ñ PRODIGY - The "Interactive Personal Service" Copyright 1991 David Batterson PRODIGY has improved its user interface and graphics tremendously since I last reviewed it. The service has been heavily criticized over the past several months for some of its posting policies. (More on this later.) PRODIGY is unique in its own right. One main difference is that it is advertiser-supported, not user-supported like CompuServe. Another difference is that it is very graphics-intensive. The menu graphics are very crisp, colorful and fun to view. I haven't seen what the display looks like on a Mac. But even with an EGA display, the graphics are very colorful and imaginative. With a CGA or Hercules graphics card, the display is monochrome. The new software (Ver. 3.1) supports VGA, with up to 640x480 resolution. The features found within PRODIGY duplicate much of what you find on CompuServe, GEnie, DELPHI, and the other online services. There's EAASY SABRE, for homing in on the best airline fares and booking your seats. You can reserve hotel rooms or rental cars through the Service PLUS travel agency. Of course, you can shop for all kinds of products: computers, software, sweaters and sneakers, books, CDs, videos, and lots more through dozens of online merchants. You can also do online grocery shopping (in major cities). Online merchants include J.C. Penney, Pepperidge Farm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sears, The Price of His Toys, Books on Tape, Spinnaker Software, Casio, Gumps, Spiegel, and many other companies. There's online banking from different banks according to your geographical location. Banks, such as Wells Fargo which I checked out, mail information or you can open a account while online, and also sign up for the computerized banking as well. An online discount brokerage service serves stock market buffs, and stock quotes come from Dow Jones News/Retrieval, on a minimum 15-minute delay basis. The online encyclopedia has over 30,000 articles. The online news is adequate, sort of like CNN Headline News in text form. It's broken down in various categories, such as regional, area, business, company, health, PC, movie, and so forth. When you first log on, you see a teaser news headline, plus highlights of other sections. Consumer Reports offers a database of articles, information and ratings on hundreds of various products. They offer a section on product recalls, for autos and other products. Among the more popular features are the various SIGs, which PRODIGY calls clubs. There's the Computer Club (hardware, software, peripherals, etc.), Arts Club (films, TV, books, photography, music, fine art, etc.), a Food and Wine Club, Money Talk, Travel Club, and others. Each club has its PRODIGY experts, such as computer writer Larry Magid, movie critic Gene Siskel and Hollywood columnist Marilyn Beck. They not only write news items, but also are available on the bulletin boards to answer questions from users. They only respond to some, however. Naturally, there's an e-mail section too. Just like on a BBS, you can respond to a bulletin board message by posting it publicly, or send it as private mail. E-mail must be composed online, since you cannot upload text (or any other) files. Likewise, you can print mail, but not save to disk at this time. This can be achieved by using a shareware product called PRO-UTIL, available on BBSs. (I'll be reviewing the new version of PRO-UTIL in PC REVIEWS.) PRODIGY's text display is enlarged. It takes a bit getting used to, but isn't objectionable. However, it means that you must scroll a lot to see more information. The number of pages for e-mail messages is limited to six pages. On PRODIGY, there is continuous monitoring of public messages, so anything of a questionable nature should be sent as private mail. There have been some complaints in the About Prodigy Bulletin Board section (where ideas, questions and gripes are offered) about too much censorship. One has to remember that this is a different forum than a BBS, just as TIME magazine is different from the Los Angeles Reader. Obviously, there are different standards for language and subject matter, based on the medium and the company. I didn't find any fault with this, but some users do. You have to remember that major corporations are actually footing the bill here, to pay for their online commercials and shopping services. (PRODIGY is a partnership between IBM and Sears.) Teaser ads are displayed constantly in the lower part of the screen. These advertisers also offer coupons, brochures and special offers. You get more details on the goods and services by using the Look command. You then return to the section you were in with the Zip command. Right now there are 1,000,000+ users. The service is reportedly now turning a profit after losing many $millions. Some of that loss was due to less advertiser-support and online buying than had been expected. After many hours online, I must admit I found it rather enjoyable, informative, addictive, and a good value for the flat monthly rate of $12.95 a month (less if you pay by year). You are charged $.25 for e-mail messages beyond the 30 per month standard allowance. Overall, I do recommend PRODIGY. It's easy enough for computer novices, but also attracts mid-level and power users. Suggested retail price of the PRODIGY Start-up Kit is $49.99, but is discounted by software sellers. It is available free, however, through some computer user groups or if you purchase other software packages. Also, current users can order gift kits, so check with a friend who uses PRODIGY. For more information, contact PRODIGY Services Company, 445 Hamilton Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601; 914-993-8000. # David Batterson has reviewed various online services. Send your comments via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON.