If there was one consistent message over the past couple of years, it was that CompuServe wanted techies and small-business people. Not to me. Note that the real 800-pound gorilla in this deal is WorldCom, proving that the Internet service providers now rule the jungle. That's where the action is. Other aspects of this complex deal work out so that everyone involved gets the network infrastructure they wanted.
Cliches are true for a reason.
And yes, even that is a clich . For CompuServe, the sum of the parts was indeed greater than the whole. For four years, it looked like it needed to be chopped up and sold off. The only mystery is what took them so long. They turned out to be rather short-sighted.