Why pay when you can get for free?
How does this sound to you: A Free Email Account
Sounds too good to be true? Well, it's not and millions of people will tell you that you can get a free email account from either Juno Online Services or HoTMaiL, the two largest "banner advertising" supported companies.
Pioneering yet another innovative way to advertise, these companies will give you an email account in exchange for a little information and a lot of advertising. With Juno's service, a little information translates into answering 18 demographics questions about your education level, household income, hobbies, and reading habits. Not surprisingly the companies use the information to make sure you will see ads that fit your interest while using their email software.
Following in the tradition of Freeloader, a software that delivers personalized News and Web Content to your desktop, Juno and HoTMail bring you personalized advertising. The premise is you agree to the advertising and they will give you free email. It's perfect for people who want a second email account, one for work and another for personal use. And, of course, it rings a bell for those who like to save money. Why should you pay for a first or even second email account when you can get one for free, assuming you can resist the commercial advertising targeted just for you.
With over two million combined subscribers, security conscious people ask what these companies do to prevent misuse? Misuse could take the form of "spamming": sending out gigabytes of commercial messages to newsgroups and listservs, resulting in a lot of irritated end-users or even worse-- crashing a network from email overload. There is no sure way to prevent spamming. Instead, the companies put a cap on how many emails you can send per session. Juno lets you send 50 emails per session and HoTMaiL suggests you forward spam mail to postmaster@hotmail.com.
Whether you desire a free email account or not, one thing is for sure. Expect to see a lot more services like these as well as even free web accounts. What will be next? Free Web T.V. accounts?
|
NAME |
WHAT YOU NEED |
TYPE OF ACCOUNT |
CHARACTERISTICS |
PHONE & EMAIL WEB ADDRESS |
|
Juno Online Services Dial-up based free email |
1. PC (386 or higher) 2. Modem (9600 or higher) 3. Windows 3.1 or higher |
Good for home users. Dial-up only |
spell checker, address book mail folders, customized mailing lists |
1-800-654-JUNO info@juno.com http://www.juno.com |
|
HoTMaiL Web based free email |
1. Own or just access to a computer, any platform. 2. Need to be connected to the Web. |
Anyone who wants free, universal access to their |
launches URLS within Email, enclose and view graphics, address book, folders, mailing lists |
408-222-7000 info@hotmail.com http://www.hotmail.com |
Copyright 1997, New Jersey Intercampus Network (NJIN)
LESLIE L. CHOW, "Free Email Accounts: Why Pay
When You Can Find for Free?"
http://k12science.stevens-tech.edu/~chow/email.htm (February 7, 1997).