Here is forwarded mail from Tom Way.
-Brian
I feel pretty strongly about Compuserve essentially trying to
pull a fast one on us. Strongly enough that I have begun to
send email to every advertiser I can find who is related to
Compuserve. Don't know if anybody else feels this is worth
doing, but I felt compelled to take the first step. Attached
is a typical letter I am sending out.
Regards,
Tom Way
way@asel.udel.edu
---------------------------------------------
I regret to inform you that I will not be able to use your
product, due to your affiliation with Compuserve. In spite
of the fact that I believe your product would fill a need of
mine, I simply cannot justify using it, given your association
with Compuserve. I will be actively telling all of my friends
and associates that they should avoid not only Compuserve,
but your company, should your affiliation continue.
As a researcher working with blind computer users, I know how
important text-based access is to an information service.
Compuserve has, all on their own, decided to essentially deny
access to the blind population. Most blind computer users
gain access to online information using their own individually
preferred text-based communication and web browsing software.
Compuserve wants to force this population to use only its own
software which incidentally would require most blind users to
undergo expensive equipment upgrades and the significant
software learning curve.
So, Compuserve has taken a situation that was not broken, then
broken it, and is now suggesting an expensive and quite possibly
inadequate solution to fix it. That's just bad business.
The only acceptable recourse for Compuserve is to continue
to offer access to *any* online communication software. It's
not a difficult thing to do. In fact, it is downright easy.
Which is why so many people are puzzled and just plain pissed off.
Assuming Compuserve does not do the decent and smart thing, I
recommend that you discontinue your association with Compuserve.
In the end I think you will find your business will be much
better off. Perhaps other services, like AOL or Prodigy would
be worth considering.
Good luck. Hope you make the right decision.
Sincerely,
Tom Way
way@cis.udel.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:03 PST