Commercial Online Service

A commercial online service is one of three typical ways used to access the Internet. The other two include simple dial-up, or Internet service provider (ISP) service, and local area network (LAN) service. If a user has a computer at work that is networked, and allows access to the Internet, a LAN connection is being used.

While commercial online services and ISP accounts have a lot of overlap, commercial online services are actually a subset of ISP services. Both commercial online services and ISPs provide an entry point. An access phone number is dialed by the modem in the customer's computer, and after the connection is established, access to the Internet is had by linking through the commercial online service's (or ISP's) computers. That is where the similarity ends.

ISPs usually provide e-mail accounts, and maybe some hard drive space (on their servers) for customers to put up a Web page, but they do not offer tailored content and more complex add-on services as a commercial online service provider does. Another distinction to be made is with respect to software. Because an ISP does not provide the customer with customized (and customizable) content, the ISP will not usually have customers install software on their computers as a requirement of use.

The biggest example of a commercial online service is America Online (AOL). Subscribers get a customized entry point (gateway site) that includes both access to the Internet and content unique to AOL subscribers. The unique content includes chat rooms, games, and news. However, if subscribers seek more than what the gateway has to offer, they can access other sites through the same (AOL) connection. That is to say, they do not “hang up the phone” and dial a different connection.

There is an earlier technological example similar to commercial online services: Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). While a BBS would provide things like e-mail, chat rooms, games, and so on, BBSs were, for the most part, closed systems. There was some linking between BBSs, but users did not have the ability to go from any BBS to any other (unlike today, where a user can go from any Web site to any another). For the most part, if they wanted to visit a different BBS, they would have to disconnect from one before going to the other. Some BBSs would require paid membership, others welcomed one and all.

As computer technology continues to blend and merge mass media channels, it is important to [Page 153]understand where the access points are to the Internet. With this understanding, the decision on access for the individual can best be made. For example, is it best to tailor a message and have that message available only to AOL users? If the desire is to reach everyone (including people who use smaller ISPs, for example), then a full-on Web site may be the answer. For further consideration, there is the issue of restricted access: Some people do not have a computer at home. The only way they access the Internet is through their computer at work. Access to a Web site may be blocked by the company's LAN administrator, on orders from a superior who may feel that the message conveyed by the Web site is at odds with the company's goals.

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