of running discussions called "newsgroups," which are sent to thousands of computers around the world each day. References to "discussion groups" in this book include USENET newsgroups as well as
electronic mailing lists and discussion forums on commercial services.
CompuServe claims to be "the world's largest commercial computer
network." With over 1.5 million subscribers, CompuServe probably
offers the best low-cost tech support in the world. If you have a computer question, you post it in the appropriate forum, and within hours
you have dozens of answers, many of them correct. There are forums
on practically every computer software package ever sold. CompuServe
forums are among the best places to get expert information on almost
any topic from gardening to copyright law.
CompuServe also gives you email, of course, with an Internet gateway.
However, you're charged for messages and files you receive as well as
those you send. In fact, you'll find that CompuServe access charges can
quickly break a family networking budget, leading to the service's net
nickname: Compu$erve.