Re: ISP vs "newsgroup server provider": [was: Re: Question for Agent (and other news reader) users]

Bob Cunningham wrote:

> On 12 Dec 2005 20:53:27 GMT, "Default User"
> <defaultuserbr@xxxxxxxxx> said:


> > I used to have an ISP, PeoplePC, that provide web and email access,
> > but did not provide newsgroup access. I had to use a separate
> > newsgroup server provider. One of the big recent events was AOL
> > dropping their news server access. Is this really news to you?
>
> No.
>
> But it doesn't alter my impression that if you asked most
> AOL subscribers what Internet service provider they use,
> they would answer "AOL", regarding AOL as the provider of a
> variety of Internet services including access to newsgroups,
> e-mail, and Web sites.

I don't follow. AOL is certainly an ISP. They are not now, as I
understand it, a news service provider. AOL users must obtain news
service separately.

That's one of the reasons for the big upsurge in Google Groups usage,
AOL no longer provides news.

> I wonder if news reports on the action used the words "news
> server". One report ( http://tinyurl.com/5lmj2 ) says
>
> AOL Pulls Plug on Newsgroup Service
> By Brian McWilliams, Guest Columnist
> January 25, 2005, 9:50 AM


> Note that there's nothing in those remarks that suggests to
> the reader that the AOL newsgroups access is anything more
> than one of the Internet services provided by the Internet
> service provider AOL.

Or doesn't, as is now the case. So it's pretty obvious that not all
ISPs provide usenet access.

> Note that the subject line with which I started this thread
> is "ISP vs 'newsgroup server provider'". This was based on
> someone's taking exception to my allusion to an Internet
> service provider providing newsgroups. The exception-taking
> comment was in effect that the Internet service provider
> doesn't provide newsgroups: a newsgroup server does.

And they are correct. That should be evident from the fact that AOL,
among others, no longer provides that service. That fact that they
tended to make it transparent to the users doesn't alter the fact. AOL
didn't stop being an ISP by dropping usenet. If they dropped web
access, I think you'd have to say they were no longer an ISP.

I would say that individual.net is not an ISP even though they provide
usenet access. I'd say Hotmail was not an ISP even though they provide
email access.

A service can be both an ISP and news server. Being an ISP doesn't
imply that they are a news server.



Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: eBad
    ... AOL dropped their news reader, ... You may have your own news reader program, ... was with a local ISP here that used "Super News". ...
    (alt.marketing.online.ebay)
  • Re: ISP vs "newsgroup server provider": [was: Re: Question for Agent (and other news reader) users]
    ... >> A service can be both an ISP and news server. ... So, on that generally accepted definition, AOL ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: need some help - please
    ... OK Outlook express page,, Click Tools, click Accounts, click News, ... You will then see a new entry in the Folders section of Outlook ... Newsgroup page, Click on middle tab, Newsgroups, You will get a screen up, ... do you want to load newsgroups, Click Yes, and your ISP will start to load ...
    (rec.aquaria.freshwater.cichlids)
  • Re: pc help
    ... USENET included with an ISP is becoming a thing of the past. ... His ISP will know for sure if they have access to a news service provider so ... There are quite a few more places you can access this newsgroup than were ... Oh yeah, if your cellphone has a browser, you can use the google link above ...
    (misc.transport.trucking)
  • Re: How to get onto urg
    ... about accessing urg via a newsgroup. ... Forget AOL for a moment; you can merely use them for your internet ... your chosen news groups), ...
    (uk.rec.gardening)