[2735] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: PSI Enhances PSILink Service, Adds Support for Wireless Data Networks
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Martin Lee Schoffstall)
Tue May 5 07:58:29 1992
To: Marc Horowitz <marc@MIT.EDU>
Cc: brown@psi.com (Kimberly Brown), com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 04 May 92 12:23:02 EDT."
Date: Tue, 05 May 92 07:57:33 -0400
From: "Martin Lee Schoffstall" <schoff@psi.com>
Sounds like a useful service. Maybe this is being presumptuous, but
I'm sure I'm not the only reader of com-priv who would like some
harder technical information than what's in the press release! Do I
get an IP connection over which I can run my own software? Do I need
a special PSILink email address, or can I pick up mail at my usual
site? Or is this a vertical service, with little room for expansion?
Reasonable questions.
This service uses application gateways to access standard tcp or osi
application protocols such as smtp/x.400/ftp/whatever. It does not use
IP at the client end but a simple access protocol that works over dialups,
aloha packet radio (RAM's), and soon other things like Novell's TCP. The
idea is that your portable/laptop/notebook/whatever is your environment
no matter if you are at work, at home, in a hotel room, or in a train/taxi.
The other goal is to have this work for millions of clients - scale wise.
At this time we require a special psilink email address; we've heard the
request that you are making before.
you equate "vertical service" with "little expansion" which doesn't necessarily
go hand in hand. However, there is lots of expansions capability in psilink
with at least 3 development groups working in that area.
PSILink is targetted at the non-network-geek marketplace, for instance the
K-12 community or the financial community.
Marty
