Kerry, I really do live in CT. And thank goodness I grew up rooting for the Yankees and not the Red Sox (g).
Regarding PINC, my guess is the Millennium Bug Kit was being reviewed for inclusion on the October 6, 1998 issue of PC Magazine (which had "What to do about the Year 2000" as the cover story)-- and failed to make the cut.
To see who made the cut, check out the following links:
zdnet.com
zdnet.com
The Editor's Choice went to Network Associates:
Network Associates (800-332-9966, www.nai.com) offers two Windows products: McAfee 2000 Toolbox ($29.95 list) and Nut & Bolts 98 ($39.95 list). In addition to scanning your data files and applications for year 2000 bugs, McAfee 2000 Toolbox also runs the de rigueur BIOS checks (using the same code available at Virtual Labs) and implements a TSR fix. Nuts & Bolts 98--an eclectic package for managing, optimizing, and analyzing your PC hardware and software--includes basically the same TSR and BIOS-checking code as the McAfee 2000 Toolbox but does not--as its sister package does--permit you to uninstall the TSR with ease.
Obviously between heavyweights like Symantec and McAfee, and a host of home-grown solutions like RighTime, ComputerExperts, Unicomp, etc., PINC's Millennium Bug Kit will have to be pretty darn good to even draw some attention. And certainly advertising on AOL and various search engines is far more than CSHK did with their PC based Y2K offering, but, let's be realistic, PINC has an uphill battle ahead of them and very little money with which to wage war.
I think what irks people about PINC, including me, is the way in which they define and announce news. But no need to rehash that angle as Joseph Svejk already has it covered.
Lastly, if people want to believe that PINC will ever justify a market cap of over $5M, that's their prerogative. My only (cheap and unsolicited) advice is for one to ignore the (paid) marketing hype and base one's decision on how well one likes the product, and, or course, how well it appears to be selling.
- Jeff
P.S. Oh, as for my "relationship" to the Jeff Mitchell who is VP of R&D at FBN Associates, all I can say is that there certainly are alot of similarities: I have the exact same full name, I am a programmer, I have written profusely about FBNA, and I was interviewed by the WSJ about it. On the other hand, I have no contract with FBN Associates nor have ever received any money from them. How could that be? ;^)
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