European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 20, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Electronic mailboxes in opining new world a of use Tor owners of Home computers. American computer mailboxes gaining overseas users Sis Phario by l Impett Lewis Al. By Marynett consumer editor Europe is getting Inlo american mailboxes the electronic kind. Ii s a less expensive Way of communicating data than by Telephone and oilers a fascinating selection of information plus shopping and other services anyone with a computer an acoustic Coupler or Modem and Access to a Date a Carrier in Germany one applies through the Post office or joins a private Mailbox Wilh the capabilities can join the United Stales Mailbox crowd. Now. That the German Federal Post office has. Somewhat loosened its grip on the Legal use of modems i Here Are sure to be More modems for Sale and More Calls from overseas. Here s a rundown an the services you la find through Iho Lour largest . Mailboxes Delphi. Mcl mail. Comp Sarve and the source. Delphi. This Young bul very Papular . Mailbox has Aboul 25.000 users who pay $8 an hour not including the Telephone Bill itself to plug Inlo its services any hour of the Day or night. Exi a charges Are figured for sending Tel exes and researching in data Banks signing on is simple. You need Only a $30 Larler kit which provides a detailed handbook and free hour of use monthly charges can be paid by either credit card or american express travellers Check. When travellers checks Are used and the Money in the user account ails below $50, use of the system is Cut off ii is. There lore. Suggested Hal a user set up a minimum $50 account. The kits can be obtained by writing in care of system management Delphi Gen Uidl videotex corporation. 3 Blackstone Street. Cambridge mass or in Germany through Delphi aug. Tart sat Postrach 0131. 8000 Munich 44. Or Star Lerchs Aci Micro a Mph voc Sensoli 16.8000 Munich 82. What is Given Delphi promises me mews simple Access to both enter Tammerl and information plus solution to computer user problems a program the Oracle can be called up thai lakes care of the latter even the silliest of questions Delphi promises Are Given serious attention. There also is a special so called working area in which members can Exchange and copy information Lor individual use at no extra charge there Are bulletin boards where information irom individuals and groups is posted and there Are tiles on special themes run by sigs special interest groups. Research opportunities Are practically unlimited besides its own encyclopedia. Delphi makes direct entry into other data Banks possible. Cost of receiving me material irom data Banks is however expensive. It runs irom $50 to $250 an hour. With the number of users involved there is always something interesting to discover nol always the Case where the european mailboxes with their limited membership is concerned. Mcl Majl this Mailbox with about 25,000 users works on a dramatically different concept. Promoted As your desk in Washington the creators have stripped away everything unnecessary to leave the electronic simulation of a simple working desk with an inbox outbox and drafting pad. Incoming mail is found in the inbox where it can be scanned and if found interesting read. The outbox takes care of mail being sent to other mailboxes. For membership con act Mcl mail 1900 m Street new Box 1001, Washington . Compuserve the giant of All mailboxes Compuserve inc. P-0. Box 20212, Columbus Ohio. 43220 has 259,000 members. This Means such a vast menu list that new users can waste precious and costly on line time in they Don 1 know what they really want to plug Inlo a handbook sensible to use with any of the systems is a necessity Here. Among the services comp store an electronic store where anything can be ordered that you would Imd in a Large department store lots of sales items Are offered banking Stock Market figures special interest groups and air plane reservations Etc. There is also a 12-Channel, simulation of a cd radio where people can Exchange caller the service can even boast an on line wedding. The source up until recently this was the biggest source of Competition Lor Compuserve it has however directed its services increasingly toward the commercial user. Despite this the individual user is Well served. There Are 100 different special interest Cala Gones that cover every Lasle in Germany inc closest thing to the . Mailboxes is the Btu information service offered by the German Post office. To be connected you need a Telephone and a television with blk decoder capabilities. The later european models have Thi built in As Standard for a fee the Telephone company then connects Telephone and to and you Are in business. You can Book High i reservations find out what is going on at the local movie do your banking Etc. Stripes will look at this and other european systems in a later Story. Consumer watch use of German mailboxes booming a few weeks ago on Gorman to consumer advisor announced Wil satisfaction Hal As he had predicted Iho country s Home computer madness was coming loan end alter All he pointed out Wilh conviction of what real value Aro computers in Iho average Home i m Suro Hal after a White Tho most used Parl is inc dust  the Man had a Point. Ii a Home computer is plugged in Lor no More than writing an occasional letter cataloguing records or playing games interest wanes. But Germany s Home computer crae has taken on How dimensions. Along with the rest of the continent Scandinavia and the British Isles the country s computer fans finally arc gelling into electronic communication. Compared with what is happening in the ., the movement is Atill in baby shoes but it s mushrooming in Germany tha Cene did t get Active unlit late 19b4. Germany s computer freaks and hackers and they Are a growing horde blame the Federal Post Tolice for holding Back development. Only modems thai Are Given a Ftp Bunde Spost Seal of approval Are allowed. This says Wolfgang Spindler a Sysop system operator who compiled a Book of Mailbox numbers has driven up the Price to Iho Point that an almost identical Modem costs twice As much in Germany As in the United Stales naturally writes Spindler a lower Price adds up to More  though officials of the German postal system started talking in 1983 about developing an electronic Mailbox service it was the editor of a computer Magazine who got the show on the Road. Terefon Daten service Ted Asrun by me Magazine went on line in february of 1983, a year before the Bun despoil opened its Tele Box. Now there Are mailboxes scattered All across the land and new ones popping up every Day. Gelling hooked up to one however can be super frustrating. Not All Are occupied All of the time and some of the More popular can t Lake care of All the Calls. The lines Are always Busy. Besides a knowledge of German even though Many English instructions Are tossed i you la also find Many require a user s fee. Non members Are on a allowed to browse quickly through a guest menu what do you get if you join some of the Lee mailboxes such As decates Germany s second largest Mailbox offer Date a Carrier service. This Means they like the German Post office give you Access to International data Banks. You can also use them to Send Tel exes. Decates charges an annual 50 Mark membership fee which allows 20-Minules free Entrance 1o the system and use of Dalex a and teen services. There Are extra charges however for the latter. When ii comes to the Decales Mailbox menu itself though you won t find it greatly Dilfer enl than Hal of other larger mailboxes such As combo run by Commodore in Frankfurt or Otis run by a Hanau computer firm in connection with a computer club. Though neither Commodore or Otis charge membership fees they assign user numbers and passwords. Alter signing on you reach a main menu. The 1 part Commodore menu oilers besides individual mailboxes where you can receive private messages from other users bulletin Board where messages open to Ell Ere displayed Etc., an English language love Lorn service called dialog with Eliza and an information Corner with Telephone numbers of other mailboxes around Iho Wold. Otis goes one further and adds detailed instructions on How to use the Post Vilice s Dalex a service. Other mailboxes allow for discussion of current events messages from special interest groups such As Greenpeace and advice on everything from general medical problems to Job openings theater programs and chess plays. In. Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday february 20,1987