INTERNET AND BEYOND: MULTIMEDIA ON-LINE SERVICES*

by Peter Otte
What is the Internet? What is Prodigy? What is CompuServe? And what do they all have to do with the Information Superhighway? In this chapter, we expand on our definition of multimedia and explore the different ways it will enhance the usage of computers, especially on-line systems. Then, we'll look at the various commercial on-line services and study how each will strive to incorporate modem multimedia--that is, multimedia services carried over on-line services--in the short and long term. We'll demystify this much publicized but off misunderstood Internet and introduce the "content providers" who want to distribute their magazines, newspapers, and books on the unfolding data highway. Finally, we'll bring it down to concrete terms with some application scenarios in business, education, and entertainment. MULTIMEDIA EXTRAVAGANZA Chapter 4 defines multimedia as the convergence of text, animation, stereo sound, and full-motion video on the computing platform. Text, animation, and stereo sound you already know about. Full-motion video refers to a moving filmed image incorporated within a production. If that's too much to remember, just think TV. Multimedia makes a computer behave and act like a television, with one important difference: it's interactive. From Passive to Active When you watch a program on television or cable TV, you are a passive viewer. You have no control over the scheduling of the program or how it's played. In fact, you have no control over the actual viewing of the program other than simply adjusting the volume and the quality of the picture. Suppose that you watch a video or a laser disc. This adds a level of control to viewing and explains why staying home and watching a video or laser disc has become so popular. You can play back the program when it suits you at any time of day or night. You can replay a favorite scene over and over again. Or you can pause the program to answer the telephone or take care of some other important business. Multimedia puts even more control into your hands so that you become an active viewer. You need to toss your conception of television and try to understand multimedia on its own terms. Think control. To begin with, you have complete control over playback, viewing time, sound levels (loudness, bass, treble, balance, and so on), and video levels (sharpness, brightness, contrast). Well, you say, that just sounds like a television. It does, except that multimedia offers one important difference. With multimedia, you have selective control over the program's content. -----------------------

*REPRINTED FROM: Peter Otte, The Information Superhighway: Internet. (Que Corporation: Indianapolis, 1994), pp. 87-111.
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Beyond the

If youre at all familiar with computers from the user standpoint, then you know what it's like to load or launch a program. On a multimedia-based computer, you play back a program. Conceptually, can you see the difference? You select the items that appeal to you and assemble a presentation that suits you the most. Later in this chapter, you learn about the special properties of on-line multimedia. But first, let's define what we mean by an on-line service. It's absolutely crucial that you understand the on-line concept in order to fathom this most exciting feature of the Information Superhighway. What Is an On-Line Service? Chapter 1 talked about the global village concept and how the Information Superhighway will realize the virtual community, where the citizens of the world won't be separated by geographic or political boundaries but will be united through a series of interconnected data highways... Traditionally in the hands of the privileged few, on-line networks such as the Internet and the commercial on-line services such as CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online have lured millions of members in recent years, forming a virtual community that collectively among them totals about 25 million. With just an ordinary Mac of PC, a modem, a little knowledge, and an online subscription, an ordinary civilian transforms into a virtual citizen who interacts with other members via electronic mail, forums, and on-line conferencing. Or, you can read the news or download thousands of articles by accessing the various business, technical, scientific, or generalinterest database libraries. In Chapter 4, you learned about electronic mail as an alternative to the regular post office. Instead of mailing or faxing a letter, you can post it electronically to a member's electronic mailbox, where it will reside until the addressee signs onto the service with his or her modem and downloads your letter. In on-line terminology, this is called a a store-and-forward system, meaning that you or anyone else doesn't have to be present to receive the way you have to be present to receive a telephone call. The Information Superhighway is a metaphor for a vast and expansive electronic communications system. There is no actual highway. The term simply defines it using a familiar concept. The same applies to the term forum. Since the Roman Empire, people have informed and shared their opinions with others in a forum. The forum began as a physical place, but if you enter an on-line forum, you still express your own ideas and listen to the ideas of others, but not in a physical place. An on-line forum invites the members of the virtual community to raise questions before learned experts and share experiences with others. It forms around a single topic, hobby, product, or interest... It gives you a chance to meet others all around the world who share your interests or concerns. If enough people demonstrate interest, then an on-line system will establish a forum for that interest. Forums vary to some extent in terms of their structure, but they usually consist of a message section, where members "talk" to each other over a certain topic, and a library section, where members will find software programs to load or essays and articles to read about a related subtopic. Library sections also contain particularly memorable discussions that can be read like an article. Like electronic mail, you trade messages with other members of a forum on a store-andforward basis. But live chat and on-line conferencing break away from this method of communication by providing a "live" discussion with a much larger group of members... All the different on-line services offer something like on-line conferencing. For the moment, they tend to cost dearly (on-line services usually charge premium rates for these sessions). Also,

you don't get the same level of interaction as you would, for example, on Larry King Live, where viewers call in with questions. On one level, the Information Superhighway must bridge the gap of time and distance in a way that simulates real human contact. People should interact as if they sat in each other's presence. For the time being, we still have to stare at computer monitors and that has its limitations. By creatively using punctuation and abbreviations, on-line users have learned how to add character and emotion to messages that might otherwise seem a bit barren. Because on-line users can't communicate face-to-face, they resort to emoticons, or icons that show emotion. At first, they look like gibberish, but if you look at the punctuation long enough, you'll see the little faces expressing the range of emotions. Here are some of the more common ones: :-) :-( 8-) :-{) :-O Smile Frown Four-eyed Smile Mustache Smile Surprise, Amazement

You get the idea. Users also express themselves using the on-line shorthand, or abbreviations that show you have on-line savvy. Here are some of the more popular examples: BTW FYI IMO IMHO OTOH PMJI ROFL By The Way For Your Information In My Opinion In My Humble Opinion On The Other Hand Pardon My Jumping In Rolling On the Floor, Laughing Keep

These omnipresent symbols retain their meaning across the different services. them handy as you navigate the Information Superhighway.

On-line services do have other uses. If you need to conduct research for an important project, such as a business venture or a thesis, you will find it much easier to locate timely and accurate information on an on-line database than going to a library and trying to find a reference book that already might have been checked out. In an on-line database library, you will always find the articles you need. Lawyers, for example, can research a case history, doctors can look up information relating to a specific illness, and students can download articles related to a particular time in history. Libraries still have a better selection of full-scale volumes and books--the cost of downloading an entire book would probably be prohibited--

and photocopying a magazine article might cost a little less, but on-line services give you the flexibility of telecommunication with the library. Goals for Growth On-line services also contain many other services besides the library databases, such as news, shareware programs, games, encyclopedias, travel guides, travel reservation services, electronic shopping, and so on. Lately, these services have become more aggressive in soliciting new members as the number of on-line services increases. Therefore, the different commercial services... will continue to add more services in the short and long term. As the competition intensifies, some of the smaller and mid-range services with memberships rating less than 200,000 will get absorbed by other large companies with ties to other media concerns. This implies that, assuming the owners are willing, the media conglomerates--such as Time Warner, Viacom, Turner, Cox, and ABC/Capitol Cities--and the major electronic players-CompuServe, Prodigy, and perhaps America Online--will acquire them in some form. It's all part of the inevitable consolidation that happens within any industry; we already see it happening within the computer hardware industry, what with AST Research's recent acquisition of Tandy Computer, who some years ago had acquired GRiD Systems. The majors have set three important goals. First, they want to simplify access. Using a modem tends to be a little daunting for some people, so in order to attract new users, the on-line vendors aspire to make navigating an on-line service as easy as using the VCR. In the near future, you'll see a new version of Windows more powerful than the last, and with that, a whole slew of new applications and communications front-ends. New releases of Windows should help create an even more seamless interface. Demands to increase access to the Internet continues to gather speed (we will take up this subject very shortly). For now, understand that the Internet has generated so much excitement... --that all the major players want to provide seamless access to the Internet as soon as possible. Like most major transitions, the switch to provide access to such a vast communications network as the Internet occurs in stages--and with varying degrees of success: some have made the complete transition already, while others still lag behind. But looking long term, and trusting that the major players piece together the essential components of the superhighway, you will in a few years see some truly exciting changes take place in the form of multimedia on-line services. The Next Step in On-Line Computing: Multimedia The on-line providers, such as CompuServe and Prodigy, have important plans in store with regards to multimedia. As you may recall from a discussion in the first chapter, however, the limited bandwidth of today's phone system, which provides the basis for all on-line communications, simply can't bear the multimedia communications load. According to Michael Banks, author of The Modem Reference (Brady) and numerous articles on the subject of on-line communications, the day of multimedia rapture lies not far off. (We interviewed Michael Banks via CompuServe.) "The technology is in place; all that remains is for the on-line services to implement it," remarked Banks. "As I see things shaping up, everyone is about to break out with more attractive and powerful front ends, and that will be the next focus of competition (the current being Internet access)."

The navigator, or front end, refers to the special software applications that the services create in order to simplify on-line communications. Where plain-vanilla communications programs, such as ProComm and CrossTalk, require you to set up scripts and macros to automate communications procedures, navigators take care of much o this work in the same way that contact managers make inputting names and addresses more straightforward than a relational database program. "Front-end software will be the key, of course, since front ends will drive modem multimedia almost completely from the user's computer, based, again, on commands from the on-line service in question," said Banks. "I suspect that on-line services will soon find themselves in a race to implement modem multimedia via more and more sophisticated front ends. Give it 'till Fall '95. On-line services will change to become more interesting and useful for the more timid computer user." The race to implement modem multimedia may result in more exciting on-line interfaces, but given innate hardware demands of multimedia, much more has got to fall into place; namely, an Information Superhighway with enough bandwidth to accommodate faster modems and larger amounts of data. When will on-line multimedia get here? Most of the actual companies refuse to discuss their precise plans this far in advance, but Banks believes he knows the answer. "We're moving toward a time when most of a given on-line service will be on your end," Banks predicts. "Graphics, menus, sound effects, and much more will all be retrieved from your hard disk or CD-ROM, and 'piped' to you as instructed by commands coming from the on-line service." In other words, your computer will perform most of the work. Shifting the load to your system provides the gratification of being able to run multimedia sooner than would be possible otherwise. The Multimedia Future of On-Line Services To give you a taste of what to expect, let's review again the four main components on online services--electronic mail, forums, on-line conferencing, and file downloading--and forecast what will happen with their new multimedia guise. When you send a multimedia e-mail message, you may elect whether to include a photo or graphic, a soundbyte, and a video clip. In fact, you may not have to type anymore. Your computer's built-in microphone will convert you voice into a digital file, then zap it electronically to the addressee. Then, attach a video clip of a recent trip to Mexico and a soundbyte from Bohemian Rhapsody. Extend the multimedia e-mail model to the multimedia forum model, and you can begin to see the next logical step. In addition to articles and shareware programs (software that you can try before you buy by first downloading it), forum libraries will stock photos, sound files (speeches, interviews, songs), video clips (your favorite scenes from Terminator 2 and Remains of the Day, the latest Janet Jackson or Garth Brooks video, BBC documentaries, or some amateur's recent trip to France), and animation. You probably won't find any pornography on the commercial services because they have very strict rules about content and offensive subject matter. Then again, this policy may change if, as they promise, they provide full and unabridged access to the Internet. The members of that network don't like bending to rules that inhibit their free speech.

You'll see some really exciting changes in the way of live chat and on-line conferencing. To appreciate these changes, it helps to understand the real limitations of the current state of online conferencing. No matter how skilled at typing, a featured speaker can respond to only one person at a time. Limited typing skills only compound the problem. But using modem multimedia, on-line conferencing becomes on-line video-conferencing, a concept you first encountered in Chapter 3. Equip your desktop or laptop with a video camera, and the live chat turns into an instant board meeting or diverting conversation that provides the next best thing to being there with all those other people, even when you're thousands of miles away. In fact, as videoconferencing becomes more mainstream, you will move closer to what Ross Perot meant by the Electronic Town Hall, where you can interact with local, state, and Federal officials to discuss important issues that matter to you. Some sneered at his idea, but in fact it possessed an element of vision in the way that it could, given the responsible concern of the American people and other citizens around the world, keep the government more accountable to the people. In addition, to articles, you will find full-length books in the on-line libraries. Presently, the major on-line services include text-based encyclopedias (without illustrations) and dictionaries. CD-ROM-based encyclopedias, such as the one from Comptons, does incorporate the full suite of multimedia tricks. Many drive manufacturers bundle a multimedia encyclopedia to give you something to use right out of the box. In the future, though, on-line services such as CompuServe and America Online will offer with their on-line version the same features as the multimedia CDROM version. An on-line text version gets revised and updated on a quarterly basis now, and if we assume that they'll carry on that practice, then the on-line multimedia version may be more current. We could spend hundreds of pages waxing eloquent about all the wonderful possibilities that have yet to unfold on the multimedia Information Superhighway, but we have too many other information areas to cover. But no discussion, however brief and condensed, would be complete without mentioning virtual reality. As imagined by its visionaries and practitioners, virtual reality provides the essential technological link toward manifesting the virtual community. Instead of videoconferencing a meeting, where you gaze at the other participants on your computer monitor and listen to their voices over your system's loudspeakers, you enter into a virtual conference room wearing specially developed goggles and gloves, maybe even a body suit if you really want to go overboard. The room doesn't actually exist, or at least it doesn't exist in the same way that a real room exists in a real building. The computer-generated room looks like a real room, smells like a real room, sounds like a real room. Maybe if you look closer at the boardroom table, you can see that instead of the solid look of an oak table, you see the grainy pixels generated by the computer's imaging. Virtual means "almost like something real." In the virtual reality universe, pixels replace atoms. The illusion of reality can be so convincing that you may forget the illusion part. Virtual Reality doesn't produce such convincing detail yet, but the Information Superhighway, together with the development of enhanced computing platforms, will literally add a whole new dimension to this exciting technology. In the future, multimedia will evolve to a higher level of interactivity so that you become the producer, you become the director, you become the actor, you become the editor. In other words, you exert full control over the content and even participate in the action. And that's what we mean by multimedia extravaganza.

Electronic versus Physical Address Time now to talk about something of a bit more practical importance, especially with regards to the business community, although not limited to that group. When you sign up with an on-line service, you acquire an electronic address in the form of a mailbox. Other members direct messages to your mailbox, which can be listed, if you want, in the member directory. When you move to a new home, you automatically acquire a physical address. Unfortunately, you don't automatically receive an electronic address when you move into your physical address. You have to sign up with a major provider and pay a monthly fee, which varies according to your usage. Mobile computer users understand the advantages of having an electronic mailbox. No matter where they travel, no matter their physical location, anyone can still reach them by leaving a message in their mailbox. With a physical address, on the other hand, you must wait until you return home to fetch your mail or get someone to forward the mail for you. COMMERCIAL ON-LINE SERVICES Traditionally in the hands of the privileged few, on-line services like CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online have succeeded in luring millions of members to register. In this section, you read about these services in more detail and see for yourself whether you might have anything to gain from them. But even more importantly, you see how each service plans to take advantage of the maturing multimedia offerings of the Information Superhighway. Along the way, you'll read the views of different on-line experts and service spokespeople. In addition to Michael Banks, I solicited the advice of Alfred Glossbrenner, who while a trusted friend that I met during my travels through the virtual community, also happens to be one of the most well-informed scholars in the area of information services. His best-selling book, The Complete Handbook of Personal Computer Communications, has sold approximately 300,000 copies. Que also has books about on-line services, including Using America Online, and Using CompuServe. CompuServe "Established 15 years ago, the CompuServe Information Service essentially is the Information Superhighway," exhorts Debra Young, communications director for CompuServe. "With nearly 2,000 databases and services and nearly 1.9 million members throughout the world, CompuServe provides the largest worldwide consumer information and communications network." CompuServe has expanded into international sites with local access phone number in 100 different countries, making it truly the ideal service for anyone who spends any amount of time outside the U.S. With the exception of MCI Mail and AT&T EasyLink, none of the other services offer international access. CompuServe supersedes both MCI Mail and EasyLink in terms of its breadth and depth of offerings, especially since the latter two services emerged from a background of just electronic mail and then added their other services later. CompuServe, on the other hand, has offered multiple communications and information services since its inception. In addition to their forums, databases, and conferencing, members take advantage

of, by last count, 70 free services that come packaged with the flat monthly rate of $8.95, among them: an on-line encyclopedia; travel services where you can book flights, hotels, and rental cars; consumer reports; news and weather; stock market quotes, updated every 15 minutes (includes all the exchanges); Fundwatch, a mutual fund analyzer from Money magazine; and fax capability so that you can send faxes to non-members. CompuServe also includes a substantial list of gateways to other on-line services and networks such as MCI Mail, AT&T Easylink, and the Internet. Like the other majors, CompuServe wants to investigate whether people will access their services through the cable TV connection. As discussed in greater detail in Chapter 8, the cable network uses coax, a cable type with a much greater bandwidth than the phone networks local loop, which uses twisted pair. Using coax creates far more opportunities for multimedia services. In the short run, this means that CompuServe can try out many new services that otherwise would be impossible over the phone lines, including multimedia. The longdistance system consists of fiber optic cable, which has enormous bandwidth beyond that of coax. Cable access is one of several alternative delivery methods that we are exploring as we move toward multimedia delivery of a wide variety of information," commented Young. "Soon CompuServe will publish a multimedia extension of its information service. While the first CDROM will be for Windows, another will soon follow for Macintosh. With the aid of Metatec Corporation's multimedia technology, CompuServe members with CD-ROM-equipped computers will have the advantage of continuous updated on-line information enhanced by dynamic audio and video components. Content will include a graphics and sound-enhanced version of CompuServe's electronic shopping service, an interactive magazine, and multimedia extensions to some of CompuServe's most popular databases and special interest forums." America Online "I think that America Online is poised to win the day," claimed Alfred Glossbrenner. "It gets lots of attention in the press because it is the only 'pure play' for someone who wants to invest in the Information Superhighway right now. All the other systems are part of larger companies." If they do win, America Online (AOL) has to play a lot of catch up with CompuServe. Compared to CompuServe's 1.9 million, America Online falls somewhere close to the 700,000 mark. In a very short period of time, this information service has skyrocketed in popularity, making some of the more entrenched services a little nervous. But that doesn't mean it's perfect. "The main disadvantage with AOL is that it is a bit thin on real information," said Glossbrenner. "It is not a system I could recommend to anyone needing to do research beyond a high school term paper. And even then, it's slim pickings after you get beyond the on-line encyclopedia. But that really does not matter, because AOL's subscribers aren't really interested in information as much as they are in easy-to-use, person-to-person communications system. Which is exactly what AOL gives them." Those looking merely or mostly for contact with other members of the virtual community will find much to admire in AOL's accessible interface. But while AOL offers gateways to other services, including the Internet, it does not currently offer access abroad. Accordingly, AOL members have far less contact with virtual citizens outside the U.S.

"What AOL really has going for it is that it was designed from the group up to present a pleasing, graphical user interface," stated Glossbrenner. From the beginning, America Online has used the GeoWorks software, a graphical-based windowing environment identical in many respects to Microsoft Windows, except that it runs faster and makes considerably fewer demands on hardware. Unlike Windows, GeoWorks doesn't crash, runs swifter, and it runs on cheaper IBM-compatibles. In other words, it will run just as well on a 286, whereas Windows barely chugs along on that platform. "The other leading consumer systems may offer more information," said Glossbrenner, "but I do not see how CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, or any other ASCII system can possibly come up to AOL's GUI standards without a complete, top-to-bottom re-design." ----

"Future plans are for America Online to deliver its consumer on-line services via cable on the desktop PC," said Pam McGraw, a spokeswoman for AOL. "America Online will join Intel and General Instrument to deliver the service to desktop PCs via cable networks as part of Viacom International Inc.'s trial in Castro Valley, CA and the Comcast cable market trial. Cable provides the opportunity for America Online to enrich its service by capitalizing on the faster speeds of broadband that will provide multimedia capabilities, such as enhanced graphics. In addition, the company is teaming up with the leading provider of set-top boxes, General Instrument, to develop services for interactive television." Prodigy "And what about Prodigy?" asked Glossbrenner rhetorically. I wondered myself. "I must explore this further, but for some reason Prodigy doesn't look as good as AOL's GeoWorksbased system. The system is easy to use, of course, though a bit thin on information. And the ads are annoying. The best thing about Prodigy is that you get unlimited usage for your $15 a month. In other words, connect time doesn't count." "Prodigy, which began initially as a venture between three companies--IBM, Sears, and CBS--but now only includes IBM and Sears, has traditionally targeted the computer hobbyist. Those who like Prodigy will definitely take exception to that remark, since it does have some utility for business (e-mail, news, weather, travel aids), but it has gained more favor with the leisure crowd who merely want to have fun with their computers. Prodigy has a large and diverse group of members who enjoy on-line communications for its own sake, and they especially attract a log of kids. "Prodigy is an ideal system for your kids to use," said Glossbrenner. "Trouble is, the company's business model assumes that the service will get revenue from people buying things on-line." Unlike CompuServe and America Online, Prodigy scrolls advertising across the bottom third of the screen. Perhaps Sears inspired that approach; they've been in the catalog business since the turn of the century. In any case, many avoid Prodigy because they find the advertising gimmick an unwanted intrusion. The advertising supposedly brings in more revenue for Prodigy, but does it work? ---

To learn more about Prodigy's future plans with regards to the Information Superhighway, I spoke to Mike Darcy, Program Manager, Communications. "For some time, now, we've offered photographs and graphics. Right now, we could go either the phone-company route or cable. Multimedia won't happen for a while yet with the phone companies, so we're taking a hard look at cable. For example, we could send full-motion video through two-way cable, and the cable is already installed. Toward that end, we just signed a deal with ESPN that grants us exclusive rights to their video, image rights, and sound. When you dial up Prodigy in the future, you'll be able to download an ESPN sports clip." Prodigy wants to move toward the TV platform without abandoning their stake in the standard on-line market. As of this writing, they've introduced on-line TV call-ins that allow subscribers to share and discuss their favorite characters and episodes at a scheduled time. "We're expanding platforms," said Darcy. "We're not going to abandon on-line. The same services that I've been talking about for cable could come over the telephone lines." "We've got the capability to deliver multimedia services right now over the cable system," commented Darcy. What will it look like? "For example, you could program your TV to notify you whenever a certain topic comes up in the programming." I used my favorite example of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, and he accepted that as a possible topic. "Turn on the TV, and a button appears that would allow you to switch to the video clip." What can they offer now? "We can't deliver full-motion video yet. We still have to wait for the rest of the industry to catch up," said Darcy. But we will make photographs and soundbytes available later this year. There's just no way to predict how long it will take for the phone lines to give us the capability to deliver video. Maybe the latter part of this decade." "In my opinion," echoed Glossbrenner, "Prodigy will not come into its own until it is transferred to interactive television. And my guess is that this is what IBM and Sears are counting on."

INTERNET So now, you've got a smattering of what the major on-line services are about and their plans for the future. That leaves one big on-line giant left, although it's not anything like the others. In fact, it's really not accurate to call it an on-line service. Most refer to it as an on-line network, or better yet, a network of networks. Imagine if you took all the on-line services we just talked about and brought them under one vast umbrella. Now fire all the management. Nobody should run this thing. Distribute the administration "details" among the members, adopt some loose system of on-line etiquette, and tell everybody they can say whatever they want. Nothing's sacred. The first amendment acts as mascot. And most important of all, make it so vast and incomprehensive that almost nobody understands how to use it. This is the Internet. For years it was the best-kept secret among the hacker tribe. Then in 1993, it broke into the public computing mainstream. Scientific researchers across the globe find it invaluable for conducting research and exchanging ideas and information. Many favor its informality. No single corporation controls it. Those who use the sprawling network--the

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university, government, and business users--assume the responsibility for running it. And with 20 million fans, it's got a bigger following than Madonna. Roots: Network of Networks At the height of the Cold War in the mid 1960s, the United States Defense Department initiated the development of a communications network that would enable the armed forces to mobilize in the event of a nuclear bombardment. The diffuse structure of the Internet began as a security measure against sabotage and has since spawned one of the most dynamic and vital cultural phenomena embracing scientists, academe, government, and computer hobbyists who love sharing their expertise, participating in conferences, or tapping into the extensive file libraries that seem to cover every imaginable topic. As so often seems to be the case, many technologies seem to get their start service our defense needs before they find their way into the hands of consumers. But unlike the other online services, such as CompuServe and Prodigy, the Internet still hasn't evolved into a consumer-based service, and many hope it never will. The worldwide citizens usually convoke in cyberspace to discuss issues of academic and scientific interest. And unlike the closely monitored discussions active on the consumer boards, the Internet members actively demonstrate against any form of censorship, usually with the on-line equivalent of shouting hate mail. While only Prodigy has been known to censor mail, some of the other on-line services, including CompuServe, chide a member from time to time for making an untoward remark. New members, accustomed to the tame discussions on Prodigy, sometimes sit back in startled amazement when they mistakenly come across lewd or suggestive themes of a sexual nature. Salacious themes aside, much of the hype has spurred some false expectations among the novitiates, called "newbies" in the Internet argot. The Internet is difficult to navigate. That much we know from trying to wend through its nested menus and "mainframe feel." But this aside, there seems to be a magic aura that surrounds the 'Net, as it's referred to in cyber parlance, as if any information that's stored or found there must, by default, possess some higher seal of authority. "It seems to me that people at this stage are like kids in a candy store," said Alfred Glossbrenner. "Everything looks enticing. Later, as they gain some sophistication, they will come to understand that not all information is of equal quality. Just because it's available via computer doesn't mean it's true or accurate or even current," continued Glossbrenner. "And there is a lot of truth to the statement 'we are drowning in information but dying of thirst for knowledge.'"

Michael A. Banks, an author of many communications books--including the bestselling The Modem Reference from Brady Books--seems to echo the sentiment. "Most new modem users think it is more than what it is, and expect it to be the Holy Grail of free e-mail. New users expect 'to sign on to Internet' as if it were a commercial service like CIS and download files. The Internet is not a service like AOL or CIS. It is not a free substitute for the commercial services." That being said, you shouldn't necessarily shy away from the Internet. Many on-line discussions point out to newcomers that the first few weeks of using the Net can be a little like swimming through rough waters. But on average, after about a month of diligent practice, most members develop enough proficiency to find what they want.

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Aside from electronic mail, the Internet fosters communication and discussion through the USENET News, the Internet's equivalent on an on-line forum on bulletin board. You will find more than 4,500 USENET services--more, in other words, than you can keep up with. Just following three services will result in an overstuffed mailbox. But you can always browse through the USENET news groups and just glean what you need. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES Avoiding government control and commercial interests may push the Internet closer to the masses, but many still want to know how the Internet could be used as a business tool. "One condition of using the Internet is that it not be used to conduct business," states Banks. Maybe so, but there are business applications. And what can users find on the 'Net that they can't find anywhere else? "The news groups and some conferences are it," said Banks. "Unless you want to count direct-access to the Library of Congress card catalog."

Model of the Future? Some have suggested that future on-line services ought to be modeled after the Internet. They believe that no single corporation or government entity should control the superhighway of the future the way corporate giants control the large on-line services or the way the government used to control the Internet when they first implemented it. Everyone shares responsibility for the Internet's administration and maintenance. There's no centralized management--in other words, no monopolies, no dictates. But while it's growing in favor among business users and on-line junkies, the Internet also has a steep learning curve. The centralized services, such as CompuServe and America Online, have built up their systems with a degree of continuity and a accessibility that, for the moment at least, just doesn't exist yet on the Internet. On the Net, you have to really dig for what you want. You can find it provided you can navigate the rough seas and not get seasick. Despite efforts to streamline the interface with Windows front-ends, the arcane command structure just doesn't lend itself to mass-market consumption. To alleviate the vexing frustration, software developers have begun to develop Knowbots, small bits of microcode that might be likened to a benign virus. Instead of damaging data, however, knowbots seek out information after you key in a query. They do the work as they ferret out the precise information. Accessing the Internet "Before long," said Banks, "the commercial services will incorporate access to the news groups, conferences, and file libraries into their standard package offerings, since users demand the simple 'point-and-click' access to Internet that they expect to find on CompuServe--for example, using such established front-end navigators as MacCIM and WinCIM." The Macintosh CompuServe Information Manager (MacCIM) and the Windows CompuServe Information Manager (WinCIM) integrate the services and features of CompuServe with the simplicity of a point-and-click interface. Several navigators for the Internet have become available not only for Mac, DOS, and Windows, but also for UNIX. Mosaic, a free program (freeware), can be downloaded from the major on-line services, such as CompuServe, Delphi, and America Online, as well as from the Internet itself. Using such a program does a nice

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job of taking you to where you want to go just by clicking on a word icon. Unfortunately, the program doesn't work through ordinary gateways, such as those provided by CompuServe and MCI Mail. Instead, it requires a direct Internet connection, or a dedicated high-speed phone line connection. Mosaic is a free front-end navigator to the internet that comes in Windows, Mac, and UNIX versions

There are essentially three ways to sign onto the Internet. Most universities and large companies have established a direct connection with the Internet and provide it as a free service to professors and employees, respectively. Because few users have this sort of access, most resort to one of the 100 or so area providers. Most charge a flat rate of around $25 per month for unlimited electronic mail usage and search privileges. The third method involves the few large on-line services who offer direct connections to the Internet... Internet in a Box from O'Reilly and Associates also provides a software navigator and includes Ed Krol's best-selling book, The Whole Internet Users Guide and Catalog. Que has three Internet titles: Using the Internet, The Internet QuickStart, and The Internet Resource Quick Reference. The Using title provides a disk with the WinNet front-end program, the QuickStart provides a jump-start to the Internet, and the Quick Reference provides 500 pages of complete and unexpurgated Internet information. Without a good guide book by your side, you might end up lost in cyberspace. But given the trend with the major on-line services towards incorporating more and more access to the Internet, you may just want to wait until Internet comes to you. "Before long there will be little if anything you can't find on the Internet that's not somewhere else, because the Internet is pervading the commercial services," continues Banks. "That is, unless more and more U.S. government info systems open to Internet access (like many of the various U.S. departments' BBSs should). Of course, there will always be the odd European or Asian conference or group that you won't be able to get to unless you use the Internet route. I think we're moving toward a large, intertwined, but not amorphous network of networks." ----

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CONTENT PROVIDERS Publisher On-Line On-line services don't typically provide the media-based content that appears on the network. CompuServe, for example, doesn't publish a business newsweekly, nor does America Online plan to publish its own version of the Chicago Tribune. Content providers of such wellknown publications as these furnish electronic versions of their magazines or newspapers to the services. Thus, on-line services and content providers presently have a complimentary relationship, and it's a relationship that the content providers need. With reports of declining readerships and declining ad revenue, magazine publishers have expressed more than idle curiosity in the new digital distribution. CompuServe has offered a version of AP News for a while, but they just added US News and World Report, the popular business and political news weekly. Syndicated columnists, such as Alan Dershowitz and Mona Charen, appear in the basic services section, and you can also find the Detroit Free Press there. In addition to the articles, you can download photos and illustrations from the week's issue, although a fast modem is recommended because these files tend to be quite large. You can also download photos from the Reuters forum. The Chicago Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, and Time magazine put full text and interactive services on America Online. The "San Jose Mercury News has a daily program tied to America Online and they are doing well with this concept," says Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies, Silicon-Valley market-research firm. "At the end of many Merc stories, there is an icon that says if you want more info on this subject, go to AOL and look it up in the Mercury News Center. This allows the reader to go much deeper into the actual story." The San Jose Mercury News also posts classified ads on America Online. The Chicago Tribute owns 10 percent of AOL, so it comes as no surprise that their paper was the first to appear on this popular on-line service. With Chicago Online, anyone with a membership can access it like any other option, through menus and icons (keyword: chicago). The Tribune provides full-text news on entertainment, sports, and world and local affairs. Cable-TV stations also provide content to the major on-line services. Prodigy just signed a deal with ESPN, but as yet they don't have a contract with a major magazine yet. That may change by the time the book comes out. The Electronic Times, an industry trade publication, appeared recently in electronic form using Adobe Acrobat software on an Apple Macintosh computer. Adobe created Acrobat so that users of Macs, IBMs, and UNIX computers could view the same graphics file without having to convert it. By installing Acrobat on each one of these computers, you can view any Portable Document Format file (PDF). R.R. Donnelley & Sons and the editors of the journal collaborated on this project. Given the unique properties of Acrobat, you don't have to own a Macintosh to view the electronic version of the journal. For the PDF edition of the newspaper, nearly all stories were converted to Acrobat's platform-straints for electronic delivery, all assignments were published as full-page spreads, making the PDF edition several pages longer than the printed one. The pages average between 100-600 bytes and vary in resolution according to the level of compression. Other publishers who have gone this route include McGraw Hill, who publishes an addition of Byte according to this format. Keep in mind that these are graphics files; they're about as interactive as a paper magazine.

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Electronic Books What would it be like to buy this book, or your favorite novel, in an electronic version rather than a paper version? Intriguing through it sounds, electronic books haven't taken off yet. The intrinsic value of holding a paper copy of a book can't be matched by the alternative, sitting in front of a monitor or LCD panel and clicking the mouse button to turn the pages. You might think that, based on the rampant popularity of books on tape, books on CDROM or PCMCIA card might catch on. But think about it: you can play books on tape on any cassette deck, in the car, at the gym, or anywhere you're allowed to listen to your Walkman. For electronic books to take off, especially in some on-line form, the hardware form factor has to change. You remember that hardware footprint refers to the actual area that a piece of hardware takes up on your desk. It's a simple definition, but it works for our purposes. In the previous chapter, we discussed portable devices, like notebook computers. Because a book is portable, the hardware of choice that displays the electronic book must also be portable. Perhaps a future version of the Apple Newton MessagePad might present an electronic book in an appealing way. Color might be desirable, but not absolutely essential. The individual books might come loaded on a PCMCIA memory card, which you can plug in and turn directly to where you left off because of the Newton's built-in bookmark function. Does this mean that future publications won't be on paper but instead in digital format? Despite the advantages, you might still prefer holding a publication in your own hands. After all, you're holding a paper-bound book in your hands right now. Would you have bought this book had it appeared in electronic form? Maybe the market will decide. Can you imagine inviting someone to your home and saying, "Come see my library," and all the person finds is a shoe box full of PCMCIA cards with names like The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Dawn of Western Civilization. Sounds like another Doonesbury cartoon. "Don't tell me you forgot your PDA?" ***

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