Mosaic is a great way to browse the World Wide Web, but you need a true Internet Protocol connection to be able to use it. Just having a modem and an account on AOL won't cut it. So I got a SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) connection from my Internet vendor. My cost was minimal: US$25 per 20 hours of connect time from MV Communications in New Hampshire. Many vendors charge a one-time installation fee for the SLIP line - usually $200-$300. MV Communications did not.
And to fully exploit my real IP connection to cyberspace, I downloaded Winsock, a shareware program ($20 for a single user license) that allows multiple applications - Mosaic, gopher, ftp, and telnet - to run during the same session.
During a typical trip on the highway, a Mosaic hypertext document guides me through gifs and gophers, movies and text. Pull-down menus drop protocols and ftp commands into the background. Files are downloaded where they belong. When a graphics download slows me down, I open a new window, fire up Hgopher and tunnel down another path. In yet another window, I launch a telnet connection with WinQVT/Net - a multi-window emulation program - which can run as many as 12 telnet, ftp, and mail sessions concurrently. Eudora - my mail client - sleeps in the background, polling my server every 10 minutes. When mail arrives, a mailbox icon appears. It does not matter whether the mail comes from a Mac, Sun, or PC, Eudora automatically translates the notes and attachments. Another click, my mailbox disappears, and I continue my travels.
I've caught a glimpse of the fiberoptic superhighway that lies just over the horizon, and it makes me crave more - a faster modem, an ISDN or Ethernet connection, more bandwidth in any form. When I get it, watch out!
Trumpet Winsock
Mosaic for the Mac or Windows
Eudora
WinQVT/Net
Hgopher
STREET CRED
Out of ControlIsaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot
Slip into the Net with Shareware
