of running discussions called "newsgroups," which are sent to thousands of computers around the world each day. References to "discussion groups" in this book include USENET newsgroups as well as electronic mailing lists and discussion forums on commercial services.
Several large online services have staked out claims to cyberspace over
the past several years. Unlike the Internet, these systems are under corporate control, and their rules are usually quite specific.
CompuServe claims to be "the world's largest commercial computer
network." With over 1.5 million subscribers, CompuServe probably
offers the best low-cost tech support in the world. If you have a computer question, you post it in the appropriate forum, and within hours
you have dozens of answers, many of them correct. There are forums
on practically every computer software package ever sold. CompuServe
forums are among the best places to get expert information on almost
any topic from gardening to copyright law.
CompuServe also gives you email, of course, with an Internet gateway.
However, you're charged for messages and files you receive as well as
those you send. In fact, you'll find that CompuServe access charges can
quickly break a family networking budget, leading to the service's net
nickname: Compu$erve.
America Online was the first specifically Mac-oriented network,
though it is now used by hundreds of thousands of PC folk as well. The
service comes with its own software, with an easy-to-use graphical user
interface. Its other major characteristic is its extreme niceness. The
introductory material describes it as an "online community," and most
of the people who participate are so darn friendly that it sometimes gets
hard to take.
Commercial online services
CompuServe
America Online
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