Decisions, decisions. Should I or shouldn't I?

It's a moral dilemma, even if not one to challenge philosophers. I've been struggling with whether or not to encourage readers to try free Internet access. I haven't heard any complaints about my recommendation of Juno, the free e-mail service. But free Internet access, including the World Wide Web as well as e-mail, is another, more complex animal. It's been tried before, and failed, and I don't like to recommend one-day wonders.

Now there's the Tritium Network, established by a Cincinnati advertising agency, in six major cities including Chicago. Interestingly, Tritium has more POPs (points of presence, i.e., local access phone numbers) in the Chicago area than anywhere else. Like Juno, Tritium is advertiser supported. The underlying software, AdPath, places a banner at the bottom of your screen, with ads changing every 30 seconds. While this reduces screen real estate somewhat, I don't find the ads intrusive. In fact, I quite enjoy them.

Advertisers include major companies like American Express and Merrill Lynch, suggesting that Tritium may indeed have a chance for financial survival.

To sign up for Tritium point your browser to www.tritium.net and follow the instructions for registration. The process is a bit cumbersome, as Tritium 1st reviews your request, then replies within a few days with a temporary password required to download their special software. On my 1st attempt to download the software my password was rejected, but it developed that I had misread it, confusing an "i" for a "1." There are no "1s" in Tritium-supplied passwords. After initial setup you can change your password easily, via a utility on Tritium's site.

The installation file is over 5 megabytes, so takes quite some time to download.

When I tried to install their program the setup aborted, cautioning me that there was insufficient space on my drive. In fact, the drive I was using, (Maxtor, 7.2 gigabytes) is about 90% empty. The only possible reason for such behavior, I thought, was that Tritium was one of those poorly designed applications that insist on installing on the C: partition. Not so, as I was politely informed by Tritium tech support. The next day I had no problem executing the install program, so chalk this up as one of Windows' many mysterious annoyances. (Unfortunately, due to the proprietary ad software, Tritium runs only on Windows 9x/NT.)

Setting up your e-mail software for Tritium is simple, and there are guides on the Tritium Web site. Any browser may be used, including my favorite, Opera (www.operasoftware.com). Tritium's dialer is better than Windows' own (which isn't saying much), and easy to configure (but have the local dialup phone number handy).

Now in my 2d day of use, I quite like Tritium, and I think they've got a hit on their hands. I recommend you keep your existing ISP (Internet Service Provider), and use Tritium as a handy alternate. It's also a good way to get reluctant friends and relatives to try the Internet.

In many parts of the world Internet access (even telephone access) is difficult and expensive. Free Internet service? Only in America. What a country!

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