Re: Info: ISPs, AOL, Fonts, Etc.

On 11 Jun 1996 dsk...@cameonet.cameo.com.tw wrote:
> Brian Odom (bod...@cs.indiana.edu) writes:
> > there is *1* internet.  can't you guys on aol just change your font?
>  
> With all the variety, it's hard to say if there's really only one Internet.
> In addition, there are a lot of other protocols besides TCP/IP traveling on
> the same wires as the stuff we think of as the Internet.

> So there.                      Dan Strychalski   dsk...@cameonet.cameo.com.tw

Very nice description of how things work!  As to the oneness of the 
Internet, I agree and disagree.  I agree that the Net has become many 
differing entities over the last 10 years.  Yes, I've been on the Net 
that long and longer.  I started back when the Net was only available to 
researchers, labs, universities, military and the like.  To those of us 
who've been here nearly since the beginning, all the extra "fluff" like 
Web Pages and the like are there to entertain the great unwashed masses.  
(Don't take that personally please!)  The real purpose of the Net is to 
bring information sources nearer, to create a handy conduit for knowledge 
to pass through. And believe me, I use it for that mostly.  Many of the 
scientist friends I have rely heavily on the Net for brainstorming ideas 
or problem solving.  And many of those same scientists are very disgusted 
that the public found their way onto the Net.

Personally, I think it was bound to happen sooner or later, and as for 
the entertainment value, well, I have found much that is very worth the 
space, this group being one of them.  The very fact that the artists and 
achivists here are so willing to share make them highly esteemed in my 
eyes and therefore more than welcome.  Unfortunately, as we have seen 
here on this list, some idiots think the Net is a marketplace that they 
can exploit for monetary gain.  This is all right in the lists set up for 
that purpose, but to spam ads all over the place just disgusts me utterly.

I for one will *not* perpetuate these ads by responding to them in any 
way, not even to complain about them.  To do so would tell their 
originators that they were noticed and I for one would like those people 
to fall into permanent obscurity.  I will expressly *never* respond to an 
ad spammed to a newsgroup.  My delete key will deliver me from such 
boneheadedness.


On another perspective, the Net is one unimaginatively huge juggernaut, 
headed for who knows where, and taking us all with it.  Even the backbone 
is changing on a daily basis.  The worldwide links that are being 
established are incredible and I find it fascinating to watch where it is 
all  heading.

As for AOLers being Newbies, well, fact is, anyone who uses one of the 
spiffy "online services" is a newbie.  And sadly, as Weible has asked, 
most of the boneheads seem to come from there.  That makes the good 
AOLers look bad I'm afraid.  Personally, I won't subscribe to the "fluff" 
services.  I have a *purpose* for being on the Net.  I don't just surf...

My .0002 cents worth...

ML

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