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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DownSouth who wrote (10855)	6/9/1999 11:18:00 AM
From: Ron Dior	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

<<I am out of ATHM for now. I am beginning to think that investing in ISPs of any sort is not wise (anymore). Investing in the providers of infrastructure seems to be the more profitable course (BRCM, CNXT, UNPH, PMCS, CSCO, WCOM...)>> DownSouth you make a good point. ISP's do not seem like the way to go right now. They are in a funny transition. Think about it, soon access to the net will be free. Where does that leave companies like AOL? These ISP's know that the big money to be made will be with advertising NOT membership fees. When the net can give the consumer a true interactive experience with perfected muti media, then advertisers will spend billions of dollars to be seen on these sites. Heres where the problem exists at present. Typical dialup access is so slow that the average person will not waste their time sitting through ad after ad. This is why there will be such a big push for highspeed connections. The connection companies that will make the money are the ones that will be able to take advantage of advertising. To be one of the successful ISP's you will need three major things: First and foremost you need a highspeed connection to develop an ad that will have impact to those viewing. Second, you need sort of an operating system to make the average person comfortable. The final thing you need is for people to be able to access it easily through phone lines, cable lines, wireless, TV's, Palm Pilots, Laptops, etc.. (This is where the open access will come in)! This is why I fell ATHM will be a leader. If you remember TJ has been putting much emphasis on advertising and multi-media. Also, they are out in front as far as highspeed connections go. They are working on being available for other mediums such as discussed above. They are out in front on all of these issues. They are the least likely to have to depend on the membership fee's to make money (remember to make money with advertisers, high-speed connections will be a must). The only problem they have is that they need some type of operating system so people will use their page. This is where AOL has a huge lead. That is why IMO AOL made a huge mistake not getting into bed with ATHM. All in all, I still feel that ATHM is in the best position as compared to the rest of the industry. Ron Dior