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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went!

INSP 86.10

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To: Greg S. who wrote (13703)	11/3/1999 7:41:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (1) of 28311

One of the things Microsoft discovered after buying WebTV is that very few people want the internet as we know it on their TV sets. They responded by making the service more TV-like. That service is still saddled with narrow-band pipes, but will soon become far more appealing when users have access to broadband connections. (WebTV is the stealth service on AT&T's cable system. Although the @home cable modems are getting all the attention in the current legal battles, Microsoft's service is poised to become every bit as significant in the broadband services delivered by that biggest of all cable providers.) Although the Vulcan broadband partners haven't yet given us a clear picture of what they will offer, it sounds like it will be something quite different than the current web on a TV set. I don't doubt that a box connected to a TV will be part of a convergence of TVs and computers, but I believe that the two appliances will remain quite different for some time to come. My computer monitor is actually bigger than my TV, but I still would watch most shows on the TV rather than on the monitor even if I had a receiver connected to the computer. That's because the TV monitor is in a place comfortable for viewing from a couch or comfortable arm chair. My computer is on a desk set up for viewing from a comfortable work chair. The keyboard and mouse get equal prominence with the monitor. It's a question of ergonomics. The "user" interacts differently with the two appliances. Because of that, they're usually set up differently. There seems little doubt that users will be able to read and respond to email on their properly equipped TVs, but I agree with you that the TV is unlikely to ever become the primary appliance for that task. That will remain the domain of the computer, or an even more specialized appliance. On the TV, we're most likely to see the kinds of multiple choice options that are easily controlled from a remote. Even if people eventually find that they can forgo the kinds of multi-purpose computers we're using now, I think it will be in favor of specialized appliances. Rather than surfing the web on the TV set, I might watch a show and surf web pages with a magazine sized viewer that communicates wirelessly with the settop box. (see, e.g. Apple's "AirPort".)

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