-=> Quoting Sondra Ball to Jim Barchuk <=-
 JB> I don't know about BBSs in general, there's no way to count them.
 JB> But Fidonet has about 10 people leaving for every new  one
 JB> joining for about a year now. That's in the US. In  europe,
 JB> Fidonet is actually expanding.
 SB> It doens't sound like a very promising future for FIDOnet here.
 SB> I hope that changes.
 SB> Sondra
There may very well be an eventual return by many to Fido. The reason
I say this is because of the possibility of a truly seismic event
occurring in the Internet world:
The specters of overcrowding and vast revenues being lost due to flat
rate access charges to Internet users (a low rate per month and no
time limit) are haunting the telcos, so they are quietly thinking up
various schemes to rectify this ungodly situation. The most likely is
a metering system installed somewhere along the line that will keep
track of the number of data bits or seconds used, either by the end
user or one of the service providers, and, according to preliminary
rumbles, the charge will not be negligible. Given the many (spelled
_MANY_) hours used online by addicted net surfers, the seismic event
will be the resounding nation-wide thud caused by their jaws hitting
the ground when they look at their first 3 or 4-digit phone bills.
Opposition to such metering is already being directed at the FCC and
Congressmen, and of course they are making palliative remarks, but
the sheer press of numbers on the Internet will inevitably result in
heavy lobbying to pass on costs and boost profits one way or another.
The government seems to be for sale to the highest bidder, so, in
the absence of divine intervention, I presume the corporations will
get their way.
Well, I liked the Fido echoes better anyway - even if they aren't
speedy, they seem like personal gatherings around the cracker barrel;
the Internet newsgroups, on the other hand, tend to be overwhelmed
by waves of junk mail, spammers and psychotics. How bad is it?
Someone recently posted the results of an analysis of mail at their
site: 70 some-percent of the traffic consisted of junk mail, spam,
and attempts to cancel them. As for looking for information, even
good Web sites may be so loaded down with graphics that you can have
lunch in the time it takes them to display. The same things that
happen to pretty unspoiled corners of nature are happening to the
Internet - you know, the pristine unvisited wild spot you found a
while back? The next time you visit, the trees have been cut down,
the grass paved over, strip shopping centers put up, trash is
everywhere, you have to pay to park, and you will be mugged as 
soon as you get out of your car.
 
In the meantime, Fido use is down 80 percent or so and many BBS
operators are quitting, leading me to wonder if it will survive long
enough to be a viable alternative when Internet costs start climbing.
Ahhh - am I being overcome by pessimism again?
 John.
--- Blue Wave v2.12 [NR]
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