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There are few Internet services that stand the test of time. Consider how many social networking sites and other popular services that have come and gone in the last 10 years. Most of these services come and go so quickly because another service either vastly improves on their offerings or reinvents them altogether. The Usenet service is one of the very few Internet technologies—including instant messaging and email—that have endured for many years. Supernews has been in the business of providing Usenet access since the Internet first exploded as a viable consumer product.

Supernews has been in business since 1995. The service is among the oldest of Newsgroup access providers. The service has all the hallmarks that make Usenet providers competitive against one another. There is SSL encryption on the connections, a long retention time for posts with binaries attached and the capacity to get up to 30 connections for downloads. These features are requirements if the customers of this company are to realize the full power of the Usenet system. The system itself details how a service that is entirely Internet dependent could stay in business for 15 full years.

The service Supernews offers is based on social networking online, but not in the same way as the “personal homepage” type sites provide. Usenet newsgroups constitute literally thousands of interests. The participants in these newsgroups participate in lively debates that are archived for a long period of time. Unlike an Internet forum, you don’t have to create a new account for each different group you want to join. To participate, you just start posting. This service is more popular than most people would likely believe. It is also very flexible. Even those with very slow Internet connections can easily participate in these debates.

Supernews primarily competes based on its long existence. It offers services that can compete with anyone else’s, but the Usenet itself is the thing of interest here. Like the company itself, Usenet has remained useful and viable in a competitive environment where new technologies are always seeking to outdo what has come before them. Today, it’s apparent that some technologies are likely here to stay for quite a while longer. For all of their complexity, the Internet forums and file-sharing protocols that compete with Usenet have never matched it in terms of simplicity, flexibility and, thanks to multiple connections, the speed available.

Marion Marshall runs a website UsenetReviewz where he reviews Usenet services and software. Read more about Supernews Review when you visit http://usenetreviewz.com/supernews-review/.