Are we part of the problem (cont.)

[techie]

So as not to have to search through the threads of a previous post I have brought this back up to the top of the forum and this is the link to the original discussion  POST 

I need to make a couple of things clear to start with, some may think that the Webmaster and I are the same people, indeed we are not. Who I am is really of no importance. Like I said before, I just choose to post as a ghost.

The Webmaster allows us to post our views and thoughts here. That's why I like the name he has selected Freedomlist.

Opinions are like buttholes, we all have one. (sorry, trying to not to be Vulger on this)

A board like this can sometimes have a one sided view.

I went on the attack of onfree/infree and ask some questions.

Trust that all of my questions are usually always answered by some means.

Are we part of the problem? Yes

Infree/Onfree's business model was to attrack a targeted group, so they could freely exchange ideals.

Suddenly everybody became a teacher, senior, golfer, diver, etc.

The business model was drove into the ground and this is only my opinion.

For the free users that had infree/onfree services, I think they are still letting you use there POP3 email sytem for free. They didn't cut anyone off from that system.

1. The dialer is designed to make it easier to login and to setup an account and it looks for problems to correct them. How many of you have ever had trouble trying to setup up a new ISP. Even people setting up pay services will oftion have to call the tech support to get it right.


2. The traceroute program is to ensure that only on there site everything is functioning properly and it is no more than a cookie.

3. No smart business model can really afford to setup up a nationwide network. That's why you see so many services sharing the same telephone numbers. The network servers have to control the modem to user ratio to insure it is working properly.

4. Most users would be lost if they didn't have someplace to start, a homepage. Alot of people have no ideal how to setup there own homepage.

5. If you are going to have to pay for a service the price isn't bad. If you pay every three months, the cost is about what you would pay for one month on the big services. The annual cost is sub $100.00.

6. Understand that five years ago I found a service that only charged $11.95 amonth. I was tickled to death to be able to obtain a quaility service for this price. I had personnaly talked with the owner of the service. He was a disabled American War Veteran.

He had no ideal how quick his service was going to grow. He was growing at a faster rate than the big services and being a small business, I think he was forced to sell out.

Like I said this is just my opinion. We all have one!!!

[fallen flyerfan]

my comments on infree. forming communities of people with common interests is certainly one of the hottest game on the internet. infree tried to form a community of seniors , teachers etc. infree 's efforts did not prove that free isp does not work. infree's isp model fails to allow the seniors to communicate with each other. they cannot buy computers or other things collectively, people with the same disease cannot exchange experiences ,post questions to doctors. the problem was infree fails to provide the leadership.
that is the problem with free isp s today, no leadership.
they just lured people in. then expect people to be good ad clickers to bring in more ad revenues. they will find that there are no sources of revenue.
people want to belong to internet communities with powerful technologies that allow them to buy things cheaply, learn with minimum costs, etc. only people with these visions should attempt to create the next generation free isp.

[techie]

I understand now that their advertisements were in house to promote their own business. That's how they offered it banner free, so they weren't actually receiving ad dollars form outside sources.