day 3

microsoft duels with netscape 3

Microsoft is barking up the wrong satellite link. Couch potato Americans are already plugged into the Internet through online providers; see Table 1, below. While everyone is predicting the demise of online services as the Internet party blossoms, AOL is busily signing up Internet access customers by the thousands. Get this: AOL is the Single Most Popular Net Access Method: Table 1. Percent of all Internet users access via method shown (FIND/SVP Survey).

Via some kind of online service 46% America Online 30% Company (at work) server 28% Academic (at school) server 27% Internet service provider (ISP) 25% Compuserve 11% Prodigy 9% Microsoft Network 2% The figures total >100% since many users access the Internet from more than one place, e.g., home and office. Some 9.5 million Americans now use the Internet, including 8.4 million adults and 1.1 million children under 18, who tap into it from the workplace, school and homes, according to findings from the American Internet User Survey, a recent study by FIND/SVP. The study culminates a year and a half of intensive research and development by FIND/SVP and is being described as the most accurate and in-depth survey yet fielded on how the Internet is being used in the United States. The research was sponsored by some thirty major companies involved in the Internet, including major computer and networking companies, online providers, telephone and cable companies, publishers, and numerous consumer and business product and service companies.

microsoft duels with netscape: 1 2 3 Daily Dose Index