Women's Information Resource and Exchan

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Posted-Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1993 07:29:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mike Godwin <mnemonic () eff org>
Subject: Women's Information Resource and Exchange (fwd)
To: farber () central cis upenn edu (David Farber)
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1993 07:29:26 -0400 (EDT)


Forwarded message:
> From verve () well sf ca us Fri Oct  1 02:49:33 1993
Subject: Women's Information Resource and Exchange
From: "Eric S. Theise" <verve () well sf ca us>
To: jacked-in () well sf ca us
Date:   Thu, 30 Sep 1993 23:36:10 -0700
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3test PL45]
Message-Id: <93Sep30.233610pdt.14525-4 () well sf ca us>


Hi everyone; here's a hot bit of news from the electronic frontier.
WIRE will be demoed as part of our women's night at Modern Times on
November 21st.


Hope to see you before then,
Eric


= = = = =


WIRE:  WOMEN'S INFORMATION RESOURCE & EXCHANGE OPENS ONLINE DOORS


-- 500 Founding Subscribers To Gain Access to New Information and
Conferencing System for Women --


     SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., October 1, 1993 -- Women's
Information Resource & Exchange (WIRE), the first international,
interactive computer network dedicated to women, today opened its
gateways to Founding Subscribers, defined as people actively interested
in building this electronic frontier community.
     "More demographic balance in the online world is crucial," commented
Cliff Figallo, online communications coordinator of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation and former general manager of the WELL.  "WIRE is
providing a vital information clearinghouse and an easy-to-use
networked meeting place for the half of our population that has, until
now, been vastly underrepresented and underserved in the online world.
By offering a safe and welcoming haven where women can assemble and
learn, WIRE will help seed the world network with net-savvy females and
bring the electronic community more in balance with Real World
demographics."
     WIRE provides women with an easily accessed centralized source of
women-oriented information and conversation.  For the first time,
individuals and organizations can quickly and easily access up-to-date
databases, discussions, alerts, abstracts, resources and experts on
health, politics, career, finance, technology, parenting, education,
lifestyle and many other issues of interest to women.  Women and men
can log onto WIRE and discuss topics of interest with each other,
network to solve problems, instantly access information, keep in touch
with family and friends via email, and participate in newsgroups and
mailing lists from other systems on the Internet.
     "We think WIRE will be a great new destination on the information
superhighway,"  explained Ellen Pack, co-founder and president of
WIRE.  "There's a wealth of information for women to tap into -- health
studies, tips on starting a business or traveling alone, parenting
stories, legislative updates, funding sources, and discussions about
art and literature.  WIRE is excited to bring resources and dialog
directly to people's home and office computers.  WIRE is providing a
place for women around the world to get connected to what's happening
and to each other."
     WIRE Founding Subscribers will be limited to 500 people who want
to be early influencers committed to actively developing the online
community.  The Grand Opening for WIRE is scheduled for early 1994.
     "We want to foster diversity," says Pack.  "In Founding
Subscribers, we are looking for people with something to contribute,
personally, intellectually or through their involvements.  While many
subscribers will already be familiar with computer conferencing, our
goal is to make it so easy to get around online that it's completely
unnecessary to be technologically sophisticated."
     "WIRE's interface uses familiar desktop conventions with some nice
extensions -- a most refreshing alternative to the usual tangle of
Unixoid arcana," said Dr. Brenda Laurel, researcher at Interval
Research   "The big news with WIRE, however, is the content -- the pump
is primed with topics and points of view that invite women-centered
discourse and community building. I'm looking forward to living with
WIRE.  It seems like the right place to introduce my daughters (ages 5
and 8) to the wonderful world of networking, too."


USING WIRE IS EASY


     The point-and-click, graphical user interface makes it especially
easy for people to find the information they want and reduces the
learning curve required to use the system.  The graphical user
interface is currently available for Mac and Windows computers, with a
DOS version to be announced within a few months.  A command line
interface is also currently available.


WIRE ENCOURAGES CALLS TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT


     A friendly customer support team is available to users at no
charge.  "Part of our mission is to introduce more women to computer
networking which involves friendly and consistent user support."said
Nancy Rhine, co-founder and development director of WIRE.  "We want
people to ask questions!  We even hold face-to-face workshops at our
offices to demo the how-tos of exploring the online world.  At WIRE
there is no such thing as a 'stupid question'."


ACCESS TO THE VAST WORLD OF THE INTERNET


     Currently, WIRE offers Internet email, mailing lists, UPI
Newswires, and Usenet newsgroups.  Subscribers can telnet to WIRE using
either the vt-100 based command line interface or the Mac GUI
supporting color, sounds, and pictures.
     "Along with all the really juicy information available on WIRE, we
want to encourage women to access other information resources out there
on the Internet.  We are working towards providing the full range of
popular applications available via the Internet, including gopher,
WAIS, archie, ftp, and others", said Rhine.  "WIRE will be rolling out
technical tools one-at-a-time, both to ensure technical quality and to
provide the appropriate customer support.  We think focusing on quality
is the only proper way to keep up with the latest and greatest tools
available."


WIRE NETWORKS, INC.


     WIRE is an international, interactive, computer network serving
the information and networking needs of women.  WIRE's management and
support office is located in South San Francisco.  WIRE's computer
hardware is located and supported around the clock by Pandora Systems
of San Francisco.  WIRE is available today to founding subscribers at a
cost of $15/month which includes 2 free hours of online time,
additional hours cost $2.50/hour.  For long distance users, access is
available thru SprintNet at an additional cost, which varies according
to time of day.  WIRE is also available via telnet from a remote
Internet site.  Discounts are available for groups.  Gift certificates
are also available.


For more information contact WIRE at 415/615-8989 or send email to
info () wire net.


Press contacts:  Naomi Pearce (415/615-7914) or 
                 Nancy Rhine (415/615-8989)