Spinway, Inc.‘s
co-branding partners can now get its hands on an overlooked member of the
Internet community with the free Internet service provider’s announcement
to include Apple Computer,
Inc., MacIntosh support and access.
Spinway isn’t the first major free Internet service provider to bring Apple
users into the fold, but it’s the only one in town these
days. The service was first provided by Freei.net last October, but the free ISP
folded up last month and was assimilated by NetZero, Inc. . A
quick check on NetZero’s site shows no continuation of Freei.net’s Mac
support.
One of the biggest challenges Mac users have faced since the dominance of
the Windows Operating
System in the early ’90s is relevance. To the general public, Mac is
right up their with the Beta-style Video Cassette Recorder; all the cool
software and games use Windows as its platform, with Mac added almost as an
afterthought.
Available only to iMac and PowerMac computers running MacOS 8.1, the
browser-independent software is available online with a download or a
CD. The software uses only 5MB of disk space and 8MB of RAM. According to
Spinway officials, customer service representatives have been trained to
assist Mac users downloading and installing the software into their computer.
Steve Seabolt, Spinway president and chief executive officer, said his
company’s partners are the real beneficiaries of this announcement.
“We are very excited to enable our partners the ability to offer their Mac
customers the same high-quality, free Internet access that their PC users
have been experiencing with Spinway,” Seabolt said. “Consumers have the
benefit of receiving a premier service for free from a name band they know
and trust, and our advertising clients have the opportunity to extend their
reach to a broader audience.”
Spinway partners include Barnes & Noble, Costco Wholesale Corp. , KMart
and Ace
Hardware.
Mac support has received a very lukewarm reception to the free ISP
community. Gary Baker, Juno
Online Services, Inc. , spokesperson, said his
company doesn’t currently offer or plan to offer Mac support in the near
future. That’s not to say, Baker said, that down the road the company
won’t offer the service.
