Built For Speed

umpin' Jehosaphat! High-speed Internet access is here. No, not a 56K modem. Something even better. ISDN? Nope, even better than that. Give up?

Cable. As in vision. Time Warner, that is.

Stop mutterin' profanity and listen. Available in limited areas of the Mid-South by December and throughout the Mid-South, including north Mississippi, by the end of 1998, Time Warner's Road Runner service will offer incredibly fast access.

How fast? Try over 100 times faster than a 28.8 modem. Yes, that's right -- one hundred, as in an A+, 10 times 10, a Ben Franklin.

No, I'm not kidding. At least, that's what their people said in a press conference last Thursday to announce the arrival of the service in the Memphis area.

I know what you're thinking -- that kind of speed must be at least as much as residential ISDN, if not double. Yes and no. After the initial installation fee of $125 (yikes!), Time Warner expects to offer the service for $39.95 a month to residential cable subscribers, $52.95 to non-subscribers.

A little pricy, you say, as compared to AOL's $9.95 bargain rate, or BellSouth's $19.95 ISDN? Ahhh. That's where the selling points come in.

Consider this: With a traditional phone connection you are limited by your phone line's capabilities. If you aren't in an ISDN-able area, you're stuck with conventional modems, 56K max, and that's if you pay through the nose for the modem and your ISP offers speeds that fast. Most don't. If you can get ISDN, you still have to pay for an ISDN modem (let's say, $200-$300 for a decent one). Then you have the installation fee (BellSouth's was around $200 last time I checked) and your $19.95 a month for access. If you want a separate line for the computer, that's another $25/month. So you've already overshot Time Warner's package. Plus, a standard commercial carrier T-1 delivers approximately 1,500K per second. Sounds fast enough. But Road Runner guarantees 8,000-25,000K/second downloading. Compare to ISDN's paltry 128K/second, and well, frankly, the difference is clear. Fiber-optic cable is cool.

Still not buying it? For argument's sake, let's say price is not a consideration. What about continuous connectivity? You're never down; no dial-up; no busy signal. Always connected, a dedicated line without the hassle and the price. Sound good? What about your phone line being free, open, able to receive calls? It's true. The cable modem (which is included in your monthly subscription fee, like the converter for your TV) is directly connected to Time Warner's system, just like your television's cable, so your phone line is not involved. At all. Period.

And there's more. Not only do you get the unlimited continuous Internet access, but they're going to throw in, at no extra cost to you, traditional online services, including access to the virtually bottomless libraries of Time, Inc. and Warner Brothers, as well as local content such as news, weather, sports, and entertainment.

But what about chat rooms? Will they have them and will there be restrictions like on AOL?

"We will offer both chat rooms and bulletin boards," explains Mark Guberman, general manager, Road Runner of the Mid-South. "We view this as a community and expect members to use proper behavior. If it gets out of hand, any feedback we receive will determine whether it remains self-monitoring. We are not planning on starting with any restrictions."

Still not convinced? Well, what would you say to a fully licensed, customized version of Microsoft Explorer?

Oops! There's that dirty word -- Microsoft. Not to worry -- according to Guberman, other browsers and software, such as Netscape and Mosaic, are totally compatible. You can even access other online providers such as AOL.

"We support an open architecture," says Guberman. "Although we pre-package Explorer, if you prefer to use something else, you can. That's your choice as a consumer."

Add in five e-mail accounts, space for a Web page, and 24/7 help via MCI, and you got yourself a steal.

Before it starts sounding like a Time Warner infomercial, let's mention there are some downsides to this deal:

Like if your cable goes down, your Internet goes down. Time Warner insists that the chances of that happening are 99-plus percent against, but still -- how many times have you been stuck with PBS on a Wednesday night? Not that PBS isn't enjoyable, but

And it is totally incompatible with the new Web TV interfaces and network PCs, which are touted as the poor man's way onto the Internet. Road Runner requires at least 61 MB of hard drive space. Ouch -- that's a problem if you don't have a hard drive!

Remote access appears to be an impossibility due to the very nature of the direct computer-to-cable connection. That really bites if you have a laptop and actually use it. (Better keep that AOL or ISP account, just in case).

Businesses are out of the loop until at least early '98 when the business version, dubbed Enterprise, is scheduled for launch. The difficulty connecting existing networks with the Time Warner network is apparently the holdup.

Without getting too technical, the networking required to give even residential customers all of this prohibits the use of personal domains, like www.iamcool.org. And your e-mail address is assigned, so there is a good chance you'll end up with something like MUL289@twarner.com. So much for individuality.

And it is still $39.95 a month.

But, considering that only nine other areas in the nation are currently wired for Road Runner, this is a chance for Memphians to be on the technological edge. Granted, Time Warner says all subscribers nationwide will be able to use Road Runner within three years, but that's what they said about SmartTV. People are still waiting.

The bottom line -- is it worth it?

If Road Runner turns out to be half of what they are PR-ing, then yes, jump on it. Cable operators are standing by.

Related Links:

http://www.twarner.com/