
        PRODIGY--NEW PLAYER THREATENS OLDER SYSTEMS
        WITH INNOVATIVE PRICING POLICY
        
        Into the universe of The Source, CompuServe, GEnie, and the 
        rest comes a new heavyweight player that threatens to 
        radically change the whole way such online services do 
        business. Prodigy, a partnership of IBM and Sears 
        (heavyweights in themselves) is hardly innovative in its 
        services, but the price?
        
        Well...consider:
        
        How would you like to get airline schedules, stock quotes, 
        news wires, weather services, contests, games, home 
        shopping, a PERSONALIZED collection of regular syndicated 
        features, news topics of interest, etc. etc. that comes on 
        automatically whenever you sign on, and all of it with full-
        color graphics if your computer can handle them?
        
        Sounds good, but also duplicative of other similar services 
        (with the exception of the graphics and so-called "Personal 
        Path" option, that is). It also sounds like it'll be 
        expensive. WRONG.
        
        Would you believe you get all this for $9.95 a MONTH! Yes, 
        that's a FLAT monthly charge. NO per-minute or per-hour 
        rates. Use it one hour or one hundred hours, it still only 
        costs you the ten bucks. For your whole household, though 
        individual family members can have their own passwords and 
        mailboxes/personal paths. The package even comes with the 
        software to run your computer and access Prodigy, so if 
        you're new to online connection you don't have a complex or 
        expensive communications program to learn.
        
        There are some caveats. PC Life talked to a few "beta 
        testers" (people who try out new systems and software before 
        they are released to the general public) who reported that 
        their early experiences with Prodigy were not totally 
        satisfactory. 
        
        They complain of very slow system response time and of early 
        bugs and graphics problems. One must presume that most of 
        these have been corrected, since that's what beta testing is 
        for, after all. 
        
        Also, the system only works with IBM-compatible computers, 
        and you need at least Hercules graphics (if not 
        CGA/EGA/VGA/MCGA for color), and a minimum of 512k and a 
        1200-baud or better modem.
        
        Prodigy is being promoted heavily in home mailings and 
        advertising now, and is up and running. PC Life will do its 
        own "beta testing" and keep you informed on this 
        revolutionary new service that raises the question:
        
        Why should I pay The Source $12-26 per HOUR for services I 
        can access for ten bucks all MONTH?"