It only took one 'rather large' monthly bill for me to get wise to that game, though, and I began looking for alternative ways to get online, and 'do stuff' online. Back then, there wasn't much in the way of web pages. Most of them were government sites and students' reports and such. In fact, it was thought back then that the web wouldn't amount to much, and that the newsgroups would be the 'advertising capitol' of the 'net. So, it's the new millennium, and the web is growing faster than we can keep track.
Advertising is being sold on top of advertising, and reseller and affiliate programs abound.
Everybody's giving something away and selling advertising, and selling advertising and giving something away. Just sit back and enjoy the show, for the most part. I I had been doing web design for a while, but for many years, I had been proficient in database management, VB scripting and sql. My latest 'pet' project is the Auto Repair Interactive Guide on CD Rom. It's a new product that helps you maintain your car.