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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Lawrence who wrote (19031)	6/29/1999 3:37:00 AM
From: Scrapps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

Hum. maybe they just don't think of refrigeration as a technological invention, but then if I were ranking them I'd consider TV as mass destruction.

To: David Lawrence who wrote (19031)	6/30/1999 12:49:00 PM
From: Moonray	Respond to of 22053

Texas View: Palm-Size Computers Have to Gain Market Foothold Jun. 28 (Austin American-Statesman/KRTBN)--NEW YORK--Waiting for a customer he planned to guide through the overwhelming array of computer product booths at the PC Expo trade show last week, computer equipment reseller Abe Fisher scratched 3Com Corp.'s exhibit off the tour, bypassing the company's popular Palm Pilot hand-held computers. "We work with small to medium-size clients," explained Fisher, vice president of Seatauket Computer Technology in New Jersey. "They don't need these toys." Fisher's mocking of the Palm Pilot -- and by extension all hand-held PC devices -- presents a challenge to the still-emerging industry of so-called personal digital assistants, or PDAs. While PDAs are clearly a hit among technophiles -- you don't have to look far in Austin to see people writing e-mail, checking their calendars or making notes to themselves on the hand-held machines -- companies aren't exactly embracing PDAs as tools for business. "Last year, probably 95 percent of these things were bought by individuals," said Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies, a consulting firmcompany in Campbell, Calif. "Most of this stuff comes into the corporation through the back door." But companies recognize the devices' potential in keeping traveling employees in the loop. "We are starting to see more companies looking at these devices more seriously, and they're testing these devices," said Diana Hwang of International Data Corp. The analyst company expects the hand-held computer industry to grow by 35 percent in the next year. By comparison, shipments of personal computers are expected to increase by about 15 percent. About 9 million PDAs will be shipped this year, Hwang projects, compared with the 103 million conventional PCs that likely will be sold in 1999. One of the few companies in the Austin area to embrace PDAs for business use isn't known for its technological savvy. But Clark Wilson Homes Inc., one of the region's biggest home builders, has invested $10,000 or so to outfit most of its employees with Palm Pilots. Job superintendents schedule subcontractors for work, order supplies and track the progress of each house with their hand-held devices. Quality assurance technicians do checks of new homes on Palm Pilots. And estimators do their field work with the machines. "We've made a big investment, but it's paid off tremendously," said Nedda Brown, vice president of operations at Clark Wilson Homes. The company's workers "are much more efficient and they make fewer mistakes" because of PDAs. Hwang said that while that kind of potential tantalizes corporations, they're concerned about PDAs' compatibility with existing software. John Cahill, a technical support manager for Bank of America in Uniondale, N.Y., said he frequently hears from bank employees who have bought the devices and want to connect them to the company's computer system. The financial-services behemoth that resulted from the merger of Bank of America and NationsBank is concerned that they plugging in PDAs might interfere with its software programs, Cahill said. "We don't officially support it," he said. Because it's still young, the industry also must figure out how to make the various products compatible so that they can "talk" to each other and share software. To that end, 91 manufacturers, software companies and service providers have formed the Wireless Application Protocol -- companies call it the WAP Forum -- to standardize the industry. Bajarin said that 3Com and IBM, which makes a Thinkpad mini-notebook, are leading the PDA industry in offering corporate applications. In the meantime, the industry is busy promoting the devices to anyone who will listen. At last week's PC Expo, for instance, 3Com clearly promoted itself as an efficiency tool for individuals who want instant access to a world of data. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company paid a host of companies to join its exhibit space, including Fidelity Investments, the mutual fund company whose software comes loaded on the company's new Palm VII. Joe Reiter of Fidelity demonstrated how the device enables users to access the Internet in real time through a wireless connection. An investor on the golf course could check a stock price and buy or sell shares through Fidelity within minutes, Reiter said. Then he or she could check sports scores on the ESPN site or look at airline ticket prices via Travelocity. "It's aimed at our retail market," Reiter said. "We're trying to make it easier for customers to make intelligent decisions." o~~~ O