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Looking for Free Internet?
Here's What You Need to Consider. By Jim Cummings The Internet is a growing phenomenon. Its best days are yet to come, but its golden days have been here and gone. Last year there existed numerous free Internet connections and e-mail services. But not anymore. What happened? As any detective will tell you: "Follow the money." New visitors arrive on the Web daily. They see ads on free access, e-mail and browsers and, by simply clicking, are whisked to commerce sites where they spend, spend, spend. Simple, huh? One problem - it doesn't work. American consumers have acted decidedly non-lemming-like when it comes to net ads. They simply ignore them. Unfortunately, many free Internet Service Providers (ISP) predicated their business models on advertiser income. Advertising "click through" didn't happen, and many of these ISPs went the way of the dodo. In just one year, over 100 free providers (plus Web businesses based on the concept) closed. Good sources of free e-mail and Internet access survive, but these too are subject to the cruel winds of fate. When people talk about free e-mail, they often want the whole enchilada - free e-mail plus Internet access. In fact, most so called "free" ISPs - aren't. You pay in terms of inconveniently designed browsers while being bombarded by ads. But there is still some free Internet access and hundreds of free e-mail sites. In the NYC area are two of the last truly free ISPs with no ads and your own browser. But each has a "catch." New York Link (http://www.freenylink.com) is a new ISP with free unlimited Internet for numbers in the 212, 646, 718, 347, 516, 631 and 914 codes. The catch? As of this writing, e-mail is not yet available, but should be in the immediate future. It's worth checking out. MetConnect (http://www.metconnect.com) offers many free and fee services to access numbers in the 212 and 516 areas. No e-mail for free, but there is free "Web mail" which means you log onto the site for messages. This can be slow and inconvenient. For $30 yearly plus a $30 setup fee, you can add e-mail. A few free national providers are left with e-mail, which can be accessed anywhere (and with free local access numbers countrywide). All inundate you with ads - making you want to scream at the Las Vegas strip your computer desktop has become. You may want one if you travel, even if you have a local provider, in order to avoid long distance charges. The best of these, in terms of speed and service, are NetZero (http://www.netzero.com) and dotNow (http://www.dotnow.com/index.shtml). Just free e-mail? There are reasons to use your own ISP and another e-mail account. When car shopping on the net, I got a free Yahoo e-mail account so resulting junk and offer e-mails went to that address. Free providers expect "abandoned" addresses. A huge list of places to get free e-mail addresses can be found at: http://www.emailaddresses.com. Most though not all, are of the Web-based variety mentioned above. Besides Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) you can try: Friendly email (which forwards to your mailbox, if you have one): http://www.mypad.com Graffiti.net: http://www.graffiti.net Postmark.net: http://www.postmark.net Several of these offer additional fee services. It's important to note that some services I would have recommended have gone out of business since December. This could happen to any of these as well. Of course, there's always a full service provider - like AOL, ATT or Worldnet - which provides Internet access and e-mail usually through the free Microsoft Outlook or Netscape's Communicator. E-mail is delivered to your "mailbox" when you log on. Costs begin at $9.99 but average about $20 monthly (using a dialup modem). And there are other alternatives. I've been with a local provider for many years which provides toll free technical support - the free services have you e-mail them, and what do you do when you can't get online? - and my ISP out-services big guys like AOL (I receive very few unsolicited ads or "spam.") My wife and I have addresses through a single, fast DSL line and we are allowed three additional addresses. For $40 a month, it's worth it and it's good business. Internet access and your e-mail address are valuable assets - ones you'll want to keep. So the question to consider is: What's "free" worth to me? Jim Cummings has worked with hundreds of nonprofit organizations in this country, Canada and the United Kingdom. A development consultant for nonprofits, he is well known for his unique approach to annual campaigns. He is a co-designer and faculty member of The Institute for Non-Profits: Achieving Excellence, attended by hundreds of organizations internationally since 1988. Jim can be reached at (800) 373-4156 or cummings@voicenet.com.
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Internet Resources.... Online Giving Trends (December, 2006) Shopping for Bandwidth in a Buyer's Market (March, 2006) E-mail Marketing (October, 2004) Web Resources (May, 2004) The Blogosphere is in Full Bloom! (December, 2003) Self-Sufficiency Software: Calculating Assistance (August, 2002) VPNot Yet: Why Nonprofits Have Been Slow to Catch on to Virtual Private Networks (June, 2002) GuideStar: Getting Form 990 Online (November, 2001) 501Click.Com: The Online Resource Exclusively Devoted to Nonprofits (June, 2001) Looking for Free Internet? Heres what to Consider (April, 2001) Free Net and Web Resources for Your Organizations IT Professionals (July, 2000) TechSoup - Free lunch for Tech-Hungry Nonprofits (July, 2000) Cutting Through the Online Information Undergrowth (August, 1999) Electronic Resources for Your clients' Job Search (August, 1999) Professional Associations and User Groups Provide Information and Contacts (August, 1999) Free Periodicals and Guides Can Keep you Informed (April, 1999) New York Today Offers Free Web Services for Nonprofits (February, 1999) Register Your Internet Domain Name Now (February, 1999) The Road to Resources is Paved with Information (December, 1998) Other Articles of Interest.... Searching for Cancer Information on the Internet: A New Project in Harlem (April, 2001) Online Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations: A Primer (January, 2001) Online Fundraising Resources (Janury, 2001) I&R Best Practices: Profiles of Three NYC I&R Services (November, 2000) Handheld Computing: Readers Respond (July, 2000) Low Key, Low-Tech & Low-Budget Distance Learning & Training, Part II (December, 1999) Finding Information Online: When it Comes to Rehabilitation and Disabilities Try NARIC (June, 1999) If Your Computer is Looking a Little Green Around the Ears, it Might be a Virus (June, 1999) Internet-Based System Eases Court Preparation for Domestic Violence Victims (February, 1999) FAQs and Beyond: Free Eduation and Training for Nonprofits, Part II (December, 1998) BrooklynX - A Guide to Getting your Communities on the Net (October, 1998) Learning the FAQs: Free Education and Training for Nonprofits (October, 1998) Making information technology accessible for people with disabilities (October, 1998) |
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