Reflections of a ModemJunkie by Leonard Grossman Well. its almost exactly a year since I sold my Dell stock, walked into a pawnshop, and bought this screaming 386-40. A lot has happened since then (aside from Dell increasing in value by more than 100%). Regular readers may remember that I had resisted Windows for as long as I could, but that my online addiction demanded that I get access to the internet and that my poor typing skills demanded that I use Windows clients for most of that access. So, when I saw this sleeping beauty on the counter and the dealer accepted my firm (almost joking) offer of $300, I made the move. Within a few weeks I had my first internet account and discovered I was using it so much that I had to find an untimed ISP. It was almost at exactly that time that Netscape hit the scene. So, although my first provider had supplied me with Mosaic, it was only a week or so before I began the regular process of updating Netscape. Although it was slow on my machine, I quickly overcame most of my objections to Windows (I even stopped spelling it Windoze, after I found four more megs of ram on sale at a swapfest). I found it was true: The learning curve in Windows is incredibly fast compared to that in DOS. Although I had tried dozens of times to use the internet from the command line, I just couldn't get the hang of it. I didn't know where I was. Commands that seemed to work one day, didn't the next. I was lost. But with Windows clients I was up and running in just a few days, even though there were so many things to learn...and even though each client had a different interface. Before long I was using Netscape, Trumpet News Reader, and Eudora several times a day. Within a couple of months a major newspaper had written a feature article about my use of Gopher techniques to help my daughter with her homework. I was FTPing files with abandon. (I had to triple my available hard drive space within just a few months. I even discovered it was faster to grab files from certain sources on line than to find the right CD and grab them from there.) What made this possible? Two things. 1. The ease of the point and click interface. 2. The availability of help on line. The online world is an incredible resource for the newbie and the tyro. Between local bulletin boards, such as the great Chicago Syslink, and BBS networks with magnificent resources like the RIME Windows conference (and Bob Miller, Jim Gunn, Greg Hommell and more) and usenet news groups, there was always someone to help, especially, after I learned to bear the heat of the flames. Actually, the BBSs were very hospitable. However, a year ago, many regulars on the internet newsgroups were openly inhospitable to newbies. We threatened their culture. I have seen less flames of that type recently. Today, if I ask a particularly dumb question I am more likely to be ignored. We have taken over. In the months after the change to Windows, I quickly became confident. I upgraded to Windows for Work Groups, added WordPerfect for Windows (although, I still maintain that for simple text creation, nothing beats WP 5.2 for DOS). Then I made the plunge!! I popped for the Final Beta. What fun when that disk arrived. In preparation I finally got that 420 meg tape backup I had wanted for so long (the extra space rendered temporarily useless by those #%&@%^* long filenames) installed the larger hard drives, put the Win 95 CD in the machine and began the install. Over the next few weeks I played and worked, configured and reconfigured. I spent hours online, seeking answers and providing some too. In the process I learned more and more about Windows, about my machine and about the internet. Eventually, I decided that Win95 wasn't right for me or this machine. (See my previous columns for some of the reasons why.) Some day maybe, but not right now. When the surprise package with the Final Final Beta arrived, I left it unopened. I never even tried the new MS Office suite demo. I had gone back to W4WG and was happy. And I still am. I don't feel left out. I don't hunger for more multitasking. But something is missing. I hadn't realized how much of my time at the screen, and particularly, online, was related to discovery about computers, software and telecommunication. I still spend far too much time on line. But now most of it is reading the news or simply surfing. The driving purpose is missing. Everything I use seems to be configured optimally, even if Netscape still GPFs (crashes) when it's time for me to go back to bed. Without the challenge of something new, the need to solve a problem, the Net can be a vast wasteland. As Lois Laulicht pointed out in WindoWatch Magazine, last month, the Net is in danger of becoming trivialized. Slowly, I find less and less reason to log on. Not that I spend much less time, mind you. But its not as exciting any more. OOOPS!! I spoke too soon!! I couldn't sleep last night. So I FTPd (downloaded) the long awaited next generation the Netscape, Version 2.0b1, at 4:00 a.m. Still couldn't sleep so I installed it over the previous version. Big mistake! Images don't work. They look like something from the 60's. Other problems , too. Quick, log on to the Net!! What is everyone saying? Others are having the same problems. Sharing ideas. What would I do if I couldn't find the answers, or at least company to share my misery, on line?!! So, I guess I'll keep my account--at least until I figure this out... Some first Impressions of Netscape 2.0 and Related Great Thoughts As I mentioned above, I installed the new version of Netscape today. Like my waistline in recent years its growing, nearly 2 megs compressed. And it tries to do everything. It now includes a full mail reader, a full featured news reader, and much more. Earlier versions relied on the user to set up helper applications to perform these functions. Now they are included in a supposedly common interface. This is not necessarily an improvement, however. One of the advantages of Windows clients for the internet is the ability to choose your favorite apps to perform different functions. Each can be configured for your own needs. But Netscape, like other browsers, seems intent on doing it all. In the process, some good features were lost and so was some individuality. I had the same thoughts at PC Expo, as I watched a lengthy demonstration of Emissary, a full featured commercial browser/ file manager/jack of all trades. Yes, it does wonderful things. But I like freedom of choice. What if there is an upgrade in an alternative news reader? What if there is a new mail program out there? Do I have to have multiples of everything with browsers, too? That is how word processors got so huge. They have to do every thing today. But do they really. Why buy a suit (or a suite) when all you need is a pair of pants. It takes up room in the closet (and on your hard drive). BTW: I solved my Netscape problem for the time being by reinstalling the previous version and will wait to see how things shake out before I upgrade again. I must be getting old. Speaking of PC Expo. I did manage to sneak out of the office for a few hours the other day and head over there. They must have been desperate for attendance-- on the Monday before the show, they faxed me a comp admission, without a request. But it was a good show... far more enjoyable than Windows World this summer. A few minutes after entering the door I came upon a booth with a large crowd around it (and I'm not talking about the Adult CD-ROMS, they're in the back). It was the Casio booth. They were demonstrating a new digital camera. It was truly amazing. It stores images until they can be downloaded into your PC. All of the images can be viewed from a large view screen on the back of the camera. they can be edited in the camera and shown directly on a t.v screen or a computer with the cables provided. It is even possible to prepare a show on your computer and use this little hand held device to make your presentation on your customer's t.v. No need to carry a computer or have special equipment. The stored images printed quickly on a special color printer, which is also available. The images were incredibly sharp (but somehow, my hair looked thinner than I remembered). Not only was my full face image perfectly focused, but the face of a woman who must have been standing 10 feet behind me peered over my shoulder in perfect focus as well. The depth of field was amazing (perhaps the lens is a bit wide angled, which must explain why appears why my hairline appears to be receding in the closeup). Suggested street prices: Camera about $700, printer, a little under $500. Not cheap, but wait 'til next year, Cub fans. At about 2:30 there was a sudden announcement on the P.A. The show would close at 3:00 p.m. instead of 4:30. Ostensibly this was to enable exhibitors to have extra time to get to O'Hare because of the increased security measure, but it may have been because of the thin crowd as well. I had thought I had plenty of time to cruise the show, but with an hour and a half cut out I had to scurry, I finally made it to the MCS booth just in time to see Kim Denninger packing things up. I'd missed a chance to talk to her husband, the legendary operator of one of the fastest growing ISPs in the country, but I did get an large handful of pens and key chains. Why else go to computer shows? And I was glad to See Virginia manning the CACHE exhibit across the isle, right down to the final wire right opposite MCS, which was the only local internet service provider at the show. Well, I've got to finish this so I can log on and see whether anyone has come up with a fix for Netscape 2.0. See you on line or at CACHE. Comments to grossman@mcs.net or leonard.grossman@syslink.com Copyright 1995 Leonard Grossman