AOL File Library: 2,801 to 2,900/aol-file-protocol-4400-2801-to-2900.zip/AOLDLs/TAWUG/TAWUG Disk No. 77 (SHK)/TAWUG77.shk/APLELINK.REVIEW

AppleWorks Document | 1988-12-04 | 5KB | 80 lines

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(Thanks to Nick Silva for this contribution.)
From: (Bob Sherman)
Subject: AppleLink Review
AppleLink - Personal edition - A Review.
8What do you get when you spend the required $35 fee for :
8AppleLink software, and a years membership, or when you 7
5obtain the software package free from one of Apple's <
:promotions? Well to begin with you get 2 hours of connect ?
=time FREE. FREE do they say?? Sure, but try using it without 8
6having to provide your credit card number or checking >
<account information BEFORE they will let you have what they >
<offered as FREE. Now, if you have already spent your $35 to ;
9buy the package, you don't find this out until AFTER you ;
9open the package and read the book. What happens in that >
<case if perhaps you do not have a credit card, or a card of ;
9the type they accept, well folks, you are STUCK with the ?
=opened package that the dealer will not accept back, and you ;
cannot even use the FREE time that you already paid for..
=Will they send you a bill?? Heck no, they want permission to <
:dip their hands into your bank account or credit card, in =
;other words, they will not trust you to pay your bill, but =
;you should trust them to have access to your assets.. Gee, =
;didn't they ever hear about a dis-honest employee?? I must :
8wonder if they give all of their vendors open access to >
<their bank accounts, or if they demand to be sent invoices, .
check them, and pay them if all is in order?
<Oh, before I forget, the $35 fee is an annual one, so every "
year you must pay it on renewal.
7OK, on to the service.. The software download sections ;
9appear quite sparse, with only a dozen or so programs in ;
9most areas, compaired to say Compuserve with hundreds of =
;downloads in each section, and of the few AppleLink has to ?
=offer, most, if not all can be found on the other services.. =
;It appears that BLU, which has become almost a standard on =
;the other services is not acceptable to AppleLink, so they 7
5make you download and use ALU to pack and unpack the >
<download files (it appears that Floyd Zink is the author of
both)..
:In the bulletin board areas the message base appears very >
<small, many of the messages dating back several months, and ;
9only a few current ones.. The technical library has been >
<offline now for a while and is not accessable, as are a few ;
9of the other features.. The newsroom had about 3 current ;
9stories, the rest were 1 or 2 days old.. In all, I found =
;nothing in these areas to interest me in returning anytime
soon...
<So what is AppleLink - Personal Edition good for?? It might 9
7be good if you wanted to read press releases issued by <
:Apple, and it might be good if you want to send e-mail to >
<someone at Apple, but then MCI mail, and the US Mail do the <
:same thing, but cheaper.. It might be good if you want to <
:spend endless hours in one of the "rooms" (electronic CB) ;
9chatting with others, but then, what happened to the old >
<fashioned telephone, which when you think about it, is also ?
=cheaper in off hours.. 2 people in a room chatting at $6 per ;
9hour = $12 per hour, Reach Out America only costs $8 per ?
=hour for the same 2 people to chat via phone, which for sure
is much faster..
=My last observation about AppleLink is that they REQUIRE you ?
=to use their software to access the system, and of course it :
8only operates on an Apple. This means that if you use a 8
6laptop when you travel, AppleLink cannot be your road ?
=companion as can all of the other services, or if you should ?
=have another brand of computer at work or school, you CANNOT >
<access  AppleLink as you can the other services, and if you ?
=should already have a favorite terminal program that you use ?
=on your Apple, you must ditch it whenever you wish to access
AppleLink - Personal Edition..
9On a 1 to 5 scale I would have to been in a very liberal <
:mood to even give a rating of 1 to this service, and even >
<then I cannot excuse them for refusing to give the promised =
;FREE time without being required to give them access to my >
<bank or credit card accounts.. I suggest that you save your ?
=time and money, and if you are looking for an online service <
:to subscribe to, check out the others such as Compuserve, =
;Genie, or Source.   I'm sure I will get some flames on the =
;above, but it gives you the basics of my review which will )
appear in a national publication soon..