🚀 go-pugleaf

I tried Prodigy on their 3 month trial and thought it was pretty awful.
Their claim to fame was their fixed monthly charge which has increased from
their early days.  (I beleive it was initially $6.95 and is now either $9.95
or $12.95 per month.  I am not sure of the prices.)  It had pretty graphics
but that was also the problem.  Because it is graphic based it takes a long
time to repaint your screen.  They also use large characters on the screen so
not many will fit decreasing the information available per screen which further
increases the time required to get information.  I got really tired
of waiting for the system.  I have a Macintosh but I have seen similar results
on PC's.  Prodigy also puts an advertisement on every screen.  This bothers 
many people but I found it very easy to block them out and usually never read
them.

Two other services you might be interested in are GEnie and Compuserve.  I like
GEnie a lot.  They have a basic level of service for either $4.95 or $6.95 a 
month (I forget).  This includes a set of basic services like E-mail and use
of the electronic encyclopedia.  Compuserve has a similar flat rate service for
$9.95 a month.  Additional services are available on both GEnie and Compuserve
for an additional hourly charge.  GEnie is cheaper but Compuserve has a wider
range of services.  GEnie and Compuserve have graphical user interface 
software for the PC and Compuserve has it for the Macintosh.  This makes it  
much easier to use.

I wouldn't bother with Prodigy; it is an annoying waste of time.  You would be
better served by GEnie or Compuserve.

Paul Holzworth
fns-nc1!hph@mcnc.org

In article <8057@news.duke.edu> jfw@neuro.duke.edu (John F. Whitehead) writes:
>In article <Bz9C92.7Eq@unx.sas.com> sasrco@mantis.unx.sas.com writes:
>>
>>I am seeking advice from anyone with experience/knowledge on the
>>PRODIGY software/network.  I have 3 children in school (8th, 4th, and
>>1st) and 1 in pre-school.  What can we get out of it?
>
>A lot more trouble than it is worth.
>
>It is slow, hard to read, and full of advertising.  The people who
>run it are restrictive and don't allow any digression from their
>stated goals.

     I have been told as well that Prodigy keeps a record of advertisements
that users (L)ook at (scroll back to.  Users may find themselves on interesting
mailing lists. I was one of the 3-month pre-public testers and noticed no
increase in mail, though I did have that peculiar problem of finding samples
of my files and directory tree in the Prodigy files.  Whatever the case, it's
slow (graphics sending), and gives you a pretty annoying screen to look at.

     Other info systems are generally better-connected, offer similar flat
rates, and have the advantage of being advertisement-free.
     
     -Mike

-- 
Mike Scher                      strange@hercules.acpub.duke.edu
Duke University -- Durham, NC:  Law and Cultural Anthropology 
This post expressly not for use as toilet tissue.
(K) 1991 Net Prophet Productions - All lefts deserved.