However, in the face of what had happened to Electron and Phoenix,
continuing to hack didn't seem worth the risk.
When Pad gave up hacking, he bought his own NUI so he could access
places like Altos legitimately. The NUI was expensive--about
[sterling]10 an hour--but he was never on for long. Leisurely chats of
the type he once enjoyed in Altos were out of the question, but at
least he could mail letters to his friends like Theorem and Gandalf.
There would have been easier ways to maintain his friendship with
Gandalf, who lived in Liverpool, only an hour's drive away. But it
wouldn't be the same. Pad and Gandalf had never met, or even talked on
the phone. They talked on-line, and via email. That was the way they
related.
Pad also had other reasons for giving up hacking. It was an expensive
habit in Britain because British Telecom time-charged for local phone
calls. In Australia, a hacker could stay on-line for hours, jumping
from one computer to another through the data network, all for the
cost of one local call. Like the Australians, Pad could launch his
hacking sessions from a local uni or X.25 dial-up. However, an
all-night hacking session based on a single phone call might still
cost him [sterling]5 or more in timed-call charges--a considerable
amount of money for an unemployed young man.
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