From: wcaw@juliet.caltech.edu (Wilisch, Wolf C. A.)
Subject: Re: PRODIGY - Speed, Cost, Usefulness, etc.
Followup-To: comp.misc
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Keywords: prodigy macintosh
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 19:42:00 GMT

In article <2481@cthulhuControl.COM>, raisch@Control.COM (Robert Raisch) writes...
>bond@rtsg.mot.com (Allan Bond) writes:
> 
>>** Is there any way to customize the service from my end to reduce the
>>   amount of useless advertisements & graphics being dumped to my screen?
> 
>BWWWAAAAAA HAAA HAA HAHAHAHAHA......<inhale> BWWAAA HAH HA HA... <sigh>
> 
>Sorry, but I find questions like this priceless.  Absolutely priceless.
> 
>Where did you get the idea that Prodigy is there to make your experiences 
>with it pleasant and productive?  Who told you that you were supposed to
>gain any sort of value from using Prodigy?  If you find Prodigy of any
>use whatsoever, that is only a carrot to keep you docile and comfortably
>numb.  You are not *supposed* to get any value from Prodigy, based on the
>following facts.
> 
>Now, listen very carefully...
> 
> 
>	PRODIGY sells a PRODUCT to a CUSTOMER
> 
> 
> 
>	The PRODUCT is *you*, the user.
> 
> 
> 
>	The CUSTOMER is the advertiser who wants to innundate you with
>	it's own product, USELESS MARKET-BLATHER.
> 
> 
> 
>To allow the PRODUCT to limit the USELESS MARKET-BLATHER, would make the 
>CUSTOMER very angry and thus, the CUSTOMER would no longer purchase the 
>PRODUCT from Prodigy.  This would cause Prodigy to go out of business,
>(which in my opinion would be a GOOD THING.)
> 
>Any improvement in service from Prodigy will be doled out in eye-dropper 
>quantities to the PRODUCT, you, since to actually provide new, better or
>more powerful services is not in the best interests of Prodigy.  It 
>would interfere with Prodigy's main goal of selling it's PRODUCT to it's
>CUSTOMER.
> 
>(I would ***LOVE*** to hear from Prodigy regarding this analysis.)
> 
>Supporting Prodigy is retrogressive and counter to the growing tide of 
>information service users who demand real service.
> 
>Support the Internet Society, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and 
>the rest of us dedicated to bringing real, mensurate and usable services
>into the hands of every citizen of the world, for little or no money.
> 
>	</rr>
>-- 
>"Nobody knows the tourbles I've seen." ...And I'm not even wearing any trousers.

While I must agree with most of what has been said about P* in this group, P*
doe have one advantage.  For people who do not have access to USENET and who
are really only interested in participating in bulletin boards and the 
occasional e-mail, P* offers to very cheap alternative to, e.g. CompuServe and
America Online.  Granted it is excrutiatingly slow and the ad clutter is most
annoying, but I know a few people who are not too worried about things taking
a bit longer or the screen looking crowded.  My wife sometimes spends hours
on P* (as well as on USENET), and I would hate paying CompuServes prices
($13.- per hour for their 'forums') for that.  In general, Prodigy doesn't
measure up to other services, but in certain specifics, it has its uses, I
find.

Cheers

Chris W
Newsgroups: comp.misc