On Saturday, December 9th, 1995 - Frank Walters wrote:
 
FW> modem (which may not even have a power supply) at a flea market--the
 
I can attest to that fact.  I have a stack of modems that do not have
power supplies.  I do not even know if they work or not.
 
FW> user would also have to acquire a suitable interface and appropriate
FW> cable(s).
 
Exactly, which in many cases is impossible.  There is no source of Atari 
information available in most localities.  No clubs, and no magazines on 
any news stands.  
 
So the novice Atarian does not even know of the existence of such
devices.  Perhaps the only way to learn of RS-232 interfaces is to read
about them here on this conference.  Unfortunately, the way things are
going these days, they may never learn because at 300 baud they are
locked out of most places that carry this conference.
 
FW> Many of these original 300/1200 users have later gotten interfaces
FW> and higher speed modems, but only after a period of time to evaluate
FW> the benefits of telecommunications by calling at lower baud rates for
FW> a trial period. If no one lets them in, then they may give up the 
FW> idea
FW> altogether and we have lost a potential Atarian in the 
FW> ever-diminishing
FW> network of Atari users.
 
Again, I am probably a prime example of that.  I bought a new 300 baud
modem some years ago, and used it for a year or two.  Then I stopped
using it because the on-line community was dissappointing in those days. 
Several years later, I made a few 300 baud calls just for the heck of
it, not expecting to find much of interest.  I discovered that the
on-line world had matured greatly.  Then I discovered fidonet, and by
chance a BBS that carried the Atari ST conference.  I was impressed
enough to continue my excursions on-line, after having been totally
disconnected from all Atari users for some years.
 
Eventually, I traded some stuff at a swap meet for an old pre-Hayes
1200bps modem.  Only then did I decide to get an 850 Interface, which I
purchased used.  I used the 1200 modems for quite a long time.  Now I
have a 2400 bps modem connected to my Atari 8-bit (a modem with a
proprietary 9600 mode that nobody uses anymore).
 
If I had found the doors to 300 baud access slammed in my face, I would
never have stayed with it, and would not be on-line today.
 
--- RiBBS v2.10        

[+/123 of 500/107 Mins] = * FIDO: ATARI =: Next...