Date: Fri 08-Jan-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Brand-Juno

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Changes in Juno E-mail

By Bob Brand

In the fast-paced world of the Net, services that snooze, lose. While Juno

(totally free e-mail service) has not exactly been asleep, it has been nodding

off. Considered by I-net pundits as Net-training-wheels, Juno has failed to

capitalize on early success in the e-mail cyber-grab for prized real estate on

the Net landscape. Eclipsed by other free e-mail products like Hotmail,

Rocketmail, Yahoo!, Juno appears to have no reversal of fortunes in sight.

When Juno Ver 1.0 debuted on the Net in April 1997, it became an overnight

success. It was easy to install and use. Riding on the coattails of the

Compuserve network, the service was solid. Best of all, it was free. The user

had to be willing to put up with a few ads. In fact, advertising was rare in

the early days.

By the end of 1998, after numerous upgrades Juno users find hard disks loaded

with abandoned ads, and a constraint on the file size of 64K bytes on

individual files. The JAL (Juno annoyance level) increases as Juno users have

to wade through closing a gauntlet of ads before the e-mail function could be

engaged. In spite of a growing tide of annoyances, the Juno user population

has reached 6,000,000 by the end of 1998. However, it becomes apparent that

Juno is more interested in selling ~~`upscale'services such as Juno Gold

(e-mail with attachments) for $2.95/ month and Juno Web (an Internet Service

Provider) for $19.95/month. The original free, easy to use service has been

relegated to the status of "Juno's ugly stepchild." Sad.

Juno 2.0

One day the postman arrived with a CD-ROM from Juno containing the latest

upgrade: version 2.0. I found myself asking the question "since Juno ain't

broke, why fix it?" Although the JAL mounts, the software runs essentially bug

free. Missing in the upgrade kit was compelling reasons to upgrade from the

current version: 1.49. Essentially, the CD-ROM was sent so that the users

would upgrade to the premium (read monthly fee) services. I did not install

the software.

Until recently, if someone sent a small binary file attachment (under

64Kbytes) to a Juno user, the computers would convert the file to MIME

(multipurpose Internet mail extensions) format and deliver it. With WinCode

software, a user could convert the attachment back to the its original form.

No more. Now all file attachments get lost and replaced with a long Juno

generated statement advising the user about the premium services offered. This

info-mercial is added to the end of the text portion of the e-mail.

The opening ads that appear when Juno starts now fill the screen with

large 200KB bitmap images arriving over the phone line and residing on

the hard disk. In an attempt to keep my disk junk-free, I remove old ads

periodically. The ads contain a small "close" icon needed to shut them down.

Often as many as five ads must be closed before mail can be downloaded. JAL

remains on the rise.

A Bit of Good News

It appears that Juno is finally at 56 kpbs modem (v.90) speed throughout most

of the network. As a result, downloading/uploading e-mail with a USR 56K

Sportster takes just a few seconds once the modem connects to the Danbury POP.

Juno claims the size of the network is up to 1,000 POPs (points of presence).

The balance between JAL (Juno annoyance level) and the higher transfer speeds

still keeps Juno in the `good value' column. However, the days of Juno's rapid

growth fueled by outstanding value are in the past as users start using other

free e-mail programs. Many now have become comfortable with the mail functions

found in the browser. In my case, I like the Microsoft Outlook e-mailer.

Lost Opportunity

As the Internet matures, applications become entrenched. Juno's decision to

become an ISP was made too late and offers nothing already available among the

other 5,000 ISPs who populate Net-Land. The reputation for providing poor

technical support also hurts Juno's image. I wish that I could recommend Juno

Gold and Juno Web. I cannot. Others ISPs offer better value -- lower cost,

uniform technical support, free personal website hosting, newsgroup feed and

more. It would not be surprising to hear one day in 1999 that Juno was

purchased by AOL, Microsoft, or other large fish in the cyberpool of the Net.

Wait and see.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.pcworld.com/software/faxcomm_email/articles/fe98/1602p300e.html

http://www.juno.com

http://www.thebee.com/bweb/iinfo102.htm

(This is the 136th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, Memory Leakage is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next

week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for

Real People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and

suggestions to: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)