?End of Internet as we know it

[Michael Holloway]

In article <1993Jun3.154214.1743 at news.arc.nasa.gov> chimento at ursa.arc.nasa.gov (Thomas Chimento) writes:
>In article <1uj0m7$5pt at max.physics.sunysb.edu>, mhollowa at ic.sunysb.edu (Michael Holloway) writes:
>|> In article <1993Jun2.165551.21612 at news.arc.nasa.gov> chimento at ursa.arc.nasa.gov (Thomas Chimento) writes:

>I cant believe that a grad student working in a research lab at SUNY 
>could not have the lab supply an e-mail account and access to an 
>appropriate bulletin board. You dont pay for using the phones do you?

Very nearly, yes!  You would have trouble believing (though I'm sure 
other readers here can back me up) just how computerphobic the average 
biomed researcher is.  MD's are worse.  God almighty could not get these 
people to accept that the average researcher needs anything more than a
pirated copy of Wordstar.  I am now sitting in front of a PC that I went 
through a great deal of trouble to pay for and put together myself.  Half of 
it is discarded junk.  I have access to the net through a department modem 
and a seldom used ability of a registered student here to get an account on
a system without any accounting.  If the executive committee of my program 
knew I was posting to something that they'd understand only as a "computer
bulletin board" they could use it as grounds for my dismissal from the 
program! 

I don't think I'm alone in these experiences.  There is already enormous 
disincentive against use of the net by bio researchers.  An increase in 
price, regardless of whatever benefits would accrue, would stop the increase
in acceptance of network use among this group of users.

Mike