Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:52:14 -0800
From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
Subject: RE: Compuserve wayback machine
On 10 Jan 2007 at 21:29, Richard A. Cini wrote:
So, exactly the same thing happened to you that happened to me.
> They actually want you to pay $18/month for access, which I guess
represents
the legacy
dial-up business.
Which is exactly the opposite of what you'd expect. When I dropped
service at the end of 2004, my monthly bill was about $9.50
/month.
How do they expect to compete with the likes of
NetZero and
PeoplePC?
I've actually kept my Compuserve account alive all this time as an
emergency travelling ISP.
One of the incarnations of my cable internet provider didn't allow off
net access to POP and SMTP
so I discovered that the extensive network of dialups was useful.
Under the later revs of their network, you can dial in, authenticate,
and then just use PPP to access the internet directly. You get about
3/hours/mo dial-in time for free and usage rates there after.
I logged in yesterday via the web.... it takes a little redirection to
the "native" Compuserve site as the inital screen wants a "Screen
Name"
and won't accept a PPN. I thought I set a name for my account but I
don't remember it and I didnt write it down anywhere (it was too
"obvious" ;^} )
There is a Vintage Computing forum still active, and the files area
still has stuff dating way back at least to the 80s.
I am still carrying a $9.99/mo legacy subscription, but I don't think
they'll let you sign up for that anymore.
They now have a BYOA (Bring Your Own Access) rate advertised.
I noticed someone in a support forum mention some sort of backup rate
of $3/month. I'm guessing that they'll have deals to try to keep
getting some money from you if you may quit.
I just got a Cingular 8525 and an unlimited data rate, so I'll
probably drop this soon. I'm off to learn more about Windows CE.
Dave.
