Reflections of a ModemJunkie by Leonard Grossman When I wrote my last column (in June of 93) I indicated that my next column would be about procrastination but I never got around to it. Well, maybe next later. So much has happened in cyberspace in the last year or two. Back then the majority of modemjunkies had barely moved up to 2400 bps. Now Syslink has a 28,800 line and 14,400 modems can be had at bargain prices. All that data travelling so fast. It is rush hour on the Information Highway. But are we better off. The on-line systems have had a shakedown. Genie is almost gone. America Online is catching or passing Delphi as the major national service with Internet access. C'$erve is also increasing access. In '93 there were very few ways to get direct access to the net. College students were delaying graduation so they wouldn't lose access. Now there are local access providers with complete service at very reasonable rates. And if you just want an E-mail address and a few other services like FTPmail (which I haven't figured out yet) there is no greater bargain than Syslink. But the problems I mentioned back then come back with a vengeance. How to handle all of this information. On Syslink or C'$serve, I can configure my system to limit what I receive, but the sheer volume of information available on the Internet, even in the most narrow of topics can be overwhelming to those of use who don't want to devote our entire lives to the process. The advantage and disadvantage of the Internet is its anarchy. The key to the future will be to those who can organize the system into some apparent (at least, virtual) order. For those of us who have been clinging to our DOS based 286s insisting that there is nothing we want to do that requires stickies (all right, GUIs) the Internet may be the straw that will break the camel's back (if not my budget). I have been unable to find any kind of useful DOS front end with which to easily access and manage the net. It seems absurd that we need graphics to send and find text but that's the way it is in this brave new world. Prehistoric humans progressed from cave pictures to text. Modern society is moving backwards. Pretty soon someone will claim to have invented fire and we'll all shout for joy. Rumor has it that there are now Windoze based front ends that will assist in this process. So I guess I'd better order my Septium or Octium with a gigabyte of RAM so I can send my mother-in-law a message for her birthday. I have been trying to use free.org in Wisconsin without Windows. It hasn't been easy. I did accidentally access the University of Wisconsin address book through free.org. I found the address of a friend's daughter who is a freshman. I'm sure she was thrilled to hear from a 50 year old married guy. (Actually, I found out today form her father that she got the message but doesn't know yet how to reply.) That was my first successful use of the Internet through a direct provider. Tomorrow the world (the same guy has a daughter at the London School of Economics -- anyone know their address?). BTW, I have left several messages over the last couple of weeks for the sysop of free.org and to help@free.org. I even left a message on their voice line, but I have had no response. If you are looking for a service provider, this is a bad omen, even if its free (except for the phone call -16 cents a minute on my line). By the next issue I hope to have a new screamin' 486 and then, perhaps, I can report on InterAccess and MCS and tell you how wonderful they are. If I can see through those dirty windows. In the meantime--keep your contacts clean. Copyright 1994 Leonard Grossman