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Which Internet Service Is Right For You?                                     
and When Is It Time To Switch?                                               
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By Don Sausa                                                                 
                                                                             
One person came up to me and slammed in my face a flame about                
how stupid I was by using America Online. I can understand                   
his reasons for flaming me, but here is a simple explanation                 
on why I chose one of the money grabbing commercial services.                
                                                                             
There's many novice users out there that wants to know, what                 
is the difference and the advantage or disadvantage of using                 
America Online, instead of PRODIGY, or CompuServe, or an                     
Internet service provider (ISP)?                                             
                                                                             
I can simply give you basic points here, one, America Online                 
charges $9.95 on a monthly basis which gives you 5 hours free,               
anything above that is a $2.95 charge.  CompuServe and PRODIGY               
have similar billing methods, while ISPs range from $10 a                    
month to $50 unlimited use of the Internet.  The great advantage             
of using an online commercial service is this -- more open                   
phone lines, and can even save you some money.  Let's take it for            
the example that I'm a user who uses the Internet for                        
2 hours a month, therefore the more logical choice would                     
be choosing a commercial online service that would charge me only            
$9.95 instead of an ISP which would cost me around $10-$50 a                 
month, but if I was a user that uses the Internet more than                  
5 hours, I would want to get an ISP instead of a commercial                  
online service to save me money.                                             
                                                                             
So the whole story comes back to you since it really depends on              
the user.  If you have a life outside cyberspace, high social                
class, etc. -- I'm pretty sure you will have little or no use                
of the Internet, apparently for me, life or not, I'm going to                
use the Internet.  My $9.95 last month went to $35 for using                 
the Internet too often, which tells me, it's time to switch.                 
                                                                             
If you have any comments or suggestions or more criticism,                   
please contact me at: don.sausa@371-44.mx1.fidonet.org.                      

