Change

Things change. It’s the only constant. And it looks like the New York Times (electronic version) will soon lose me as a reader. They have begun to charge $$ for the privilege of reading the works of some of their columnists. And once that happens, additional charges won’t be far behind. (I think my having to endure their ads is payment enough!)

I am an old hand at this internet stuff and have been using it to gather information since 1990, when I started with CompuServe and some BBS’s. The display was white letters on a black background and there were no graphics, no video and…no pop ups! And during the early years, the internet was free, the information was free. The only cost you had to deal with was that of the dial up service. And then, around 1993, I fell for the AOL line and subscribed to that service for awhile. I kept my CompuServe account as well and soon the differences in the philosophy of the two providers became obvious. AOL was in it for the money. Ads began to litter the screen alongside the information. CompuServe remained a “pure” provider. In 1995 I dropped my AOL account and that is a story in itself. No one leaves AOL without a hassle! And today? No one remembers CompuServe. They are dead and buried within the corporate structure of their evil competitor. AOL lives on, awash in a flood of advertising.

OK, it is all about money and I probably can’t change that, can I? But I can try and prolong the free experience as long as possible. And so I will start looking around for a news service that can deliver a daily recap to me.

(Since February 1998, CompuServe has been a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc. As part of the AOL Web Properties group, CompuServe plays an important role by providing Internet connectivity for value-minded consumers seeking both a dependable connection to the Internet and all the features and power of an online service.)