Commercial On-Line Service ProviderA commercial on-line service provider is a company you pay to provide you with Internet access and on-line "information management". America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, and Genie are all examples of commercial on-line providers.
Commercial on-line providers make it really easy for you to access the resources of the Internet. The material that they contain is often filtered according to standards that they create, meaning that on a commerical provider you may not have wide-open access to the Internet. Since the members of a commercial on-line service are the only ones with access to that service's discussion groups, many users feel that a community emerges within a service's subscribers. In addition to the discussion groups (which cover a wide variety of topics, from TV shows to orchid growing tips), commercial providers give you easy access to information such as weather reports, stock market reports, news, sports statistics, and shopping.
Commercial providers are a much more secure environment than the wide-open Net, meaning that you're less likely to get a virus or have someone steal your credit card number when you try to buy something. Commerical providers usually charge a monthly fee that includes several hours of complimentary time. After you exceed the number of free hours, you will pay per hour for your access to the service. The charges can add up rapidly at this point--some people have declared bankruptcy due to these bills.
If you're not particularly interested in learning about the technical side of the Internet, but are instead looking for sanitized, easy Internet access, then you should definitely invest in a commercial Internet provider.
Although you need a "service provider" to connect to the Internet, you don't necessarily need a "commercial service provider". If you can connect to the Internet through your school or business, you will not need to invest in a commerical provider. It is also possible to access the Internet through some Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), which you can call through your personal modem. Some cities also have "Free-Nets", which allow members of a community to access Usenet and other information by dialing a local number.