From: adamsr@netcom.com (Rick Adams)
Newsgroups: alt.internet.services
Subject: Re: GEnie/Internet gateway?
Date: 17 Aug 92 17:24:05 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)

In article <1992Aug17.014453.15435@homebase.vistachrome.com> andy@homebase.vistachrome.com writes:
>
>I'll tell you what - I'll join the internet gateway and receive
>14,000 pieces of mail a day at no extra cost.  (That is the volume
>of news articles through my system at work.)  Of course, if I choose
>to send any outgoing mail, I would be charged 40 cents no matter the
>size.  
>
	And how long do you think GEnie management is going to permit that
to continue?

	You're a sysop on a value added RT - and your income is based on use
of your RT. How long will _you_ sit still for the loss of income you're
going to suffer when GEnie users discover all the _free_ unix related lists
on Internet which duplicate the $6/hr functions of your RT? How long do you
think the sysops on the IBM, AMIGA, APPLE, or other tech RTs (many of whom
have never participated in Internet themselves) are going to sit still while
their formerly active users (particularly the majority who seldom if ever
post, but spend most of their time reading messages) make the transition to
participating in the lists instead? ANY of the value added RT/BBs can be
replaced by one or more lists, and we both know it. What happens when the
majority of the users know it as well? For that matter, what happens when
the software libraries start losing business to SIMTEL where a download that
_would_ have cost several dollars costs only $0.40 to request and _nothing_
to receive?

	We _both_ know what will happen then. GEnie will suddenly start
implementing the _existant_ rule concerning text transfer of uuencoded files
(thus eliminating SIMTEL as a benefit) and will start either limiting or
charging extra for Internet mail reception over a _very_ low level. What
else _can_ they do (other than go to a flat rate service, which they've made
_very_ clear they don't intend to do)? How are YOU going to react to a
severe loss of income? How will the other sysops you know react? And what
will GEnie's response be to them?

	I've supported GEnie on the Internet for years, Andy - and a _lot_
of the current members are there because I encouraged them to join. I still
support a great many of the features - for the base rate of $4.95/mo you
simply can't find a better telecommunications bargain (even though I _do_
have to use dial-outs in another city to connect without paying a $2/hr
surcharge). I started pitching GEnie Internet years ago when Bill Louden
first promised it would be there RSN! But what WAS implemented isn't what
was originally discussed - instead, its an absurd system in which the low
volume user is being ripped-off while the high volume user who now receives
a bargain (assuming GEnie is their only Internet access and that they use it
to download and to subscribe to lists) which by it's very nature will
inevitably be taken away again.

	Instead of defending GEnie here, Andy, why not try to solicit some
feedback and ideas from the Internet users who are participating in this
discussion - and carry that feedback to the GEnie management such as CHIP.C
who are in need of it? If there is a work-around for the ultimate loss of
SIMTEL privileges and list subscriptions, I'd love to hear about it - right
now, based on personal experience with GEnie sysops (many of whom are VERY
defensive of their "territory" as you know), I can't imagine them allowing
list and email downloads to continue beyond the beta. Yet if they are NOT
allowed to do so, MANY GEnie users will feel cheated and the war that will
result will make the Prodigy mail limit or the Laura Kaplan or Stephan Kahn
affairs on GEnie (both of which cost GEnie many members) look like Sunday
School picnics. Members WILL feel betrayed. They WILL feel cheated. And they
WILL drop the service!

	GEnie needs input and solutions - not defenders.

-- 
    rick.adams on GEnie   /|\        You are right from your side,        
     adamsr@netcom.com  /  |  \        And I am right from mine.          
    adamsr@irie.ais.org \ /|\ /  We're both just one too many mornings,   
   adamsr@norwich.bitnet  \|/  And a thousand miles behind. (c Bob Dylan) 
Newsgroups: alt.internet.services