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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dick Enersen who wrote (7110)	6/8/1999 2:38:00 PM
From: Carolyn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28311

Here is something which affects GNET's Hypermart activities in a positive way, I think: Message 10031077 Also, OT, does anyone know if PA, Gates, and Russell belong to the same private clubs in Seattle? (I'll tell you why later.)

To: Dick Enersen who wrote (7110)	6/8/1999 5:24:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28311

Excellent questions. You suggest a definition of ISP and OLSP (online service provider) that's a bit different than what has come to be common. Here's an fine definition from one of SI's masters of telecom issues: Message 10021376 "An ISP is an organization that directly sells and provisions to its customers access to the Internet." So it's really a different beast than a portal. Yahoo, for instance, is not an ISP, but they are a portal. A portal, as you suggest, is a "door" -- a website that provides links to other places on the internet. They're now offering much more than that, but that's the basic purpose of the things. I think I understand that the INTERNET runs on telephone wire, so isn't the BANDWIDTH of any connection limited by the slowest link in the chain of connections? Sort of. The internet's backbones runs on high-speed fiber. ISPs connect to those backbones in various ways, but usually use very high-speed lines for the connections. This is a map that gives a good notion of where, what, and who provides those backbones: caida.org But you're right that a bottleneck anywhere in the chain is going to slow things down. That's one of the reasons that @home built their own network in order to move data at speeds appropriate for high-speed connections. (See home.net for more about that.) I am trying, among other things, to understand the much ballyhooed benefit to GNET from Paul Allen's ownership of CABLE ISP interests. Would those ISPs lead directly to GNET, in the same way a phone number leads to, and through, AOL? Allen, Vulcan, and Charter have given only hints about what their plans are for GNET and high-speed cable. Some of his systems already provide broadband connections, but that seems to be only the beginning. There are two aspects of it. Right now, folks focus on the high-speed always-on access for computers, but there are also likely to be some TV-related services that are different than what we've become accustomed to with computer web access. Will a GNET portal become a must-visit site for computer users on Allen systems the way AOL is for its users? Maybe, but probably not. AOL manages to do what they do only by forcing their users to load non-standard (and wholly redundant) software tools on their systems. Other ISPs can't force their users into any particular portal because they use standard internet tools. The user has a choice with most ISPs not only of what portal to use, but also of what other access tools (email clients and so on) to use. Could a GNET property become a must visit destination on interactive TV? That's far more likely. It's not at all clear how that sort of thing will work, but it seems likely that cable systems will provide the "sites" that lead from the TV screen to other resources available on those systems (whatever those resources might be). It might be just an extension of the kinds of program guides already provided on satellite and digital cable systems. But it seems that folks like Allen envision something far more versatile.