Path: visi.com!winternet.com!kae
From: kae@citilink.com (Karl Erickson)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Channel 9 News Story
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 1996 22:34:37 -0500
Organization: Society for the Prevention of Cluelessness
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This is a transcript of the 7/9/96 Channel 9 news story:
----
A management shakeup at one of the Twin City's largest internet providers
has created a storm of controversy. Michael Horwath and his staff are out
at Winternet, and a lot of customers could soon follow.
If you surf the net, chances are you've already seen the news. On Friday,
internet service provider Winternet relieved president Michael Horwath of
running the company's day-to-day operations.
On Saturday, Winternet's main router crashed, cutting off nearly 4800
subscribers from the net.
[Michael Frankowski] "It's probably not 100% coincidence that it was the
day he left. It was probably because it was the first day we're back in
here. We were moving equipment around and probably partially because of
that it happened."
Co-owner Michael Frankowski has taken over for Horwath and says service is
pretty much back to normal.
He says the board of directors removed Horwath because he didn't pay
enough attention to business operations.
Computer and internet consultant Todd Mogilner has been a Winternet
subscriber since 1994. He's frustrated by what he calls a lack of
information about the Horwath ouster from Winternet's new management.
[Todd Mogilner] "They have shown...really a lack of decency, I think, in
this whole situation."
Mogilner's a Horwath loyalist. If Horwath doesn't return to Winternet, he
says he'll look for a new provider.
[Todd Mogilner] "I can wait until I either...I get sick of waiting,
or...the new people just drive me so up the wall."
[Michael Frankowski] "We'll lose some business, but we'll gain it back
slowly, and hopefully our reputation will get better as time goes on,
which will bring customers back to us."
But at this point, no one can forecast how much longer Winternet will have
to wait out this latest storm.
Michael Horwath says his termination was inappropriate. His attorney is
negotiating with Winternet to restore his position as president. Horwath
say his services are still available to customers until this issue is
settled.
--
Karl Erickson :: kae@citilink.com :: http://www.citilink.com/~kae/
Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask, "Why me?" Then a voice
answers, "Nothing personal, your name just happened to come up."
-- Charlie Brown, _Peanuts_ [Charles Schulz]
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Path: visi.com!winternet.com!news
From: ejuly@winternet.com (july)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 14:54:39 GMT
Organization: StarNet Communications, Inc
Lines: 14
Distribution: local
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kae@citilink.com (Karl Erickson) wrote:
>This is a transcript of the 7/9/96 Channel 9 news story:
>
>----
>
>A management shakeup at one of the Twin City's largest internet providers
>has created a storm of controversy. Michael Horwath and his staff are out
>at Winternet, and a lot of customers could soon follow.
>
>I
Wow, winternet keeps growing with every news report. It started out as
one of the largest, then the four largest, then second, now it is the
largest. I thought people were leaving.
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Path: visi.com!winternet.com!winternet.com!merlyn
From: merlyn@winternet.com (Doug McIntyre)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
Date: 12 Jul 96 15:22:41 GMT
Organization: StarNet Communications, Inc
Lines: 22
Distribution: local
Message-ID: <merlyn.837184961@winternet.com>
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ejuly@winternet.com (july) writes:
>kae@citilink.com (Karl Erickson) wrote:
>>This is a transcript of the 7/9/96 Channel 9 news story:
>>A management shakeup at one of the Twin City's largest internet providers
>>has created a storm of controversy. Michael Horwath and his staff are out
>>at Winternet, and a lot of customers could soon follow.
>Wow, winternet keeps growing with every news report. It started out as
>one of the largest, then the four largest, then second, now it is the
>largest. I thought people were leaving.
Technically, Winternet was the largest commercial provider, and was the
second largest ISP in the state. The U of MN Alumni program has many
more customers, but they only pay their membership dues in the Alumni
program, and Internet access is an added bonus. Winternet was by far
the largest commercial ISP, where customers actually paid for their
Internet access by a few thousand customers.
--
Doug McIntyre Ex-Winternet Employee merlyn@winternet.com
Network Engineer/Network Manager
Due to circumstances beyond your control, you are master of your fate
and captain of your soul.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Path: visi.com!winternet.com!kae
From: kae@citilink.com (Karl Erickson)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 11:26:38 -0500
Organization: Society for the Prevention of Cluelessness
Lines: 20
Distribution: local
Message-ID: <kae-1207961126380001@news.winternet.com>
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In article <merlyn.837184961@winternet.com>, merlyn@winternet.com (Doug
McIntyre) wrote:
>Technically, Winternet was the largest commercial provider, and was the
>second largest ISP in the state. The U of MN Alumni program has many
>more customers, but they only pay their membership dues in the Alumni
>program, and Internet access is an added bonus. Winternet was by far
>the largest commercial ISP, where customers actually paid for their
>Internet access by a few thousand customers.
Actually, the U of MN Alumni access is an additional fee to the yearly
membership dues. And, of course, if you'd like a 3.5" disk with the usual
round of freeware/shareware email/news/ftp/irc programs on it, that'll be
another $80.
I'm not kidding. :(
--
Karl Erickson :: kae@citilink.com :: http://www.citilink.com/~kae/
"Solution to Zeno's Paradox: Always shoot at something twice as far
away as what you're trying to hit." - Jeffrey Pack (jfp@brown.edu)
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Path: visi.com!winternet.com!compsoup.com!John_Seemann-Admin
From: John_Seemann-Admin@compsoup.com (John Seemann-Admin)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 12:51:59 -0500
Organization: Computer Soup Inc. http://www.compsoup.com http://loonlink.com
Lines: 56
Distribution: local
Message-ID: <msg4865.837194135@compsoup.com>
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What about Sony? (speaking in a Japanese style twang)
Polaristel (with whom I had a BAD experience) (and all of their
collective star sites) is probably pretty large too.
Congrats Mike and Doug. I feel badly for you and your crew. You guys
treated me and my little company like gold and I will *never* forget
that. I just wish we could have gone forward with some of the plans we
discussed before this crap happened. As it stands I cannot afford to do
much besides continue on my path.
Vector Internet made a "catch" indeed!
My sincere best wishes to all of you. I don't have time to do WUMPage
or now VUMPage often, but if I can I will, and I look forward to seeing
all of you.
John Seemann
Pres/CEO
Computer Soup, Incorporated
http://www.compsoup.com
(612) 780-0051
jseemann@loonlink.com
>From: merlyn@winternet.com (Doug McIntyre)
>Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
>Date: 12 Jul 96 15:22:41 GMT
>
>ejuly@winternet.com (july) writes:
>>kae@citilink.com (Karl Erickson) wrote:
>>>This is a transcript of the 7/9/96 Channel 9 news story:
>>>A management shakeup at one of the Twin City's largest internet
>providers
>>>has created a storm of controversy. Michael Horwath and his staff
>are out
>>>at Winternet, and a lot of customers could soon follow.
>
>>Wow, winternet keeps growing with every news report. It started out
>as
>>one of the largest, then the four largest, then second, now it is
>the
>>largest. I thought people were leaving.
>
>Technically, Winternet was the largest commercial provider, and was
>the
>second largest ISP in the state. The U of MN Alumni program has many
>more customers, but they only pay their membership dues in the Alumni
>program, and Internet access is an added bonus. Winternet was by far
>the largest commercial ISP, where customers actually paid for their
>Internet access by a few thousand customers.
>--
>Doug McIntyre Ex-Winternet Employee merlyn@winternet.com
> Network Engineer/Network Manager
>Due to circumstances beyond your control, you are master of your fate
>and captain of your soul.
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Path: visi.com!winternet.com!news
From: sjwalter@winternet.com (Scott J. Walter)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 20:57:07 GMT
Organization: Walter Enterprises
Lines: 18
Distribution: local
Message-ID: <31e6bbcc.3759015@news.winternet.com>
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John_Seemann-Admin@compsoup.com (John Seemann-Admin) wrote:
>Polaristel (with whom I had a BAD experience) (and all of their
>collective star sites) is probably pretty large too.
Boy, I can relate to _that_. My folks were on polaristel for awhile
(having since moved to Worldlink) ... man ... what a nightmare.
They've got a sizeable _potential_ base because of their alliance with
alot of the small-town telcos throughout the state.
-"Scotty"
------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott J. Walter http://www.winternet.com/~sjwalter/
C/C++, Java/Script, Web Design, MSWindows, Multimedia ... & more
------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's not a bug ... it's not a feature ... it's an ENHANCEMENT!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Path: visi.com!winternet.com!winternet.com!mfrahm
From: mfrahm@winternet.com (Matthew J. Frahm)
Newsgroups: winternet.general
Subject: Re: Channel 9 News Story
Date: 13 Jul 96 05:09:44 GMT
Organization: StarNet Communications, Inc
Lines: 29
Distribution: local
Message-ID: <mfrahm.837234584@winternet.com>
References: <kae-0907962234370001@news.winternet.com> <31e666b4.6362457@news.winternet.com> <merlyn.837184961@winternet.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: tundra.winternet.com
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merlyn@winternet.com (Doug McIntyre) writes:
>ejuly@winternet.com (july) writes:
>>kae@citilink.com (Karl Erickson) wrote:
>>>This is a transcript of the 7/9/96 Channel 9 news story:
>>>A management shakeup at one of the Twin City's largest internet providers
>>>has created a storm of controversy. Michael Horwath and his staff are out
>>>at Winternet, and a lot of customers could soon follow.
>>Wow, winternet keeps growing with every news report. It started out as
>>one of the largest, then the four largest, then second, now it is the
>>largest. I thought people were leaving.
>Technically, Winternet was the largest commercial provider, and was the
>second largest ISP in the state. The U of MN Alumni program has many
>more customers, but they only pay their membership dues in the Alumni
>program, and Internet access is an added bonus. Winternet was by far
>the largest commercial ISP, where customers actually paid for their
>Internet access by a few thousand customers.
Not to mention that the Alumni accounts are subsidized by the taxpayers
in part and also receive the benefit of scale economy.
--
Matthew J. Frahm________________________mailto:mfrahm@winternet.com
Stillwater, Minnesota http://www.winternet.com/~mfrahm/
"Bureaucracy, credentialing, taxation, litigation, and regulation. These
are the five great enemies that killed the entrepreneurial spirit."--N.G.
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