I just an article on MSNBC last night (here) that was an exerpt from William Shatner's book Star Trek: I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact, where he discusses all sorts of Star Trek technologies, notably warp engines and antimatter.
He discusses the "real science" and problems with space travel, etc., one of them being the difficulties in mass-producing antimatter (said to be the most efficient form of fuel). And then today, we read that CERN (maybe) mass-produced antimatter. Cool! One step closer?:)
I for one would use the system without too much of a gripe, as long as the ads weren't extremely annoying (pop-up/pop-under).
If you're planning on making off with a nice wad of cash to provide this service, I wouldn't get me hopes up too much. Yes, NetZero is still up and working utilizing a similar business model for dialup, but.... If you're wanting to do this in order to provide a service because you see a need and would like it if you yourself were a user, then I think you'll be better off.
Here's where I think the real kicker lies: I think it depends heavily on the dynamics of your college town, and the local businesses. If your local businesses already see advantages to advertising to the college students through pre-existing campus-directed online advertising formats, then your job will be a tad easier since you wouldn't have to play the marketing game and sell them on the idea first, and just concentrate on the technical side.
Otherwise....you'll definitely have your work cut out for you, both from the business as well as the technical side of things.
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I just an article on MSNBC last night (here) that was an exerpt from William Shatner's book Star Trek: I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact, where he discusses all sorts of Star Trek technologies, notably warp engines and antimatter.
He discusses the "real science" and problems with space travel, etc., one of them being the difficulties in mass-producing antimatter (said to be the most efficient form of fuel). And then today, we read that CERN (maybe) mass-produced antimatter. Cool! One step closer? :)
I for one would use the system without too much of a gripe, as long as the ads weren't extremely annoying (pop-up/pop-under).
If you're planning on making off with a nice wad of cash to provide this service, I wouldn't get me hopes up too much. Yes, NetZero is still up and working utilizing a similar business model for dialup, but.... If you're wanting to do this in order to provide a service because you see a need and would like it if you yourself were a user, then I think you'll be better off.
Here's where I think the real kicker lies: I think it depends heavily on the dynamics of your college town, and the local businesses. If your local businesses already see advantages to advertising to the college students through pre-existing campus-directed online advertising formats, then your job will be a tad easier since you wouldn't have to play the marketing game and sell them on the idea first, and just concentrate on the technical side.
Otherwise....you'll definitely have your work cut out for you, both from the business as well as the technical side of things.
Good luck!