Getting on-line - computerized information services

The ascension of on-line services has answered the prayers of many time-strapped individuals. Imagine accessing Wall Street, researching Ancient Egypt, teaching your child to read, paying the mortgage, finding out the weather in Chicago for tomorrow's business trip and learning how to remove paint from your dining room carpet. All of this can be done in less than an hour. So, if time is paramount, check out these on-line options.

All the commercial on-line services generally operate the same way. For a slight fee, each service requires the subscriber to use a personal computer, modem, phone line and communications software tailored specifically for use on that system. The leading players are Prodigy, CompuServe and America Online.

The kind of information you can access seems unlimited: news, weather, sports, articles from back issues of popular trade and financial publications, encyclopedias, recipes, games, stock quotes and airline guides.

Even though on-line services have been around for more than a decade, the recent surge in usage has boosted industry sales to $344 million, up 44% in 1991 from 1990, according to SIMBA Information Inc. in Wilton, Conn. And it was expected to grow yet another 25% by 1992's end.

The Gang Leader

From inginue to expert, Prodigy, the IBM/Sears, Roebuck and Co. brainchild, is the nation's most popular on-line service. Marketed primarily to the novice and the family, Prodigy has cornered 41% of the online market. Ideal for first-time buyers, the White Plains, N.Y.-based service offers its 1.8 million users the least expensive medium.

Prodigy also is the easiest to use with its "jump" word feature. By simply typing in a single key word about the topic, you are automatically transported to the arena you seek. Thus, you bypass all of the tricky passwords and complicated menus.

Prodigy software costs $49.95, and there's a flat monthly fee of $14.95 for unlimited usage time. Some Prodigy services require extra charges, however, so make sure you investigate each service carefully.

Features include Consumer Reports, resume services and travel reservations with free overnight delivery. But Prodigy's strongest points are news, political and financial reports. Users can access Dow Jones News/Retrieval and The Quote Check, which retrieves up-to-date prices of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. After receiving the latest stock quotes, you could easily move to Company News and read news clips and articles on the companies you are interested in.

Prodigy offers only 30 free electronic mail messages per month. But the e-mail feature allows you to edit and compose "off-line," while not tying up the phone line.

For the kids, the ever-popular Sesame Street gang helps children learn the three R's. A choice component of the package is Muppet Mail, which lets children receive e-mail, just for them. The Sesame Street Custom Choice service is an additional $9.95 monthly charge for five-hours usage per month. Additional five-hour blocks also cost$9.95.

Public bulletin boards are also among the most popular features. Daily members post more than 80,000 public notes on more than 400 topics that all other members can read and reply to. Essentially, it's like having a pen pal.

BillPay USA is a must for busy bill payers. You can pay all household, credit and small business bills on-line. No more checks, stamps or memory lapses. The monthly cost is $9.95 for paying up to 20 bills. But make sure your financial institution is a member before signing up.

Prodigy is available in more than 17,000 retail stores nationwide and many personal computer and modem manufacturers often include it with the package.

The Granddaddy Of Services

The oldest on-line service, CompuServe Information Service, has more than 1 million members. First introduced in 1979 by Columbus, Ohio-based CompuServe Inc., this service lets users access more than 1,700 databases.

CompuServe's most coveted features are its broad range of investment data on stocks, mutual funds, bonds, options and commodities. The on-line brokerage services--SCREEN and COSCREEN--allow investors to select specific investments. Detailed info on publicly owned companies is available via the Disclosure 11 database, Standard & Poor's Corp., TRW Credit Reports and Value Line.

A real plus is current and historical price quotes along with market news and analysis from industry experts. On-line brokerage firms, Spear Securities and Quick & Reilly Group have a 24-hour daily buy and sell order. Electronic portfolio management automatically updates the investor's portfolio to reflect every transaction. It's like having a portfolio manager at your beck and call, 24 hours a day without the fees and commissions.

CompuServe's Executive News Service (ENS) is an electronic clipping service whose scope encompasses the Associated Press, United Press International, The Washington Post, Reuters Financial, World, European Community and Sports reports and the OTC NewsAlert (for information on over-the-counter stocks). Other news products are NewsGrid and The Business Wire.