Recently, our friend Richard forwarded a letter to us from
a user who expressed suprise at finding his computer
disconnected from the server "whenever I go away and
leave it."
Presumably, when he was going "away" he was going off to
take a shower, or to have dinner, or maybe out to a movie.
The truth is, our system will disconnect you if it
doesn't hear from you for fifteen minutes at a time.
This is a good thing, especially if you have a limited
use account, and an internal modem, which gives you no
indication of whether you are connected or not.
But that isn't the only reason.
We don't like busy signals at ICNet, no one does. But
no provider can add a new line each time someone subscribes
to the service. Instead, a ratio is used between the number
of users and the number of lines, and we've been doing well
by most accounts. But our growth always has to lag behind
somewhat... our technical people add access as demand grows,
and we are careful not to outgrow ourselves.
There are several things users can do to make better use
of the time they are online, and we tell folks when they
are signing up how to do them. If you're not sure, drop
us a line, we'll send you some information on it. But
basically, here are some things that make better use of
your time online:
- Read and write email off-line. (You only have to be connected to the system to get and to send your mail. You can compose to your hearts content when you are not connected.)
- Save files you find on the web, and read them later. The big problem people usually have with this is finding them after they are saved. Get to know your machine a bit, and you will find them easier.
- Do a homepage. You will work on your homepage with the same software that you use to browse the web, and it's a lot of fun. A major part of the web isn't just looking at it, it's becoming a part of it. (If you need some help getting started, let us know. There are a lot of resources available, and we'll be having some homepage classes very soon.)
- Spend some time with the family. Even if you have unlimited use, that doesn't mean you can't take the dog for a walk, or take your kids fishing. We'll wait.
In some respects, our unlimited use is kind of like an
all-you-can-eat restaurant. We want you to have as much
as you want, but we like to think that people won't walk
in the door when we open, sit down, and eat until we close.
Especially since we're open 24 hours.
Bon appetit !
February 25, 1996 Charles Paparella The Shore Journal
[Yeah, bring me another dozen crabs, will ya ?]
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