Apologies to those who pay by volume

[Anne Casey <anne -at- ERM -dot- OZ -dot- AU>]

It wasn't me that complained Dawn, but you have
missed the point - some people pay for volume.

I have two accounts - this one at work, which is
paid for by my employer, and one at home, where I
pay a flat fee per month, much like your HBO or
magazine subscription. And yes, I don't enjoy
everything that arrives in my in-tray; but I
can always delete it.

However, there is another type of account where
in addition to any other charges, you also pay
per megabite downloaded; this includes the Web
and email. People who have that type of account
will understandably get very choosy over what
they receive, and don't appreciate some of the
line noise that passes for conversation occasionally.
This is like your magazine subscription, only
you get charged for every page, and you cannot
control how many pages you get, short of unsubscribing.

Before you say "well, that's their fault, they should
get a better account" - remember: this list goes to
people all over the world. If you live in a large city,
there may be plenty of competition, giving you better
value for your net [insert local currency here]. OTOH,
if you live in a country where there are timed local
calls (try basically anywhere in Europe), no matter how
cheap your ISP, anything longer than a quick call to
download email gets very pricey. I know someone with
a *serious* net habit that cost him 10,000 pounds in
3 months - and that was only phone bills. Here in
Australia, the ISPs are charged volume by AARNET/Telecom;
I'm lucky that my ISP absorbs the cost, but many don't.

Now maybe you can feel justified in saying "bad luck,
move on if you don't like it" - but quite often these
are the people who really *need* the list - they live
in small towns/countries where there is little opportunity
for professional development, or even social interaction
between tech writers - this may be their only outlet.

So people - think Pithy. And take earnest discussions between
limited groups off-list; you know who keeps responding -
so email them direct instead.

And - I apologise again for the length of this :-).

Anne Casey
Techwriter at the end of the Internet
anne -at- erm -dot- oz -dot- au