Re: IBM Support

[Alden S Klovdahl <Alden.Klovdahl@anu.edu.au>]

in other words, ibm would rather have us spend our money (and our
university's money) on compuserve rather than on thinkpads? 



 Alden S Klovdahl /   alden.klovdahl@anu.edu.au    / fax: +61 62 49 05 25
 Sociology Arts  / Australian National University / Canberra ACT Australia 0200 

On Tue, 21 Nov 1995, Randy Whittle wrote:

> At 1:50 AM 11/21/95, Christopher Cunningham wrote:
> 
> >I would like to make a suggestion on behalf of a large number of
> >ThinkPad users who have access to the Internet although not
> >necessarily through Compuserve.  I would like to suggest that IBM
> >release software updates to its ftp/Web site with the same degree of
> >timeliness that it releases software to the Compuserve support forum.
> >Most recently, IBM has released Win95 MWAVE drivers on Compuserve but
> >failed to put them on the ftp/Web site (it is also interesting to note
> >that IBM also releases software updates to Compuserve before posting
> >on its own dialup BBS).
> 
>         I just thought I'd ad a couple of pennies in here...  :)
> 
>         You and the list may or may not be aware of this, but basically
> everytime someone logs into Compu$erve and goes to the IBM forum--IBM makes
> a little chunk of change.  For *very* many companies, Compuserve is a
> profit center--a little money machine.  Compuserve splits a portion of the
> fee to the companies with forums on Compuserve, because they know when
> people go into those forums, that is the reason for calling Compuserve in
> the first place.
> 
>         Given this information, its not particularly rational for IBM to
> steer anyone to its BBS or an FTP site--the bottom line is that they make a
> buck when you dial in to Compuserve.  I'm sure they'd prefer that you call
> Compuserve!
> 
> -----                                          ____________________________
> Randy Whittle    whittle@usc.edu               |       WWW Hope Page:     |
> USC Graduate School of Business (Fight on 'SC!)|          http://         |
>  "Did you really think you could call up the   | www-scf.usc.edu/~whittle/|
>      Devil and ask him to behave?"             ----------------------------
>        -Fox Mulder on T.V.'s "X-Files" speaking to an occult practitioner
> 
> 
>