How do you get more people to use the internet? If you've got any clue as to marketing the internet, you have to make it dirt cheap and incredibly easy to use. Pipeline USA has succeeded on both counts, they offer unlimited internet service for only $19.95 per month, and you get their connection software free!
A hookup to the Pipleline couldn't be easier. The software is packed on one floppy disk which installs in less than five minutes. The installation routine takes you by the hand and guides you through the setup. With Pipeline USA, there is no need to learn about static and dynamic IP addresses or anything of the sort. You only need to follow the on screen instructions, choose your login, and sign on the 1-800 number. After that, you choose your local dial in number. Since most areas have only one point of presence (a dial up provider number) this choice is relatively simple to make.
After you've installed the software and chosen a local POP, the internet is yours to explore. Since you have unlimited time for your $19.95, you can teach yourself how everything works without having to watch the clock and worry about incurring any extra time costs.
The Pipeline USA software offers a full compliment of internet tools. FTP (file downloading only), Archie, World Wide Web (through the built in Pipeline browser), email, usenet news, and IRC (chat) are all there for you to use. Some of the tools are great (email is especially good) and others are lackluster (FTP and news).
The software is incredibly robust. It offers powerful multitasking with few, if any, crashes. In Windows 3.1 and 3.11, multitasking was a difficult animal to tame, yet the Pipeline USA software handles it all smoothly, allowing for downloading and performing other tasks simultaneously without a hitch. Under Windows 95, the Pipeline software performs incredibly well with no crashes or system lockups, even while downloading several files and viewing other areas at the same time.
When you log in to Pipeline USA you are greeted with a miniature window (which is somewhat small and hard on the eyes). This window is your basic navigation tool. You may choose email, newsgroups, Web browsing, help, or any of the ten pre-set categories listed in the navigation window. The categories are helpful to new users, leading them straight to specific sites on the internet to read the news, check the weather, and basically see what's on the Web. Other services (FTP and IRC) are listed in the pull down menus at the top of the window. The navigation screen is always a quick mouseclick away in case you get lost and need to go back to a home base.
Most of the applications are quite good, with the email utility leading the pack in quality and simplicity. Sending email through Pipeline USA is no more challenging than using US Postal Mail. Just fill in the required info (address, subject, etc.) and send it off with a mouse click. Attaching a file is just as intuitive. Simply select "attach file", choose the file from a file manager-like dialog box, and the software will decide if the file needs to be encoded and how it should be done.
The newsgroup reader is easy to use but lacking in power. Pipeline USA's news server needs a larger selection for those of who like to keep a large reading list. The newsgroups are categorized making them more accessible to new users, but serious users will be begging for more groups to be added.
The FTP application for downloading files is fast and easy. Point and click your way through the dialogs and you'll be downloading files from the net in no time flat.
The FTP application also sports a search function. If you're looking for a specific file, and you know part of the name, simply perform a search for it. More often than not if the file exists the search application will find it.
Chat is straightforward Internet Relay Chat. If you don't know much about IRC, you may want to ask a friend for help or find a good book on it. IRC uses some of the more less than obvious UNIX commands thus making it tricky to learn and to use properly.
Finally, there's the Web browser. This really needs work. It's a weak browser overall. It is fast, but it barely supports current HTML standards. It's not very impressive, but it's a good starting point for a beginner. Advanced users will definitely plug their own favorite browser in (see the reviewer's notes for info on this) for web surfing.
Rating:
If you're new to the on-line world and want a straight internet connection instead of an on-line service (and the outrageous bills!) Pipeline is an excellent starting point. As you become more skilled, you'll outgrow the tools that come with the software, but the newest version of the software (due out late October) will allow you to basically plug your favorite browsers, FTP applications, and such in and go. This flexibility, ease-of-use and cost consciousness makes it a good bet for someone new to the net.
If you're an old hand at net cruising, the Pipeline has something to offer you. First off, it's hard to beat $19.95 flat per month. Also, as previously mentioned, if you don't like the utilities that come with Pipeline USA, just plug in your favorites and go.
For a business user, Pipeline USA could be just what you need. At less than $20 a month, it won't break the bank and accounting will love you for it! Since all the software you need comes on the install disk, there's no need to buy expensive email applications or scour the net for shareware/freeware applications. Pipeline is easy enough for anyone in the office to figure out.
One final caveat :If you're looking for someplace to store Web pages and maintain a personal FTP site, you'll be better to find a local internet provider as Pipeline will only be offering a single Web page for its users and it hasn't set a limit yet on the size (most likely less than 2 Megabytes per user). Business accounts will soon be allowed to store pages on Pipeline USA's server, but that is not currently available.
Reviewer's notes
This section is devoted to my personal experience with Pipeline USA, your experience may differ.
Installation:
During the installation I received a message stating "Inaut001.dll is out of date you may have trouble connecting properly". I found that this wasn't the case as the software worked fine. So I called the technical support office and found out that a small shipment of "bad" disks was inadvertently sent out to the public. These disks contained an older version of the above mentioned .dll file but the rest of the software was new. According to technical support, it wouldn't cause any problems but a fix was available via an FTP download from Pipeline USA's FTP site. Getting the new .dll was easy, I just connected to ftp.psi.net, went into the pipeusa directory, and found the new Inaut001.dll. After do
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