On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 13:55:47 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Jul 4, 1:53*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,
*Higgs Boson wrote:









Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? *Is it to access news
groups? *For that purpose, is Google really so awful? * Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. *I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. *If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

.

These are called "newsgroups" and collectively make up "usenet."
Companies that collect, store, and disseminate the "articles" that you
and I write and post here to alt.home.repair are called "news servers."
Some charge a small fee but many are free.

The software that resides on your computer that deciphers and organizes
and lets you work with all those articles from all those newsgroups is
called a "newsreader" and almost all of those are free to download and
install.

Usenet is not a web-based forum. It has to be *******ized to be made
world-wide-web compatible. You might have several pieces of software on
your computer: A word processor, a web browser, a photo editor, a
spreadsheet program, etc. The *correct* tool to read usenet is a
newsreader. You wouldn't use a spreadsheet program to write a letter,
and it's equally silly to use a web browser to participate in usenet.

So, if you want to get away from google's pathetically poor imitation of
usenet, you need to give up the idea of using a web browser to get here.
Find a news server, get a newsreader, and feel the joy.

Thanks, Smitty. What I want is to read Usenet. You said that was a
"Newsreader." Which is the term I used in my initial query. Somehow
got confused with what you called: "news" like stories of fires and
wars and crime and traffic."

Not interested in those.

Everybody on a.h.r seems to think that for newsgroups/forums anything
is better than GG Web-based "newsreader. Agent used to offer it free,
then went to paid, which I used for a while. Trying to remember why I
stopped; maybe because while traveling, I could access Web-based
msgs. ???

Somebody pointed out that Agent "Newsreader" CAN still be purchased
in various "strengths". I don't mind paying the $2.95 for low
volume. But is there something free & GOOD?

Tx to all for helpful input.

A "newsreader" is the client software that you run on your computer to read
Usnet articles. "Agent" and "Gravity" are examples of "newsREADERS".

A "News server" is the thing in the cloud that the news reader connects to, to
serve the articles to your newsREADER. Most newsREADERS are free, with the
obvious exception of Agent. News SERVERS include "ThunderNews", "GigaNews",
"Individual", and the one run by the makers of Agent, "Agent Premium News".
Individual is cheap, about $14 a year, though doesn't have binary groups.
ThunderNews is around $7/month, IIRC, and APN is $3/month for 15GB. *ANY* of
which is better than Googlie Groups.

HB

(Over at CERN, they're STILL trying to track down MY particle. . Heh,
heh, heh!)

I bought Agent long ago. Was using an older version -- I think 2, or
a little higher? -- but didn't continue to upgrade because I was not
attracted to all the bells & whistles. It's still active on my system.

You don't need to upgrade. There are many other free news readers, as well.