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`The Official America Online®
`for Macintosh™
`Membership Kit & Tour Guide
`SECOND EDITION
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`The Official America Online®
`for Macintosh™
`Membership Kit & Tour Guide
`
`SECOND EDITION
`
`Version 2.5
`
`Tom Lichty
`
`VENT ANA
`PRESS
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`The Official America Online® for Macintosh Membership Kit & Tour Guide
`Copyright© 1994 by Tom Lichty
`
`All rights reserved. This book may not be duplicated in any way without the express written
`consent of the publisher, except in the form of brief excerpts or quotations for the purposes of
`review. The information contained herein is for the personal use of the reader, and may not be
`incorporated in any commercial programs, other books, databases or any kind of software
`without written consent of the publisher or author. Making copies of this book, or any portion
`for any purpose other than your own, is a violation of United States copyright laws.
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
`Lichty, Tom
`The official America Online for Macintosh membership kit & tour
`guide I Tom Lichty.-- 2nd ed.
`p. em.
`Rev. ed. of: The official America Online membership kit & tour
`guide. c1992.
`Includes index.
`ISBN 1-56604-127-9
`1. America Online (Videotex system) 2. Macintosh (Computer)
`I. Lichty, Tom. Official America Online membership kit & tour guide.
`II. Title.
`QA76.57.A43L523 1994
`004.69--dc20
`
`94-1492
`CIP
`
`Book design: Marcia Webb
`Cover design: IMAGE Communications; adaptation: John Nedwidek
`Index service: Dianne Bertsch, Answers Plus
`Technical review: Tim Barwick, Ed Ferguson, Kelly Richmond, Marshall Rens: America Online
`Editorial staff: Angela Anderson, Laura Bader, Eric Edstam, Tracye Giles, Pam Richardson
`Production staff: Patrick Berry, Cheri Collins, John Cotterman, Dan Koeller, Dawne Sherman,
`Marcia Webb, Mike Webster
`Proofreaders: Eric Edstam, Sharla Green
`
`Second Edition
`Printed in the United States of America
`
`9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
`
`Ventana Press, Inc.
`P.O. Box 2468
`Chapel Hill, NC 27515
`919/942-0220
`FAX 919/942-1140
`
`Limits of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty
`The author and publisher of this book have used their best efforts in preparing the book and the
`programs contained in it. These efforts include the development, research and testing of the
`theories and programs to determine their effectiveness. The author and publisher make no
`warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, w ith regard to these programs or the documenta(cid:173)
`tion contained in this book.
`The author and publisher shall not be liable in the event of incidental or consequential damages
`in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance or use of the programs,
`associated instructions and/ or claims of productivity gains.
`
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`About the Author
`Tom Lichty is Senior Consultant and Instructor for the University of
`Oregon Portland Center, and author of six computer books, including
`Desktop Publishing With Word for Windows, Mac, Word & Excel Desktop
`Companion and The Official America Online for Windows Membership Kit &
`Tour Guide, all published by Ventana Press. An enthusiastic member of
`the online community, he may be reached at MajorTom on America
`Online, or majortom@aol.com on the Internet.
`
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`Trademarks
`Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Rather than list
`the names and entities that own the trademarks or insert a trademark
`symbol with each mention of the trademarked name, the publisher
`states that it is using the names only for editorial purposes and to the
`benefit of the trademark owner with no intention of infringing upon
`that trademark.
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`Acknowledgments
`Oh sure, I want to acknowledge people like Laura Bader, Tim Barwick,
`Patrick Berry, John Cotterman, Mary Daffron, Ed Ferguson, George
`Louie, Luis Montiel, Marshall Rens, Pam Richardson, Kathy Ryan, Matt
`Triplett, Matt Wagner, Jennifer Watson, and Elizabeth and Joe
`Woodman: they're the heart and soul of this book's production and
`editorial teams and without their assistance there would be no book.
`But most of all I want to acknowledge the thousands of readers
`(nearly 5000 at last count) who have written to me with comments and
`suggestions for improvements to the first edition. I read every message,
`and many of the suggestions are woven into this book's manuscript.
`Thus, this book is truly a community project. We all have reason to be
`proud of that.
`
`Tom Lichty
`Gresham, Oregon
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`Contents
`
`Foreword ..................................................................... xix
`
`A
`
`Chapter 1 Starting the Tour .......................................................... 1
`
`What Is America Online? ..................................................... 2
`It's a Telecommunications Service • It's One Big Thunder-Lizard
`Computer • It's Software Installed in Your Computer • It's a Resource
`• It's a Community
`How to Use This Book ........................................................ 16
`How to Use This Book as Documentation • How to Use This Book
`as a Book
`
`Chapter 2 Making the Connection ........................................... 25
`
`Things You'll Need ............................................................. 26
`The Computer • The Telephone Line • The Membership Kit
`The Modem • The Money • The Screen Name • The Password
`Installing the Software ....................................................... 32
`The Initial Online Session ................................................... 37
`Configuring the Telephone Connection • Selecting Your Local
`Access Numbers • The Temporary Registration Number & Password
`• Your Name & Address • Providing Your Billing Information
`• Choosing a Screen Name & Password • A Letter From the President
`Where to Go From Here .................................................... 46
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`Chapter 3 Online Help & the Members ................................... 49
`
`Getting Help ..................................................................... 49
`Off-Line Help• Online Help
`Guides .............................................................................. 67
`~ennt>ers ........................•.................................................. 69
`The Member Directory • Member Profiles
`
`Chapter 4 Electronic Mail ............................................................ 75
`
`What Exactly Is Electronic ~ail? .......................................... 75
`
`Why Use E-mail? ..............•.................................................. 77
`
`A Ci rcu Ia r Exercise ............................................................. 77
`The ~ail ~enu ................................................................... 81
`Composing Your Mail • A lternative Mail Sources • Checking Mail
`You've Sent • Buttons in the Mail You've Sent Window
`• Reading New Mail • Buttons in the New Mail Window • Printing &
`Saving Mail • Forwarding Mail • Replying to Mail • Checking Mail
`You've Read • The Address Book
`Gorilla Food ...................................................................... 98
`Mail-Filing Strategies • Formatting Messages • Internet Mail
`Attaching Files to ~essages .............................................. 111
`E-mail Alternatives
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`Contents
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`xi
`
`[I]
`
`Chapters Computing ................................................................. 123
`The Beginners Forum ........................................................ 124
`Industry Connection ........................................................ 128
`The Forums ...................................................................... 131
`The Music & Sound Forum • The Utilities Forum
`• The Graphic Arts Forum • The Online Graphics Viewer
`Downloading Files ............................................................ 140
`What Is Downloading? • A Downloading Session
`• File Compression & Decompression
`Uploading Files ................................................................ 159
`The Uploading Process • Concluding the Uploading Process
`
`Chapter 6 Today's News ............................................................ 165
`lr()p !tt()ries ...................................................................... 1~!5
`Saving Articles ................................................................. 1~6
`Printing Articles • Searching the News • U.S. & World News
`• Business • Market News • Top Business • Entertainment
`• Sports • Weather
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`EXTRA!.
`
`Chapter 1 The Newsstand ......................................................... 183
`Macworld Online .........•................................................... 183
`TIME Online •.•..•.••.•..•.•••••...•...........•••......••.•..•..•.....••••••.... 186
`~tinn~s ..•......••.•••••••••••.•.•....•..••••..•.•••...•••.•.••••••.•••••.••...•••• 1~~
`Chicago Online •.•••••••.•••.•.••••.....•••.••.•...••••.•..••.•.••.•.••.•.••... 191
`
`~ Chapter 8 Sports ......................................................................... 193
`
`The News • • . • . . . . • • • • . . . . • . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • . • • • • . • • • . • • • • . • • . • • • • • • • • • • . . 193
`The Message Boards ............•..........................•....•..•........ 194
`The Grandstand •••••......•.•.••.••••.••••.•....•.•.•...•..••...••.•••••.•.•.• 197
`
`~
`
`Chapter 9 Entertainment .......................................................... 201
`
`What's Hot ....•..•.•.••.....•.•.....••••.•••••....•..•.••....••..••.•..•...••..• 201
`Critics' Choice •.•••........••.......•.•••..••••...•.••.••.•....•....•..•.•••••.• 202
`Hollywood Online .•.••.••••.••••••••••••.••••.•.•.•.•••••••.•••••••.••••••••• 206
`Book Bestsellers .••••••.••••.•.•••••••...••••.•.•.•.••••••••••••.••••.•••••.•• 208
`Cartoons . . . • . . . . . . • . • • . • . • • • • • . . . . • . . . . . . • . . • . . . . • • • . • . • • • • • • • • • . . • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • 210
`Columnists & Features Online ........................................... 211
`The Grateful Dead Forum ......•.••....................................... 216
`The Trivia Club .•••••.••.•.•••••••.••••••••••....••.••••...•.•••••..•.••••.••.•• 217
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`Contents
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`xiii
`
`~~ ~
`Chapter 1 o Personal Finance ...................................................... 219
`Your Personal Stock Portfolio ........................................... 219
`Quotes & Portfolios
`Morningstar Mutual Funds ••••.••••.•••.•••••..•••.•.•.......•••••••.••••• 228
`The Decision Point Forum •••••..•••.••..•.........•.•••••.••••••••..•••.•• 230
`Real Estate Online .•••••.••.••••••.•.•••••.•••••.••..••.•.•.•••.••••••••••••• 232
`
`Chapter 11 Travel ......................................................................... 235
`
`The EAASY SABRE Gateway .............................................. 236
`Finding a Flight • Finding the Cost • Booking the Reservations
`The Travel Forum ..•...••.••...•.•••••••..•.••••.•••••••••••••••••••••.•••.••.• 241
`Travelers' Corner ..•.•..•.......•.••..••.••••••••••..••••......•...•.•...•.••.• 243
`Auto Vantage •..•••••...............•••••••.•••.•••...•.•.•.•••.•••..••.•••••••• 245
`Pictures of the World •••.••••.•••.•••••.••••.••.•••••••.••••••••••••••••••.• 248
`
`.001
`
`Chapter 12 People Connection ................................................. 251
`
`The Lobby •. .-•....•..•••••••.••.•••....•.•..••....•........•..•..•••...••.•.....• 252
`Entering the Lobby • Guides
`Exploring Other Public Rooms .......................................... 256
`The Event Rooms Guide • The Event Rooms Schedule
`• Finding Other Rooms • The New Member Lounge
`Private Rooms .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 266
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`Chat Room Technique .••••.•••..•••••••.••.•••••••••.•.••••.••••••••••••••• 267
`Cut & Paste • Getting Information About People in a Room
`• Sending an Instant Message • Highlighting & Ignoring Members
`• Chat Room Sounds
`Instant Messages •••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••...•..•••••••••••••• 271
`
`Center Stage & Rotunda ••••.•.••••.••.•••••••••••••...••••••••••••..•••••• 275
`
`f~
`
`Chapter 13 Clubs & Interests .................................................... 279
`
`Clubs Defined .••.••....•••..••••••••..•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••• 281
`Reference Materials
`
`Searching Online Databases ............................................. 284
`
`Message Boards .••••.••••••••••.••..••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••..••.••.•••. 290
`Reading Messages • Browsing, Finding & Reading Messages
`• Posting Messages • Threaded Boards
`
`Libraries .•••••••••••.•••.•••..••••.•.•••..••••.••••....•.•••..•..••••.•.••.•.••••• 306
`
`Multitasking ..•..••••••••••••••••••.••••••.••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 308
`
`SeniorNet Online ••••.••••••••••••••.••••••••••.••••••••••.•••••••.•..•••••••• 310
`
`Chapter 14 The Internet Connection ....................................... 315
`
`A Superset of AOL •••••••.••••.••••.•.•.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•..•••..• 317
`
`Military Paranoia •••••••••...•••.•.••••••.••••••.••••••••..•.••••••...•..•••.•• 318
`
`Academic Anarchy .•••••••••••••••••..•.•.•••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 320
`
`Internet Addresses ••••••.•••.•••••••.•••••••••.•••••...•••••••••••••••.••••• 322
`International Top-Level Domains • US Top-Level Domains
`• Domain Names & Computer Names • User Names
`Mailing Lists •••••••••••.••••••••.••••..•••.••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••.•••• 325
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`Contents
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`XV
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`Newsgroups .................................................................... 327
`Newsgroup Help • Netiquette
`WAIS Databases & Gopher ............................................... 337
`Gopher • WA IS • Conducting a WAIS Search
`
`Chapter 1 S Kids Only .................................................................. 345
`
`1il1~ ESocarcjs ...................................................................... :3~7
`The Libraries .................................................................... 3~8
`Hatrack River ................................................................... 3~9
`The Tree House .. ~ ............................................................ 351
`1rl~l: c:>11line ..................................................................... 3!51
`A Worcj to Parents ........................................................... 352
`TOS • Instant Messages • Online Time • Parental Control
`
`Chapter 16 Education ................................................................... 355
`
`Ecjucation for Everyone •................................................... 356
`National Geographic Online • The Library of Congress Online
`• The Electronic University Network • Smithsonian Online
`Learning & Reference for the Stucjent ............................... 36~
`Princeton Review/Student Access • The Academic Assistance Center
`• College Board Online
`Learning & Reference for the Teacher ............................... 371
`Teachers' Information Network • CNN NEWSROOM Online
`• NEA & ASCD Online
`Learning & Reference for the Parent ................................. 376
`The Broacjcast Mecjia ....................................................... 377
`National Public Radio Outreach Online • C-SPAN Online
`Just Desserts ................................................................... 379
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`~
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`Chapter 17 Reference Desk ....................................................... 383
`
`Compton's Encyclopedia ••.••••••••••••.••.••••.••............•..••••••••• 383
`
`Reference He I p ........................................................•...... 386
`The Academic Research Service • AskERIC Online • Teacher Pager
`File Search •••••.••.•••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 390
`
`Online Databases •..••••.•••••••..••.•••.••.••..••.•••••••.•..•..•.•••••••.... 394
`AOL Local Access Numbers • BBS Search
`
`lgl
`
`Chapter 18 The Marketplace ..................................................... 397
`
`Classifieds Online ••..•...•.•••..••...•.•••••••.•....•.•••••••••••.•.••.••.••• 397
`Shoppers' Advantage ..••••••••••...•..••.....•••..•...•........•....•...... 399
`
`Chapter 19 FlashSessions & the Download Manager .......... 403
`
`What Are FlashSessions? •................••...........•............•...... 404
`Futility Revisited ..•..••...•••••••••.•••••.•••.••••••.•..••...•••••..•••••.•••. 404
`
`Scheduling FlashSessions •.•.•••..•••.•.•...•.•.•••.•.....•..••••..•....•• 410
`FlashSession Setup • Attended FlashSessions • Delayed FlashSessions
`Reading Flash mail •••••••••••••••..•.••••••••••••••.••••••••••••.•••••••.•.••• 420
`Reading Incoming Mail • Reading Outgoing Mail
`The Download Manager •••••••••••..•.•••••.•••••••••••.•..••.••••.•..•.•.• 423
`Selecting Files for Downloading • Running the Download Manager
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`xvii
`
`~ Chapter 20 Ten Best ...................................................................... 431
`
`Ten Best Tips ••....•...•••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••.••••••••..•...•.•.• 432
`
`Ten Best Down loads •.••••.••.•••••••••.••.••.•.•.••••......•••••.•.•.••••••• 436
`Ten Most-Frequently Asked Questions of
`Customer Relations •.•.••••.••••••••••••.•.•••..•••••.••..•..••••.••••••••••. 439
`Ten Best Ways to Make Friends Online ••..•....••.••••••..........• 443
`
`Ten Best Smileys •.•.•...•••.•.•••.....•••...•••••••.••.••••.•••...••••..•••••• 445
`Everybody Out of. the Bus! ••••.•.•.•••••••...•.•.••.•....•••••••..••••.• 446
`
`Appendix A Keywords .................................................................. 447
`
`Appendix B Command Keys ......................................................... 477
`
`Appendix C Modems, Localities & CCL Files ........................... 479
`
`Appendix D On the Road ............................................................ 489
`
`Appendix E Preferences ............................................................... 493
`
`G I ossa ry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
`
`Bibliography ............................................................. 525
`
`Index .......................................................................... 527
`
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`XVIII
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`CHAPTER 1
`
`Starting
`the Tour
`
`I '11 never forget
`
`my first visit to the San Diego Zoo. I took the whole family. The cabby
`who drove us there told us to take the tour bus immediately upon
`arrival. After that, he reasoned, we would have an idea of how the zoo
`was organized and know what exhibits we would want to visit. We
`took his advice and hopped on the bus first thing.
`The San Diego Zoo's buses are of the double-decker variety, and we
`sat on the top deck, baronially surveying the fauna below. The tour
`guide-wise San Diegan that he was-sat down below, out of the sun
`and away from the family of miscreants who shared the top deck with
`us, littering it with profanity, malcontent children and various artifi(cid:173)
`cially sweetened beverages. We never saw the tour guide, but we heard
`him. In anticipation of the Odious Family Robinson, the zoo had in(cid:173)
`stalled a megaphonelike loudspeaker on the top deck that immersed us
`in tsunamis of sound capable of drowning out not only the complaints
`of small children, but the bellows of elephants and screeches of orangu(cid:173)
`tans alike. We left the tour at the first stop, wondering if our insurance
`covered auditory prosthetics.
`With that preamble, allow me to welcome you to The Official America
`Online Tour Guide. I have good news: You won't encounter any orangu(cid:173)
`tans, megaphones or tickets on this tour. You won't even see a bus. No
`signs will warn you to keep your hands and feet inside, and artificially
`sweetened beverages are permitted.
`
`Frontispiece graphic: "Fantasy AOL Spheres," by Gwydian (Mike Wiseman). Use the
`keywords File Search and then the criterion AOLSPHER.GIF.
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`The Official AOL Tour Guide
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`You can take this tour without ever leaving home or fraternizing
`with miscreants; and though I'm a tour guide, I'm here for your singu(cid:173)
`lar employ. I will endeavor to inform, entertain and enlighten-forever
`vigilant and always sotto voce. When the tour has concluded, you're
`welcome to explore on your own, secure in your familiarity with the
`territory and the attractions therein.
`Best of all, the territory we're about to explore is every bit as diverse
`and wondrous as the San Diego Zoo. It's always at your fingertips, and
`about the most threatening creature you'll find here is a mouse.
`
`What Is America Online?
`This question isn't as easy as it seems. A term like "America Online"
`doesn't give many clues as to its composition. We can safely deduce its
`country of origin (it's in America, all right: Vienna, Virginia, to be
`exact-just outside Washington, DC; see Figure 1-1). But what's this
`"online" business? The word's not even in the dictionary.
`
`Figure 1-1:
`America Online
`nestles snugly in
`this office
`building in the
`Virginia forests
`just outside
`Washington, DC.
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`Chapter 1: Starting the Tour
`
`3
`
`You can define America Online in many ways. It is, after all, a great
`many things. It offers abundant resources: the latest news, weather
`reports, stock quotes, movie and book reviews, databases to research
`things as diverse as wine or hardware prices, online discussions of
`everything from politics to system software-even a service for reserv(cid:173)
`ing airline tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms.
`America Online (AOL) is also an electronic mail (e-mail) service. You
`can use AOL to exchange e-mail with nearly anyone who uses e-mail,
`regardless of whether they are a fellow AOL member. If they don't use
`e-mail, you can use AOL to send them a fax. If they don't use fax, you
`can use AOL to send them printed mail via the US Postal Service.
`America Online is an Internet gateway. The Internet is a vast
`superset of AOL itself, incorporating thousands of other communica(cid:173)
`tions systems from around the world similar to AOL. The extent of a
`thousand AOLs is almost incomprehensible, but that's what the
`Internet is, and AOL offers an elegant way of getting there.
`America Online is also a community. In Chapter 9, "Entertainment,"
`I compare AOL to the small Oregon town where I live. People are
`friendly here. They say hello when they pass you on the street, they
`invite you to their house for a chat, and they go out of their way to be
`of assistance. AOL does all these things: Instant Messages allow people
`who are online at the same time to say hello and hold "passing on the
`street" conversations; Chat Rooms are electronic "rooms"-public or
`private-where groups of members hold real-time conversations about
`subjects of their choosing; and Members Helping Members is a message
`board where members help one another with questions regarding AOL.
`But how does all this communication take place? I can recall when I
`bought my first CD player. It offered more features than a 1973 Cadillac,
`and it sounded like the Boston Symphony on the bridge of my nose.
`At first I was enamored with its technology. CDs were new to me.
`The player's booming bass and crisp treble commanded my respect; its
`aurora borealis of indicator lights illuminated my curiosity, and its
`scores of controls rivaled those of the Starship Enterprise. In the end,
`however, it's the music I enjoy. Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi-these are my
`companions, and I treasure their company the most.
`America Online is much the same. At first, ignoring the technology
`is difficult, but AOL is people-and in the end, you will treasure their
`company the most.
`
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`4 A. The Official AOL Tour Guide
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`I am going to pursue the definition of AOL much as one might
`pursue any new technological acquisition. Over the next few pages,
`we'll allow its technology to dazzle us, but in the end it will be the
`community-the people who await us on AOL-who are the true
`reward.
`
`It's a Telecommunications Service
`Now there's a polysyllabic mouthful: "telecommunications." As the
`term is used here, telecommunications refers to two-way communica(cid:173)
`tions via telephone lines. A phone call, in other words, is a form of
`telecommunicating. Telephone lines are good for things other than
`phone calls. Fax machines use telephone lines to transfer documents;
`video phones use them to transmit pictures; and modems use them to
`transfer computer data (more about modems in the next chapter). I'm
`not talking about expensive, dedicated telephone lines here-I'm
`talking about the very same telephone lines that are already in our
`homes and offices.
`Now we're getting somewhere. If you have a computer and I have a
`computer and we each have modems, we can use our existing tele(cid:173)
`phone lines to connect our computers to one another. Once connected
`this way, our computers can exchange data: text, graphics, sounds,
`animation-even other computer programs.
`Of course, you have to be at your computer and I have to be at
`mine-at the same time-and we have to know how to make our
`computers talk to one another, and we have to check for errors encoun(cid:173)
`tered in the transmission, and I'm just me and you're just you, and
`there's only so much computer data two people can exchange with one
`another before the whole thing gets to be pretty dull.
`What we need is a service that will store our data so that we don't
`have to be at our computers at the same time. Instead of calling your
`computer, I have my computer call the service and store my data and
`messages there. When you're ready for that data, you can instruct your
`computer to call the service and retrieve the data at your convenience.
`As long as we're imagining a service, we might imagine it to auto(cid:173)
`mate all the electronic technicalities as well. If we imagine it right, the
`service can mediate communications between the two computers,
`check for errors (and fix them when they're encountered) and even dial
`the telephone.
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`Chapter 1: Starting the Tour
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`5
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`And who's to say that you and I should have the service all to
`ourselves? We can let everyone else with a computer in on it as well,
`regardless of the type of computer they own. Carried to its extreme,
`this scenario might result in hundreds of thousands-millions, actu(cid:173)
`ally-of people utilizing the service, exchanging and storing thousands
`of computer files. Most of this data can be public rather than private, so
`the exchange becomes multilateral.
`Which is precisely what telecommunications services-and AOL(cid:173)
`are: a vast network of "members," each of whom uses a computer, a
`modem and a telephone line to connect with a common destination-to
`"go online." Members can exchange public and private files; they can
`send and receive e-mail; and members who are online at the same time
`can "chat" in real time-they can even play online games with one
`another.
`And what does this service cost? The economies of scale allow
`expenses to be distributed among the members. Moreover, even
`though AOL is near Washington, DC, few members pay for long(cid:173)
`distance calls. America Online has local telephone numbers in more
`than 800 cities in the contiguous United States. Even if you live in the
`sticks, chances are you can find a local number you can call, or one
`that's a "short" long-distance call away.
`
`It's One Big Thunder-Lizard Computer
`Another way of defining AOL is by describing its hardware. Coordi(cid:173)
`nating thousands of simultaneous phone calls and storing tens of
`thousands of files requires one Thunder Lizard of a computer complex.
`No little Stegosaurus will do. We're talking Brontosaurus here, a beastie
`who relocates continents whenever he gets the urge to sneeze. Forget
`prefixes like kilo and mega. Think giga and terra. When they tum on
`the power to this thing, lights dim all along the Eastern seaboard.
`
`Open Architecture
`I hate to disappoint you, but America Online isn't a single Brontosau(cid:173)
`rus-sized mainframe; it is, in fact, a number of refrigerator-sized com(cid:173)
`puters, each having more in common with the adaptable Velociraptor
`than a leviathan as benign as the Brontosaurus.
`
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`6
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`The Official AOL Tour Guide
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`Figure 1-2: A few
`of the many
`systems that
`comprise the
`heartbeat of
`America Online. A
`number of
`manufacturer's
`products are
`represented here, ....__.,
`each selected on
`the basis of its
`suitability to a
`specific task. The
`homogenization
`factor is open
`architecture,
`which allows all of
`these diverse
`systems to work in
`concert.
`
`By employing a technique called open architecture, AOL is able to
`utilize hardware, software and communications systems from a variety
`of manufacturers, each optimized for a specific task America Online's
`open architecture permits it to use the most powerful hardware run(cid:173)
`ning the fastest software. The open communication architecture runs
`on the fastest local area and the most powerful wide area networks.
`The open architecture is AOL's key to the scalability it needs to keep up
`with its meteoric growth and the unpredictable mutations of the tele(cid:173)
`communications industry.
`
`Common Carriers
`If you wanted to send a package to a friend across the country, you
`could probably hop in your car and drive it there yourself. Compared
`to the alternatives, driving across the country would be a perilous
`journey and would cost a fortune.
`More likely, you'd hire a common carrier-a service such as United
`Parcel Service or Federal Express-to deliver the package for you. For
`a fraction of what it would cost you to do the job yourself, common
`carriers can do it more reliably, less expensively and much more
`conveniently.
`For much the same reason, AOL hires common carriers to deliver
`goods to its members. And typical of AOL, it hires multiple common
`
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`Chapter 1: Starting the Tour
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`7
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`carriers to ensure reliability. SprintNet, a service of US Sprint, is the
`common carrier AOL most often uses in the United States. (Figure 1-3
`shows SprintNet equipment at AOL.) Datapac, a subsidiary of Bell
`Canada, serves Canadian members. These common carriers offer
`nodes-local telephone numbers-in most cities in North America.
`They charge AOL for phone calls (placed or received) just as Federal
`Express would charge you to deliver a package.
`
`Figure 1-3: F:::::;~~~=rrc~~;;;:~===z~~lii~~~~-
`Hish-speed
`telecommunications
`equipment in use
`at America Online
`Headquarters.
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`8 A The Official AOL Tour Guide
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`Again, the economies of scale operate to our advantage. Thousands
`of clients, of which AOL is only one, use these long-distance providers.
`Chances are when you're not using one of your local nodes, some
`corporate computer is phoning data to a parent mainframe in New
`Jersey or Chicago. The cost of this service is so insignificant that it's
`covered by your membership. No matter how many hours you're
`online per month, AOL never charges extra for the call. Indeed, the
`only connect charges are to those few members who have to make a
`long-distance call to reach a node.
`
`It's Software Installed in Your Computer
`Conceptualizing AOL as nodes and mainframe computers isn't very
`comforting. America Online is much more parochial than that. For
`many of us, AOL is software in our Macs-software that arrived on
`that little disk provided in The Official America Online Membership Kit.
`(Figure 1-4 shows the AOL logo.)
`
`Figure 1-4:
`America Online's
`logo appears
`whenever you
`run the software
`installed on
`your Mac.
`
`~-... ®
`AMERICA
`I
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`Chapter 1: Starting the Tour
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`9
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`That's more like it. The software you use on your Mac to sign on to
`AOL more accu