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Large companies that provide e-mail, discussion forums (or sigs), conferencing, and files. Some services: Delphi (5th largest), the first with full indirect internet access; others (BIX (for professional computer users), "The WELL" a new age and writers service from California -- now supposed to be expanding into regional wells, and America On-Line AOL, #1 in size) have moved to that position as well. GEnie (#6) has internet e-mail; Prodigy (#3) and CI$(#2) have internet e-mail, but charge per message (or did the last time I used them), and, the last I used them, had rather cumbersome access to news groups, but alternate access to the Web (ie as somewhat separate programs from the normal service), while delphi's merger with MCI has fallen apart, and NewsCorp has sold off delphi and BIX to some of the original develpers. Prodigy and CI$, like MSN, are moving towards web-based services. Delphi has also created web-access to the service. It remains to be seen if web-based services will be as popular as the traditional models. There are other, smaller specialized services, too. Most, if not all, charge for having an account, and charge for use by the minute. (pricing changes often, so check with any service before signing up!) Microsoft has also developed a full-service on-line service, MSN (#4), which users of Windows 95 have access to. Compuserv tried to develop WOW!, a scaled-down (and easier to use) version of its main service, but that is pretty much all gone now. So, despite claims that the web will soon kill off on-line services, right now they're still around and adding new users, and, if the web-based versions work out, they may even come to dominate the web! delphi has already moved many of the delphioperated forums to the web (with advertising to pay for it) as well as traditional dialup access. |
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