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(Some previous months still online.) This month's PC Tips: 1 Is it ISDN time yet?
We think you should forget all about ISDN, get a good quality 56.6 kbs modem and then wait for satellite or, better yet, cable and DSL modems to come to your neighborhood. Why not ISDN? Because we don't think the expense will be worth the monetary outlay, except perhaps for business applications between two ISDN modems used to transfer large quantities of data or for video conferencing. In practice, most people connecting to Internet services will be limited by technical factors to 56 or 64 kbs -- hardly any better than a standard phone line and a 56.6 kbs modem. But to outfit yourself for ISDN, you'll need to spend about $300 for an ISDN adapter or for an ISDN modem. Then you'll need to upgrade your telephone service, incurring higher monthly lease charges and a pay-by-the-minute rate structure, not the usual dime-a-call for unlimited local usage. Installation can also be costly, although many telephone companies are currently offering no-cost installation to woo converts to ISDN. And if you bite the bullet and go for ISDN, how much faster will you be able to surf the net under ideal conditions? No faster at the moment. Almost no one offers ISDN service, certainly not any of the biggies -- AOL, CompuServe, MSN, Errols, AT&T, etc. -- who are just now bringing 56.6 kbs ports into widespread use. We think ISDN is a good idea whose time will never come! So if you're itching for a new modem, get a 56.6 kbs. If you've got one, sit tight and smile. Satellite, DSL and cable modems are the real "next" generation. With Bill Gates backing DSL, it shouldn't be too hard to handicap which of these will emerge as the front-runner! Can't You Just Scan It In? Short answer. Yes, of course we can, but the scanned image isn't what you want. When you scan a page of typewritten or printed material what you get is a very large picture not a text file you can edit. Long answer. When people ask "Can't you just scan it in," what they're usually saying is "What's the big deal? Just scan the document in and then you'll be able to edit it, or add the text to another document, or present it on a website, etc." What many folks, especially folks who've never used a scanner, don't realize is that whatever is "scanned in" becomes a picture or photograph, not text. This is just fine if you want to fax the document. Facsimile transmission sends just that -- pictures. And there's no problem if what you want is to use a "paint" program to manipulate the scanned image or if you simply want to embed the image in a document as a graphic or picture. The problem arises when the intention is either to convert paper files to files stored on a PC, or when the intention is to edit the text displayed in a scanned document. Let's deal with the storage situation first. There is more than one advertisement abroad these days which makes it seem like converting your paper files to PC-stored files would be a really neat idea. Well, it would get rid of all that silly, dirty, dusty, musty paper, but it also would require a very large hard drive or an ancillary tape or disk storage system. The problem? Each letter-size document, even if it has only a few words on it, will occupy about a million bytes (1 mB). You don't have to take your shoes off to realize that a filing cabinet with many thousands of documents will quickly chew up many gigabytes of storage space. And don't forget to double all your numbers to allow for backup of your stored documents. Do-able, yes. Really good idea? No! More important than all that storage space you'd need is the fact that the scanned document is fine to look at on your PC's monitor or to print "as is", but it's not very useful if you want to edit the text or display it on a website. To work with -- to edit -- the text in a document you've scanned you need to convert the image using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software, such as the excellent TextBridge Pro 98 OCR by Xerox. But even the best OCR software can't deal with faint images, non-standard typefaces or fonts, and typefaces smaller than about 7 points. And even the best won't retain the type style, formatting, and layout. And even the best can't always tell text from graphics, etc. What we're saying here is that OCR is simple for plain typewritten documents and simple magazine or newspaper articles, but after that, if it can be done at all, it may require a great deal of user intervention. However, once a document is scanned and converted by OCR, the large, original image can be deleted, and the small -- usually less than 1 kB -- text document can be stored instead. Finally, when you ask "Can't you just scan it in?" you should be aware that the raw scanned image is completely unsuitable for presentation on the Internet. At about 1 mB, it would require many minutes to download under the best of conditions, and its size would force the user to scroll both horizontally and vertically to read it. Yes, we can scan it in, but it will take professional image enhancement and reduction techniques to turn it into something useable on the web. Is FREE Email Worth It?
But suppose you want to send your latest snapshot to Aunt Amy in Alaska who uses AOL. Too bad. Most free services don't provide for email attachments. And that goes for documents too. If you can fit the info in the body of the email, fine. Otherwise, exchange proofs of the book or thesis by good old U.S. Mail. Well, okay, you don't mind the ads and you almost never want to exchange photos or large documents, so what's not to like about free email? Nothing if you don't want to make online purchases! With the volume of online credit card transactions mushrooming, merchants are becoming more and more sophisticated about protecting themselves against credit card fraud. And the first line of defense is simple: Don't take an order from anyone using a free, web-based or email forwarding service. If you've tried to order merchandise and got this page instead of an order confirmation, you already know what we mean! Is Free email worth it? For students, seniors and others of limited means and even fewer needs -- you bet. For the rest of us, well, $5 a month isn't a large price to pay for a full-service POP email account. (Drop us a line if you'd like an account here at Installations Plus+ servenet.com.)  Alert me by email when you post a new PC Tips column.1. PC Tips is an irregularly-issued column produced by Installations Plus+ for those of its clients who don't pretend to power user status.
2. DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line the new technology recently announced by a several regional phone companies in consort with Microsoft, Intel and Compaq computer. DSL will make online access possible at speeds up to 1.5 mbs over regular phone lines and, like ISDN, will allow simultaneous data transmission and voice conversations. DSL will likely be available to businesses this year and consumers next and will cost about twice as much as regular dial-up access. Also available online:
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If you're still surfing the net with a 14.4 kbs (kilobits per second) modem, "the time," as the walrus in Alice in Wonderland said, "has come." The question is what shall we speak of? Rockwell's K-56 Flex or U.S. Robotics/3com's X2, both at 56.6 kbs (and soon to merge into an international standard)? ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) now being touted by local phone companies at 128 kbs? Satellite modems at 400 kbs? Or cable modems at up to 27 mbs (yes, millions), but usually made to handle only 1.5 mbs, like the recently announced DSL!
So-called free email services seem like a wonderful bargain at first. So what if all of your outgoing mail includes your provider's ad. And so what if you if are bombarded with ads from the companies that pay your email bill. Frankly, if all you want to do is send notes to Tommy at college (and having Tommy at school puts a mighty crimp in the budget), free email is terrific.