252 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
252 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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The following text has been seen on several BBS's around the
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area. I have included it here so that you may see the
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particular views expressed by other users that you may
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agree, or disagree with. I have also included some
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responses to the following. I promise it is interesting
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reading. Let us here at ModemNews know how you feel!
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Jeff Green, editor
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Subj: YOUR OPINION Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE
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I am leaving this open message in the hope that it will elicit
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a response from those interested in the continuance and
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proliferation of the bulletin board network on Long Island.
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Certain boards on Long Island have decided to change format
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and go Subscription only. To be perfectly candid, they have every
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right to do that as I have the latitude of choice in deleting that
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board from my call directory.
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This has just occurred with a local BBs called Metrocomm. As
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I was about to delete Metrocomm I started to think that this was,
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at best, a "me too" local BBs and therefor no great loss. After
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thinking about it for a while I realized it was a very great loss.
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If every BBs bastardized the precept and overriding principle under
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which most reputable boards run then we all of us would no longer
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have the great choice of boards that we enjoy nor would most of the
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youngsters be able to savor this great activity which is infanently
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more desirable than their "Hanging Out".
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There are boards on Long Island such as Sound of Music that
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are large and offer subscriber only phone lines. There are boards
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such as P.D.S.L.O. that offer tremendous file bases and there are
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boards that offer most of everything and are totally user friendly
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such as Infosys, Sunshine II, Mutiny and many others. I point out
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these three because I have volunteered to make a contribution to
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their boards because of the unselfish help that they have provided
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over a period of time. The funny thing is that each has declined
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my offer and as much as said "That is what they feel their function
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should be".
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Now I look at Metrocomm, which offers considerably less than
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any of the above, and ask: To what purpose does my contribution
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serve - Do they offer a multi line system - No, do they offer an
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even larger than average file base - NO, do they provide a large
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user and message base - No. Therefor I conclude and submit that I
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am not here to subsidize the acquisition of new systems (like in
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386) nor to grow a board in anyway that does not enhance the
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service provided to the user group in general.
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Mr. Ellis, I took the time and asked you these questions on
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YOUR OWN BOARD and you deleted the message. I took the time and
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re-entered these questions and to date, you have chosen to ignore
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them. Therefor I ask here, in an open forum, to please explain
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just what additional services you are offering in return for your
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$25 -$35 - & $50 dollar "CONTRIBUTION" and to what use are you
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going employ the proceeds of your solicitation. Additionally, to
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whom will you be offering verification and substantiation.
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I, as I'm sure many users would be interested in your response
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and to those who took the time to read this, I would enjoy hearing
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your opinion in this matter.
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The following are responses to the above letter. Let us know
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how you feel. All responses will be published in ModemNews.
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-------------------------------------------------------------
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From the Ancient Pond BBS
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Subject: (R) Subscription only boards
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Folder : A, "General Mail"
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I think Alan is trashing Metrocom because he left a public message
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reagarding how Tony was running his board and instead of Tony answering
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it he just deleted it and that pissed off Alan. Also, Alan wasnt
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knocking my bbs or SOM, rather he was justifying our requests for
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subscription fees. I think Alan just feels Metrocom is pretty much run
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of the mill and just doesn't think its worth any money. You are right
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however, it does cost ALOT to run a big system. I don't know how big
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Metrocom is so I cannot give you my opinion, but I can say this. If ya
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don't like the bbs JUST DONT CALL IT !. Nobody should really go through
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the trouble of bad mouthing a sysop just because he or she does not
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like the system. None of us are blind or stupid, we join bbs's that we
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think are worth it. Alan may have stepped a bit too far, but thats his
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opinion of things.
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----------------------------------------
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Subject: (R) Comment
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Folder : A, "General Mail"
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I hope Leo does not lock you out so you may read this message.
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Let me tell you about the local BBS's.
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These BBS's have been setup at great expense to the Sysop and in most
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cases he doesn't get enough back out of it to even begin to cover his
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expenses. This BBS is his home and he's inviting you into his home and
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all he asks is for you to fill out a questionnaire to gain access. This
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Questionnaire is for his own use and for no other reason but for him to
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know who you are. I don't blame any sysop for wanting to know more
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about you before you gain access to his home. If you don't wish to be
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know by a Real name and have the sysop know a few things about you then
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don't fill out the Questionnaire and don't expect any time to be
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alloted to you for access. If you don't like the software or setup then
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call somebody else. I hate to clue you in But Leo uses Wildcat!
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software which is one of the best around, easy to setup and run, many
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great features, a good interface for users, and easy to use. It's not a
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cheap software and still does take a lot of work to keep up. I'm glad I
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don't have users on my board as you, because I'd give up the BBS before
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(missing text)
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Questionnaire is for his own use and for no other reason but for him to
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know who you are. I don't blame any sysop for wanting to know more
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about you before you gain access to his home. If you don't wish to be
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know by a Real name and have the sysop know a few things about you then
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don't fill out the Questionnaire and don't expect any time to be
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alloted to you for access. If you don't like the software or setup then
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call somebody else. I hate to clue you in But Leo uses Wildcat!
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software which is one of the best around, easy to setup and run, many
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great features, a good interface for users, and easy to use. It's not a
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cheap software and still does take a lot of work to keep up. I'm glad I
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don't have users on my board as you, because I'd give up the BBS before
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I put up with stupid Assholes. My advice to you is; Sell that modem and
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forget about BBSing before someone looks you up and burns your computer.
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A FEW NOTES ABOUT BBS USER FEES.
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----
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COPYRIGHT 1989, MICHAEL D. HOFER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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----
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A Note From The Pond
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the ancient pond bbs
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516-935-2027
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300-9600 baud on a USRobotics HST
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25 hours a day/8 days a week
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A number of you may have received a letter from a bulletin board
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system operator recently. Basically, they announced a new
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subscription policy, one costing $75/year. While my own personal
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philosophy includes the opinion that most BBSs should be cost free,
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I'd like to know what everyone else thinks about it.
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Lets get some terms together: a Bulletin Board System (BBS) is run
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from a PC-sized machine (or machines in a number of possible
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configurations), as opposed to a Remote Computing Service(RCS),
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usually on a Large Mini or Mainframe. Bulletin Boards serve a local
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community, sometimes providing wide area access through a
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store-and-forward network, such as fidonet, pronet, usenet, etc. RCS
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serve a wide area for dialup use, usually through one of the
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packet-switching common carriers such as tymnet or telenet.
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The distinction IS blurring. Services such as Telenet's PC Pursuit
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allows a wide area dial service to be offered to users, but to only a
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few areas now, and the costs are rising.
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So if it is in the right area, and if there is enough investment
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capital (I'd guess around $20K for absolutely everything) a BBS can
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offer as many (or more) of the services offered by CIS or The Source.
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Why? Bulletin Boards started off as a free service for the
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communication of ideas and self-generated programs. Just as our local
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group, the Long Island Computer Association (LICA), has seen a
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population change from hobbiests (hackers, when the term hacking was
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used to refer to people who knew their computers inside out, not to
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refer to semi-literate 14 year old vandals) to include many more
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non-technical users of computers, who seem to have displaced most of
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the original members.
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Now, when dialing even a mediocre bulletin board, you are immediately
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asked for $25 or more for longer access or download/upload privilege.
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The more enlightened boards allow this access to active
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non-contributing members who upload much software or are otherwise
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assets to the board community.
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But this constant demand for money is, to me, questionable. First,
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let us consider the costs of running a minimal board. The Ancient
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Pond (a completely FREE bbs) can be considered minimal - one line,
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about 40Meg of disk, and some very good bbs software.
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Investment (estimates of market value - I already had most of this
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equipment, so it did not represent an additional cost)
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PC XT "Klone" enhanced to 8MHz $350
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Two 20Mb used disk drives 300
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40 Mb Tape Backup Unit 300 - purchased
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Initial Software Purchase 125 - purchased
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Update, Support fees so far 25 - purchased
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Telephone line charges/year 150
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High Speed Modem 600
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---
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total $1850 450
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Cost/Month for the last two years: 78 19
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How about my time? I spend at LEAST five hours/week at maintenance,
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if I were to be billing that at my usual rate...
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$9100/year
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It looks like a considerable expense, but the big word here is that it
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is a hobby - I'd be knobbling on a keyboard anyway.
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If this looks like I'm trying to justify a subscription fee for the
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pond, please discard that idea immediately. While it would be really
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gratifying to receive money for something that I enjoy doing so much,
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I think that the pond represents what is STILL necessary in the
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greater computing community, a no-extra-charge forum for the exchange
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of ideas and help.
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On the other hand, I am really interested in the phenomenon of these
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Subscription Boards, and I'd like to know more.
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What services (in addition to the kind available here on the pond)
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make these boards worth $2-$6 a month? Basically, it seems that these
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boards are offering only four additional services:
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- Longer Access time (you get that on the pond simply by being active)
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- More files (some have CD ROMs attached)
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- Network/Store & Forward Message Access
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- Multiple Nodes (less waiting for a connection) and other features
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of multiuser systems (chat, forums, etc)
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Other "advanced" services can include "fronting" for Software
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Companies, either for marketing or for support services, features such
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as buy/sell when the BBS is associated with a retail commercial
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operation, "adult" message and dating services, technical consulting
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and job hunting services, specialized, proprietary data services.
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----
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But what about you? DO you pay BBS Access Fees (No matter what
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they're called) If so what do you get from it, besides better access.
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----
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It will never cost a fee to take a dip in the ancient pond -- I am
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philosophically opposed to that. But it would be nice to get hold of
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more disk space, etc...
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IS it appropriate to raise money to support the board? How about an
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Authorized, Official Ancient Pond Froggy coffee mug or Tee shirt? A
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Beanie? Would you pay for these?
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