ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200010
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
SURE, THERE ARE busy signals during peak hours. Annoying messages that say "connection failed." A loginess that sometimes slows evening surfing on American Online to the pace of a Southern town with a shortage of stoplights.
No question, Southwest Virginians are annoyed, bugged and frustrated by the recent overload of computer users on America Online.
Many have left for greener on-line services, or found alternate routes to AOL.
But many, too, are patient.
"I'll give them a chance to work things out," said Roanoke's Terry Doyle, who accesses the Internet during the day, when AOL isn't so busy. "Then if they don't, I'll switch."
Doyle is one area resident who believes far too many AOL users are spending time e-mailing their attorneys instead of friends.
A number of states, responding to people who complained they couldn't get on line because of constant busy signals, threatened to sue AOL last month. The busy signals came after AOL lowered its prices to $19.95 for unlimited service and an additional 1.2 million people joined AOL during the quarter that ended Dec. 31, creating a customer base of 8 million.
Salem's Vic Reed still favors AOL because it's so "PHD" (Push Here, Dummy). "Many Americans are just too quick to yell `sue the bastards,''' he said. "Let 'em have some time to catch up. I say they deserve the second chance anybody deserves when they screw up."
Like Doyle, Reed is not searching for a new on-line service, but is waiting for AOL to catch up to demand and for traffic to subside.
Bedford County resident Mary Welch is waiting, too, though not as patiently.
A few weeks ago, when AOL's telephone lines were at their busiest, "I got so mad, I was seriously considering counseling. What use is there to pay them money? I couldn't get on."
Now she uses another on-line service, InfiNet, owned by three newspaper companies including Landmark Communications Inc., The Roanoke Times' parent company, to get on line when AOL is busy. She logs into her AOL account from there.
Tim Mauzy uses Rev.Net to hook up to the Internet, then punches in to AOL.
"It's pretty satisfying," he said. "The only thing is I'm paying $19.95 for AOL and $19.95 for the local provider."
The natural question to ask here, of course, is: Why use both? And why pay for both?
The answer, perhaps, is that many people have become addicted not just to the Internet, but to services specific to AOL.
They mingle in computer "chat" rooms (Roanoker Julie Mulvaney says her kids favor a special chat room for gymnasts) and attend on-line question-and-answer sessions with the rich and famous.
Welch enjoys television nostalgia. AOL gave her the chance to enter a chat room with the actors who played Wednesday Addams and Eddie Munster.
"I was in a political chat group once and, this is no lie, Bob Dole logged in," Welch said. (At least he claimed to be Bob Dole). "I've never run into Bob Dole using InfiNet."
Doyle has used AOL's travel pages to research a trip to England.
And while some consumers across the country have accused AOL of "spying" because the company monitors e-mail, others - particularly parents - feel the practice gives them added security.
"They're good baby-sitters," said Welch, a mother of 7-year-old daughter.
Staying with America Online, though, has its social stigma in the cyber-realm.
Generally thought of as "newbies" - that's on-line lingo - because the ease of the service makes it a natural for many Internet beginners, AOL users have a reputation for being, well ...
"AOL subscribers began to get a reputation on the rest of the Net for being imbeciles," explained Welch, who was careful to "lurk" in a few newsgroups before posting any messages for fear of being teased. Newsgroups enable computer users with similar interests to have a running dialogue on a particular subject, such as Metallica or vegetarian cooking. They differ from chat rooms in that the users are not all logged in to the discussion at the same time.
AOL users also are sometimes known on the Net as "lamers," and their service provider is known in some on-line circles as AOhell. In some newsgroups, such as alt.aol.rejects and alt.aol-sucks, they are maligned regularly.
One AOL critic, who bills himself as Steven Case Sr. (in reference to AOL's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Case) and ironically posts messages from an AOL account, says no AOL user will drop the service because they're all "too ... stupid" to switch to a service that's less populated and less user-friendly.
Nationally, frustrated users have resorted to threats of virtual violence. A computer message circulated earlier this month among at least 800 AOL customers warning of a Valentine's Day riot in cyberspace. Hackers, the message said, would wreak havoc for 24 hours by getting on line, heaving "mailbombs" and attempting to sign off other members.
Local users reported no problems, though. "Another hoax," AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said Monday, adding that many of AOL's customers have been with the company for years and are computer savvy.
When the overload problems began at AOL in December, the company began looking for ways to relieve them. Primrose said AOL is spending more than $400 million to upgrade its system. Membership has been capped for the time being, though the company continues to replace customers it loses. The company also has reduced its marketing efforts (though not quickly enough, according to critics).
While AOL was working through its problems, local Internet providers saw an influx of customers.
"Because of the recent events, yes, we've had a huge flood of AOL users," said Doyle Egerton, president of Kinetic Data Systems, of which Rev.Net is a division.
Trista Saunders Farrell, marketing coordinator for InfiNet, said her company saw a large increase of users in January, "first because of AOL's problems and second because we offered a free month of service."
Neither company would give specific numbers of new members.
Citizens Internet, based in Floyd Co., saw customers switch from AOL when the company first opened in late 1995, said Robert Weeks, marketing manager. At the time, AOL didn't have a local number for people to call in the more rural of the nine counties his company serves, he said.
Meanwhile, AOL's steadfast customers say they're coping by avoiding peak hours and dialing and redialing until they reach AOL.
Rush hour on the Internet starts at about 5 p.m., when many people get home from work, and can continue as late as 11 p.m., when people go to bed.
Julie Mulvaney, a Roanoke County teacher, just waits until the traffic clears out and logs in late, "usually between 11 and 12.''
So does Chris Avidano, a student at National Business College. Avidano is taking this quarter off from school, which means he can also use the computer during the day when it's less busy. At 11:45 p.m., he's back on line, chatting with friends at Virginia Tech and Radford University.
"It's not so much of a problem now," he said. But next semester, when he's back in school and his bedtime is earlier, it may be.
This semester, though, America Online is worth the inconvenience, he said. "I'm glad I have it. I just wish they'd prepared better for it."
Part of the problem, believes AOL user Dale Vogler, director of the Franklin County Rural Information, a program designed to help people in rural areas become more computer literate, is that some people who get on line live their lives there, hogging telephone lines to AOL for hours and hours.
"People should be considerate of others," he said. "Don't stay on line for long periods of time when you know others are having problems. Selfishness hurts us all." 970220 extra STORY aol 2.20 TOPIC stuck on the KEYWORD DESK AUTHOR:MADELYNROSE02/20/97 1
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LENGTH: Long : 151 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Photo illustration by ROGER HART/Staff. When Americaby CNBOnline became inaccessible, users across the country switched
on-line services or found alternate routes to AOL. 2. Terry Doyle, a
self-described computer novice living in Roanoke, says she likes AOL
and that she has not had as many problems getting on line as have
some of her friends. color.