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Re: ISP's
Originally(not too sure what they do at the mo) they didn't 'connect you to the internet' they connected you to their own private network which had a gateway to teh Internet. However to do this they use a totally different protocol (netbui instead of TCP/IP) however in their 'wisdom' their install disc uninstalled TCP/IP from peoples computers. So if you tried for a month then tried to use anyone elses, your PC quite simply would not connect no matter who else you tried.
Teh other side is that as Roy has mentioned they have their own spin on censorship. They often hide perfectly usable parts of the Internet(Usenet for example was not available for YEARS and I believe has been withdrawn again!)
One other aspect that I find annoying(Although its not AOLs fault directly) is that a lot of their users tend to break lots of etiquette and AOL will do nothing about it where all other ISPs will warn and then boot troublesome users.
As for good guys, Pipex, Zen, Eclipse, Demon, plusnet all get good reports amongst people I know. It is as with mopst things in life, you get what you pay for. If you are constantly chasing the cheapest deal you will find they have to cut corners somewhere.
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