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On Fri, 2 Jun 1995, Justin Kerr wrote:

> >I have been lurking on this list for quite some time now.  Back in the old
> >days (about 8 months ago) all anyone ever talked about was electronic BBS's.
> > First Class, Galacticom, etc..... I haven't seen a single mention of them on
> >this list in quite some time.

Before we actually discuss the feasability of a BBS, let's take a look
at the components of any commercial service:
	1.  Access - Dial-up, WAN, LAN,... getting users connected.
	2.  Content - Getting information users will want.
	3.  Databases - Providing the right information in short time.
	4.  Presentation - Providing a user friendly interface, at low cost.
	5.  Billing - Setting up accounts, billing the right amounts...
	6.  Security - Making sure that users only get what they pay for
	7.  Privacy - Protecting users from other users.
	8.  Sponsorship - Providing "Advertizing" in a manner users LIKE.
	9.  Commerce - Providing Buy/Sell capability directly.


> >As someone who spent the past year developing a business plan for the
> >provision of electronic information services, I have watched and waited
> >(hopefully saving a lot of money in the process) as the roller coaster of
> >electronic newspapers raced through the twists and turns of BBS's and plunged
> >into the promise of the World Wide Web.  I am curious about the opinions of
> >those on this list as to whether or not they would still consider a BBS a
> >worthy undertaking.

Now lets discuss the feasability of a BBS vs the Web.
	1.  Access - Dial-up, WAN, LAN,... getting users connected.
		A T1 link can support 24 modem users, or 300 Internet users.
		Both cost about $1000/month.
	2.  Content - Getting information users will want.
		By connecting to the internet, I can provide my own content
		and 20 Million Web pages plus 4 Billion Text pages.
		My users may have to pay extra, or I can buy access to
		popular pages "In bulk".
	3.  Databases - Providing the right information in short time.
		By adding home pages such as Lycos, WAIS, Web Crawler
		I can add 4 million Web pages and 2 Billion Text pages.
		The access time can be less than 30 seconds/query at
		50 pages/second (ON T1).
	4.  Presentation - Providing a user friendly interface, at low cost.
		By adhering to standards, I can support 15 different 
		browsers.  Each supports different Price/Performance ratios.
	5.  Billing - Setting up accounts, billing the right amounts...
		I can include myself on several billing services, including
		AOL, Prodigy, Compuserve, Newshare, and some Consortiums.
	6.  Security - Making sure that users only get what they pay for
		Secure HTTP protocol enables me to put authentication
		requirements on chargable pages, or I can use RPC 
		Authentication, Secure Sockets, or S-HTTP to get
		security conformation from the billing service.
	7.  Privacy - Protecting users from other users.
		Unix, with properly set umasks can make private files
		private, and still let public files be public.  The
		originating user can chose which is which.  Web browsers
		and Fire-walls prevent the outside from looking at your
		customers.
	8.  Sponsorship - Providing "Advertizing" in a manner users LIKE.
		Compared to the advertizing on the old Prodigy systems,
		Web ads are FUN, and often searched for and selected
		as the object of a hunt.
	9.  Commerce - Providing Buy/Sell capability directly.
		Digicash, First Virtual, and NetCash make it possible to
		conduct relatively secure transactions at minimal risk.
		The biggest risk is that you will leave the password
		lying around on a piece of paper somewhere.  Confirmation
		procedures have reduced those risks.

The open nature of the internet provides at true "free enterprise zone" where
you compete fiercely, but it is unlikely that you will be "Locked out".

Now.  What about that "Proprietary BBS".

> Absolutely!  We're still working with the FirstClass platform for CaluNET,
> an independent online service based out of The Times newspaper in Northwest
> Indiana and south suburban Chicagoland.  We've been in development for
> about 11 months, and we plan to launch to the public in about a month.

Does this mean that for the time I'm dialed into FirstClass that I will
be unable to access other services?  I can't read my e-mail and "News"
while I wait for your pretty pictures to load at (yawn) 28,800 baud?
I guess I'm supposed to find something interesting to do while I wait 6 
minutes for your 5 pictures.  Multiply that by 50 pages and I've killed
an entire work-day.  I guess that's when I'm suppose to draft a hand-written
memo to my boss about how great your service is.

> Our goal with CaluNET is to provide a channel for communication and
> information with a distinct _local_ focus.  At the same time, we want to
> allow our users to connect to the wide world of the Internet.  

Let's see now, you want to provide local access to users in Chicago and
somehow the WEB will prevent your local users from accessing you via
the internet.  So you are going to put in a T1 to serve 20 at a time?
How about a DS3 to serve 120 at a time.  You will need about $300,000
worth of Modems, Terminal ports, and multiplexors.  Of course, you
could just plug your DS3 directly into ANS or MCI or Sprint or ...
The great thing about internet competition is that you will probably
find a few that will give you great service at a low rate.

Of course, if you REALLY want local users dialing in, you will probably
want 20 ports in each LATA.  In New Jersey, it's a long distance phone
call to call the nearest grocery store.  Do you get flat rate service
for the entire state of Illinois?

> Although FirstClass is ideal as a stand-alone platform (high server
> reliability, fully graphical interfaces for Mac and Windows users, etc.),
> it hasn't been as transparent with the Internet as we might wish.  We
> currently support Internet electronic mail and Usenet newsgroups, and
> we're looking to third-party software providers to give us better 
> net connectivity: We're very close to getting a gopher server going;
> ftp and telnet should be available this summer, and a web browser -
> the holy grail of Internet surfing - will reportedly be ready to go
> by the end of the year.

Amazing!  I spent about 5 hours getting my first Linux system up 
(Soft-Landing Systems), and had gopher, ftp, and telnet included, along
with everything else.  The new CGI interfaces make the user interface
a snap.  Then I upgraded to SlackWare!

> Despite these short-term insufficiencies, we're still going with
> FirstClass since our focus is very local.  We have hot local content
> that you can't find anywhere else in cyberspace, and we think that
> this will be the main draw to CaluNET.  At the same time, we want to
> provide as much Internet connectivity as possible for our users 
> (especially since there isn't an ISP in our coverage area ... yet).

There wasn't.  Wanna bet there will be now that you are threatening to
set up a presence?  You have called PSI, ANS, and checked the local
BBSs and NONE of them have become ISPs?  I have a "local" account
through a "local" ISP.  Even when I am coming in from behind my
firewall to log into cnj, I can get newsgroups and personal mail here.

> I can't emphasize enough the benefits of creating an independent
> cyberspace entity - especially for a community-based newspaper.  We 
> think that our model holds a lot of promise, and the reactions of our 
> beta testers suggest that we're right.

Actually, it makes sense to partner with local BBSs on locally provided
ISP access.  This keeps the competition going, and provides three sources
of potential revenue for which you can keep the "Lion's Share".  This is
especially if you are willing to provide a "One price buys all" package.

> - Justin Kerr
> Editor, CaluNET Online
> kerr@howpubs.com
> Justin_Kerr@calunet.com
No web address?  Too bad.

	Rex Ballard
	Standard & Poor's/McGraw-Hill
	Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect
	the Management of the McGraw-Hill Companies.




From rballard@cnj.digex.net Wed Jun  7 01:23:45 1995
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