gazines and newspapers, the obvious answer is, of course. Most printed publications like “The New York Times” charge for their online counterparts. After all, that’s how the print product makes its money. There are various hobby clubs, how-to, and specialty sites that charge for membership. But what about important, life-saving information? What do you do in a case like that?

There are many excellent websites that provide health and medical data from private and governmental sources. They are free

Can you remember when all television was free? You simply pulled open the “rabbit ears” antenna and voila! You got four or five channels. Then an insidious newcomer came into the marketplace with an intriguing premise; cable. It asked, why not pay for television that offered (a) better, static-free quality, (b) choices of various categories, i.e. sports, travel, comedy. (c) less advertising, and (d) movies on demand. Most of us scoffed at the very idea of paying for TV, but look what’s happened since then. Now we also have satellite doing the same thing, and most of us can barely remember what free TV used to mean.

Why did we allow it to happen? Because it offered a better, albeit, premium product. It was a choice we could make and eventually became part of our lexicon. Today, radio is going the same route. So why not look at the Internet with similar eyes? After all, it’s not really free anyway. You either have to have a phone line, cable, or satellite feed to hook up at a monthly cost. But, because it provides your e-mail, search engines, and other informative sites, it’s money well spent. So the idea of going on pay-for sites is nothing new. You still have many free choices and that’s wonderful. It’s the free-enterprise system working at its best. Let the market dictate what will happen.

So why would you consider paying for a service that can be obtained for free? Didn’t you learn anything from the cable TV example? What if the site provided really quality content that was up-to-date, easy to use and access, and downloaded quickly even with dial up? Today, less than 20% of all Americans have high-speed Internet access. So many of the picture and advertising banner-heavy sites take forever to come up with dial-up connections. Perhaps you would enjoy a membership site that has no advertising at all, as was the promise of the planners of cable TV. But in this case, let’s assume it’s true. Are there any examples of this concept in action?

It depends on the category. In the world of magazines and newspapers, the obvious answer is, of course. Most printed publications like “The New York Times” charge for their online counterparts. After all, that’s how the print product makes its money. There are various hobby clubs, how-to, and specialty sites that charge for membership. But what about important, life-saving information? What do you do in a case like that?

There are many excellent websites that provide health and medical data from private and governmental sources. They are free

n. Now we also have satellite doing the same thing, and most of us can barely remember what free TV used to mean.

Why did we allow it to happen? Because it offered a better, albeit, premium product. It was a choice we could make and eventually became part of our lexicon. Today, radio is going the same route. So why not look at the Internet with similar eyes? After all, it’s not really free anyway. You either have to have a phone line, cable, or satellite feed to hook up at a monthly cost. But, because it provides your e-mail, search engines, and other informative sites, it’s money well spent. So the idea of going on pay-for sites is nothing new. You still have many free choices and that’s wonderful. It’s the free-enterprise system working at its best. Let the market dictate what will happen.

So why would you consider paying for a service that can be obtained for free? Didn’t you learn anything from the cable TV example? What if the site provided really quality content that was up-to-date, easy to use and access, and downloaded quickly even with dial up? Today, less than 20% of all Americans have high-speed Internet access. So many of the picture and advertising banner-heavy sites take forever to come up with dial-up connections. Perhaps you would enjoy a membership site that has no advertising at all, as was the promise of the planners of cable TV. But in this case, let’s assume it’s true. Are there any examples of this concept in action?

It depends on the category. In the world of magazines and newspapers, the obvious answer is, of course. Most printed publications like “The New York Times” charge for their online counterparts. After all, that’s how the print product makes its money. There are various hobby clubs, how-to, and specialty sites that charge for membership. But what about important, life-saving information? What do you do in a case like that?

There are many excellent websites that provide health and medical data from private and governmental sources. They are free

use it provides your e-mail, search engines, and other informative sites, it’s money well spent. So the idea of going on pay-for sites is nothing new. You still have many free choices and that’s wonderful. It’s the free-enterprise system working at its best. Let the market dictate what will happen.

So why would you consider paying for a service that can be obtained for free? Didn’t you learn anything from the cable TV example? What if the site provided really quality content that was up-to-date, easy to use and access, and downloaded quickly even with dial up? Today, less than 20% of all Americans have high-speed Internet access. So many of the picture and advertising banner-heavy sites take forever to come up with dial-up connections. Perhaps you would enjoy a membership site that has no advertising at all, as was the promise of the planners of cable TV. But in this case, let’s assume it’s true. Are there any examples of this concept in action?

It depends on the category. In the world of magazines and newspapers, the obvious answer is, of course. Most printed publications like “The New York Times” charge for their online counterparts. After all, that’s how the print product makes its money. There are various hobby clubs, how-to, and specialty sites that charge for membership. But what about important, life-saving information? What do you do in a case like that?

There are many excellent websites that provide health and medical data from private and governmental sources. They are free

sy to use and access, and downloaded quickly even with dial up? Today, less than 20% of all Americans have high-speed Internet access. So many of the picture and advertising banner-heavy sites take forever to come up with dial-up connections. Perhaps you would enjoy a membership site that has no advertising at all, as was the promise of the planners of cable TV. But in this case, let’s assume it’s true. Are there any examples of this concept in action?

It depends on the category. In the world of magazines and newspapers, the obvious answer is, of course. Most printed publications like “The New York Times” charge for their online counterparts. After all, that’s how the print product makes its money. There are various hobby clubs, how-to, and specialty sites that charge for membership. But what about important, life-saving information? What do you do in a case like that?

There are many excellent websites that provide health and medical data from private and governmental sources. They are free

gazines and newspapers, the obvious answer is, of course. Most printed publications like “The New York Times” charge for their online counterparts. After all, that’s how the print product makes its money. There are various hobby clubs, how-to, and specialty sites that charge for membership. But what about important, life-saving information? What do you do in a case like that?

There are many excellent websites that provide health and medical data from private and governmental sources. They are free, but do accept advertising. In addition, the NIH, CDC, or Dept. of Health sites which are Federally operated, have limited libraries of information. For example, if you wish to investigate a disease, drug, vitamin, or herb, none of these sites can offer all the items you seek, even though they are free. So what does one do, in that instance?

You turn to a membership site that does have all the pertinent data in one place. Luckily for you, one such site does exist that also allows you to find physicians referred by nurses.

It’s called, thenurseschoice.com and requires a nominal monthly payment that’s less than a cup of coffee. It’s also advertising-free like the old cable world and easily downloaded by dial-up. So, why pay for information off a membership site? Perhaps because you value your health and the health of your family. And what’s that worth?