AM Reader Poll: Amiga and America Online?: Month 8

Your opinion on whether AOL should be made available for Amiga

By Paul Somerfeldt, Contributing Editor, See staff list for e-mail address

Introduction by Michael Webb:

The question has been floating around for years. Will there ever be an Amiga version of the America Online software? Most have said no, and pointed out our extreme minority status. Things are changing, however, and the Amiga may once again become a major name, and such issues as AOL may become worthy of reconsideration.

In AM, you first saw the issue raised by Sam Ormes several months ago, by way of an editorial which was subsequently given its own link on the Amiga Web Directory. There has been some response, and various discussions among AM staff members have taken place.

Nobody can pretend to know the wishes of the community, however. As a result, Contributing Editor Paul Somerfeldt put together a survey, as given below.

How to fill out the Survey

We would like as many people with opinions on the subject as possible to participate in this poll. If you choose to do so, send an e-mail message to Paul Somerfeldt at p.somerfeldt@genie.com including the information requested below (one entry per person, please). Paul will then reply to acknowledge having received your message.

At this time, we intend to post an update on the status of the poll with each issue of AM, and the poll will run throughout 1998, with all entries due by December 31 (12-31-1998). However, the sooner everybody responds, the sooner we can influence things, if it is possible to do so at all.



The Survey

In your e-mail message to Paul, please answer the following questions as they pertain to your primary Amiga system only (where the questions are Amiga-specific) and provide the following information, and please label your answers with the numbers given for each question:

  1. Primary Amiga System:
  2. CPU:
  3. AmigaOS:
  4. Total Memory:
  5. Speed of Internet Connection (e.g. 2400 bps, 14.4 kbps, 10Base-T, etc.):
  6. Country:
  7. Do you currently subscribe to AOL? (yes/no):
  8. (If yes to #7) Which platform do you use to access AOL? (IBM-compatible, Macintosh, IBM emulator, Mac emulator):
  9. (If no to #7) Would you consider joining AOL if an Amiga version of their software became available? (yes/no):
  10. Do you use your Amiga, or another system, for most of your time online?:
  11. Do you subscribe to an Online Service Provider besides AOL (e.g. CompuServe, Genie, Prodigy, Microsoft Network, Delphi, Bix), that is, something that is not a standard Internet Service Provider? (if so, which?):
  12. Do you think there should be an Amiga version of the AOL software? (yes/no/don't care):
  13. Do you think it would be worth it to AOL to make their service available to Amiga users? (yes/no/don't know):
  14. Any comments:

To those who send in responses, thank you for your participation.



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