CompuServeCompuServe is the oldest of the online services (it has been around since the 70s), and justifiably claims to be the world's largest provider of Internet and online services. It offers the most varied selection of on-line services to many different types of user groups, individuals and corporations. CompuServe has a variety of fee schedules based on the services the user requests.
The CompuServe Information Service (CIS) is currently the largest global on-line and Internet provider. Some of their large corporate clients include Visa International, TRW and J. P. Morgan; in addition, you'll find almost every major software and hardware company represented. CompuServe currently "provides more than 3.4 million personal computer users in 150 countries access to more than 3,000 databases via a modem, and a host of financial and business products to companies." (CompuServe corporate background). CIS online information sources include such things as Books in Print, a national telephone and address directory, Consumer Reports, software support, and weather and airline information. CIS forums cover just about every topic imaginable, from sports and finance, from cats and religion to general chat and heated discussion. You can log onto CIS from just about any hardware platform; it is not unknown for Atari and Commodore owners to (still) show up from time to time. CompuServe's on-line services are available at flexible rates depending on your choice of services. CompuServe also runs its own monitored network, which means that users can conduct business and surf the Web within its environment. Users also have the option of linking to the Internet and the World Wide Web via Mosaic.
In response to the challenges coming from competitors such as America Online, the Internet Navigator in Windows '95, and local Internet providers, CompuServe recently lowered its connect-time fee to $2.95 per hour from $4.80 per hour, and has added a colorful new, simple to use graphical interface called WOW!, to help new users navigate the network more easily. (It is possible that this has come in response to America Online's easy to use interface, which is popular with newer users.) Users dial-in to CompuServe via a PPP (Point to Point Protocol) connection and a local CompuServe access number.
CompuServe points out four differences between its network and the Internet: ease of use, community, security, and reliability.