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<strong>TELECOMPUTING</strong> continued.<br />
Elec tronic<br />
File<br />
Transfer<br />
Update<br />
PlayNet<br />
Disks<br />
In f or m,i t i on<br />
Center<br />
-■<br />
PP i T:Q<br />
enter<br />
Bui letm<br />
Boards<br />
ftccount<br />
8 Billing<br />
Infornation<br />
PlayNet has beautiful on-line graphics and sound -<br />
including games - but it's not videotex. Screen<br />
displays and games are loaded from one of the three<br />
disks that PlayNet provides when you join ($34.95).<br />
You don't have to buy additional disks to play<br />
interactive games but that's only an advantage if you<br />
want to play games in the first place. (Lest I sound<br />
superior, I confess to enjoying Quad 4 on-line with<br />
1Q other players, during which game we carried on a<br />
lively -if confusing- conversation. Two of us<br />
"won/')<br />
Getting around on PlayNet is about a million times<br />
easier than doing so on other networks but the<br />
trade-off is that it's proportionally less extensive.<br />
Even when fully operational with Apple and IBPl-PC<br />
members, public domain and commercial data bases and<br />
other structures, it should have easy access.<br />
Extensive conferencing features (such as splitting<br />
the screen for private messages and menus that toggle<br />
on and off) made it delightful to talk with very<br />
enthusiastic PlayNet users like Bill P1 who stroked<br />
my ego by guessing my full name from Peggy H, my<br />
predesignated handle, and Deb C, who's "debl" when<br />
she runs the CBffl SIG on CompuServe.<br />
You don't need your own terminal software because<br />
it's on the disks PlayNet provides, and updates for<br />
new features are downloaded. You have to wait a<br />
couple of minutes for disk loads each time you change<br />
areas but the $2 an hour connect fee of $2 an hour<br />
works out to only three and a third cents a minute.<br />
Other costs are a monthly service charge and fee for<br />
downloading which averages $.50 per file. Call<br />
1-800-PLAYNET for more info.<br />
AMERICAN PEOPLE/LINK is doing Beta testing as of this<br />
writing. Their ad's claim "anyone with a word<br />
processor, personal computer or terminal, and a<br />
modem" can access People/Link upon, of course, paying<br />
the $14.95 one-time sign up fee. But notice it says<br />
"word processor" - not terminal software. A lengthy<br />
and unconvincing phone conversation with them left me<br />
as skeptical as I was in the first place about<br />
Ml-<br />
ITS IHOIftHft<br />
JOKES<br />
Man, Mould you<br />
lihe ta<br />
Send it to<br />
a Friend<br />
tiaKe another<br />
creature<br />
getting on-line with a word processor, even at $2.95<br />
an hour. Nevertheless, they spoke of interactive,<br />
multi-player games "coming soon as well as Special<br />
Interest Clubs (SICs?) with user Club Presidents<br />
deciding everything including subject matter. Good<br />
luck when calling 1-800-524-01 DO for more<br />
information.<br />
T>€ ELECTRONIC UNIVERSITY is not a commercial network<br />
per se, rather it is a means of study via<br />
telecommunications. Courses range from seminars to<br />
classes for kids, professional field-specific study<br />
and adult education which many U.S. colleges accept<br />
for credit. There's conferencing and private on-line<br />
consultation with professors and 24-hour access to a<br />
library of data bases. I was impressed with the<br />
diversity (if not the number) of available classes.<br />
Call 1-80O-22LEARN (1-80D-44LEARN in Calif.) for info<br />
and prices.<br />
GO FOR IT<br />
If you do nothing else, downloading public domain<br />
programs is sufficient reason to telecompute. But<br />
your first try can be tough. Be sure to read (and<br />
re-read) on-line instructions and program<br />
documentation. Make certain you have the right<br />
protocols. Remember that all computers are picky<br />
devils; your patience and perseverance can be taxed<br />
but keep trying - it's worth it. Public domain<br />
programs are NOT second-rate and can be especially<br />
helpful for learning or sharpening BASIC skills<br />
because you can list and examine them. In fact, you<br />
can do anything you please ' with a public domain<br />
program, from personalizing it to selling.<br />
on-line conferencing runs the gamut from technical<br />
talk to pure unadulterated fantasy. Whatever your<br />
preference, you can make friends with people you<br />
might never meet face to face, and all of them are<br />
interested in computers. If you like dealing with<br />
the written word and have fair typing ability, you're<br />
sure to find it fascinating. Keep in mind that the<br />
advantages enjoyed by good-looking people in person<br />
belong to the literate, on-line, /bye
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