Re: CompuServ or AOL?

[Mike Pope <mikep -at- ASYMETRIX -dot- COM>]

>>Now ... back to CompuServe, the online service I prefer.  Why?  For one
>>thing, it's easier to compose & review e-mail offline before sending it,
>>and it's MUCH (read: MUCH MUCH MUCH!!!) easier to file e-mail messages
>>because CompuServe lets you create mail folders.

>AOL lets me store my mail in any folder on any disk on my Mac. And I
>routinely compose messages off-line. A simple copy-and-paste and they're
>ready to go. It may be even easier now, but that's the way I learned, and
>it still works for me.

Doesn't the quality of the interface depend on the tool you use to navigate
the
service? I use TapCIS for CIS, which has a truly awful UI, but it does these
things -- allows me to compose and read offline, capture and download to the

files of my choice, etc. I understand that WinCIS and the many other
offline-editor sorts of tools all have good features also.

The point, I guess, is that I think we should be careful to distinguish
between
the basic service itself and what one can otherwise do with/to it using
3rd-party navigation tools. (Don't forget: the tools provided by the
service vendors themselves -- for example, CIM for CIS -- are not designed
to minimize your online time, for obvious reasons.)

 -- Mike Pope
mikep -at- asymetrix -dot- com