiple forum windows open simultaneously. It makes it easy >to understand the system. It makes other BBS interfaces seem ugly and archaic. > Surprisingly, the system almost never feels sluggish. > >Unfortunately this ease of use has a price. Some operations tedious are quite as there are few "shortcuts". To compound the problem, >there are no batch operations, >limited automation facilities, and almost everything must be done on-line. >Also, X-Modem is used for file transfers, even though they could have used >a faster protocol considering that you have to use their software. Really? AOL uses Xmodem? The way my modem lights flash, it looks more like Zmodem, because AOL doesn't acknowledge after every "block" -- most of the data transfer is being done from AOL to the Mac , with the "send data" light blinking only once every few minutes or so. also, the protocol has a pretty good error recovery -- a couple of times my roommate picks up the phone during downloads, and it doesn't crap out. =============================================================================== Donald Burr, Univ. of California,Berkeley | America Online: DonaldBurr INTERNET: dburr@ocf.Berkeley.EDU |_Compu$erve:_72540,3071_____________ or: 72540.3071@compuserve.COM | "Send flames to /dev/null."
sjhg9320@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Emilio Lizardo ) (05/24/91)
awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) writes: >More reps post more frequently on CI$. Usually if its something important enough to worry about, the company in question will 1) Send You a Mailer 2) Charge you through the nose for the bugfix, aka 'Upgrade':-). -- Nevermind what the EPA says, It's Good For you! Drink it! Drink it! Drink It!
tonym@polari.UUCP (Tony Mann) (05/24/91)
re: AOL's file transfer protocol Last week I send a message to their customer service asking why the file tranfers were so slow and what protocol they used. the response: plain old XModem! I was shocked considering that they require propietary software, which means they could use any protocol they wished. Now I see messages here stating they DO use a propietray protocol. Based on how slow transfers are (MUCH slower than Compuserve's Quick B, for instance), I do not believe they are using a sliding-windows type of arrangement. If it as slow as XModem, it quacks like XModem, it is probably XModem! -- Tony Mann, Spontaneous Software
awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) (05/25/91)
In article <1991May24.140307.26994@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> sjhg9320@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Emilio Lizardo ) writes: >Usually if its something important enough to worry about, the company >in question will 1) Send You a Mailer 2) Charge you through the nose >for the bugfix, aka 'Upgrade':-). I don't know what the distribution of machines to personal vs business/ed/gov users, but the above is a long way from being true enough to rely upon. I have lots of registered software and have NOT received update notices. Also, I like to decide whether something is important enough to upgrade for. I'd rather not risk my projects when I can avoid it. In some cases those minor releases can be obtained either free or for a nominal fee.
lrm3@ellis.uchicago.edu (Lawrence Reed Miller) (05/25/91)
In article <1991May24.070946.27644@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Erik A. Johnson) writes: >Furthermore, some "official" Mac software is not (legally) available simply >through ftp/Internet/comp.sys.mac.* but AOL is licensed to distribute said >software. Case in point: ResEdit 2.1. Actually, ResEdit 2.1 is available on ftp.apple.com. Along with lots of other great stuff. Yaaay Apple! Lawrence Miller
johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Erik A. Johnson) (05/25/91)
I, johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Erik A. Johnson), wrote: >dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes: >>One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >>for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >>from AOL that you don't from the Internet? > >Furthermore, some "official" Mac software is not (legally) available simply >through ftp/Internet/comp.sys.mac.* but AOL is licensed to distribute said >software. Case in point: ResEdit 2.1. Well, Mark Johnson at Apple just put ResEdit 2.1 and Macsbug 6.2.1 on ftp.apple.com, so this last argument has just lost a bit of weight. Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \ Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering \ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign \ AmericaOnline: ErikAJ
mrc@unislc.uucp (Mike Cederholm) (05/29/91)
awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) writes: >In article <1991May23.125934.10345@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) writes: >>One thing I don't hear people saying is why they bother to pay >>for these services when they have the Internet. What do you get >>from AOL that you don't from the Internet? >I don't use AOL, but I do use CI$ in spite of what is offered on the Internet. >More companies make official announcements and press releases on CI$ than on >the Internet. More reps post more frequently on CI$. Bug fixes are availabe >in dedicated vendor forums. >In my experience, there are more high-end users who respond to posts on CI$. >Most of the major Mac mags have an editor or writer that read and respond >regularly. I've seen more niche products discussed on CI$, and new products >are also usually discussed before I see similar topics on the Internet. >CI$ also has online conferencing, and the Mac forums sponsor a monthly guest >poster. John Sculley was the listed guest a few months ago. (I hedge because >not much beyond standard press release stuff was posted.) This friday (if my >memory serves), a special conference (basically like IRC) about 7.0 with >Apple reps will be run. >Finally, CI$ has a pretty broad spectrum of users, and it "feels" richer in >terms of topic breadth and the number of people who bridge topic areas. >The downside is the $ of course. I know people who spend hundreds of dollars >monthly in connect time. I get by on $50 a month with Navigator, CI$'s >automated comm program. During the last week I have been fortunate in finding a means to get to the internet. I now could ftp to SUMEX to get any information/etc available.... only one probelm.. I keep getting a "permission denied" message back from sumex-aim.stanford.edu when I execute: ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu It is my understanding that I should be able to use the user "anonymous" and get files from the public directories. My login name on the machine that I am comming from is mrc... is this keeping me from getting in ... or What am I doing wrong here... Thanks for any help anyone is able to give.... "No man is an island, His constant companion, the IRS... will always be there with him.....:" +=======================================================================+ Mike Cederholm dba. | (801)-254-7039 pineHOUSE Development | (801)-594-4460 @ Unisys,SLC So. Jordan, Utah | (801)-480-5896 - digital pager - SLC +=======================================================================+ uucp: mrc!unislc@sun.com internet: still working on it.. +=======================================================================+
johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu (05/29/91)
In article <1991May28.192453.15345@unislc.uucp>, mrc@unislc.uucp (Mike Cederholm) [ still working on an Internet address ] writes... >During the last week I have been fortunate in finding a means to get to the >internet. I now could ftp to SUMEX to get any information/etc available.... >only one probelm.. I keep getting a "permission denied" message back from >sumex-aim.stanford.edu when I execute: > ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu > > It is my understanding that I should be able to use the user "anonymous" > and get files from the public directories. My login name on the machine > that I am comming from is mrc... is this keeping me from getting in ... > or What am I doing wrong here... Sumex is looking for a password of the form "username@hostname". This is basically a courtesy; any password of this form will work. In this case, "mrc@unislc.sun.com" would be a polite way of giving a meaningful username. Bill (johnston@minnie.me.udel.edu) +=======================================================================+ Mike Cederholm dba. | (801)-254-7039 pineHOUSE Development | (801)-594-4460 @ Unisys,SLC So. Jordan, Utah | (801)-480-5896 - digital pager - SLC +=======================================================================+ uucp: mrc!unislc@sun.com internet: still working on it.. +=======================================================================+
jah@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Jonathan Helton) (05/30/91)
In article <54890@nigel.ee.udel.edu> johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu writes: >In article <1991May28.192453.15345@unislc.uucp>, mrc@unislc.uucp >(Mike Cederholm) [ still working on an Internet address ] writes... > >>During the last week I have been fortunate in finding a means to get to the >>internet. I now could ftp to SUMEX to get any information/etc available.... >>only one probelm.. I keep getting a "permission denied" message back from >>sumex-aim.stanford.edu when I execute: >> ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu >> >> It is my understanding that I should be able to use the user "anonymous" >> and get files from the public directories. My login name on the machine >> that I am comming from is mrc... is this keeping me from getting in ... >> or What am I doing wrong here... > >Sumex is looking for a password of the form "username@hostname". >This is basically a courtesy; any password of this form will work. > >In this case, "mrc@unislc.sun.com" would be a polite way of giving >a meaningful username. > >Bill (johnston@minnie.me.udel.edu) Sorry Bill, but when Mike issues the ftp command at his machine he's not at sumex yet. His machine is not allowing him to access the ftp command. Sumex-aim accepts anything as a password. -- Jonathan Helton jah@casbah.acns.nwu.edu