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To: Scott C. Lemon who wrote (64)	7/18/1999 10:38:00 PM
From: gdichaz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 332

Not Flash disk from SanDisk? If not, why not? Or in reverse, why an IBM moving disk for a handheld? Curious. Chaz

To: Scott C. Lemon who wrote (64)	7/20/1999 4:09:00 AM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 332

I've posted some questions to the Phone.com thread which I think are very relevant to what we are doing here. I'd appreciate any comment from you and everyone. Message 10576015 Thanks Ellen and all for your responses. I guess my ultimate goal is to see the whole story. There will be perhaps 4 main areas of development. - Server side/network management which might be exactly what this Bell South announcement is all about. - Device side which would be operating system and perhaps that would integrate some functions like browser, and messaging or mail? It would probably include device management such as synchronization, input/output (ASR, Handwriting, and specialty keyboard), GPS, and security/authentication. - Applications software. This might be something that resides on either the device or in the network. Many people seem to think the future of large applications like MS Office will all be run from the network. Certainly, in a small device, it makes sense to maintain major files centrally on the network. - Content. Certainly, the end game for many companies will be content. What services can be sold. Airtime for use. Rewards from selling to these new applications users. But, we get back to the central question of where PHCM supports and ultimately makes great profit from all this. I begin to think PHCM is the major player in the server side with its Up.Link software suite. I also believe some of this end will be contested by Spyglass. Certainly, many entrenched players will also want to take control; Lucent, Nokia and Motorola. At the device side, I believe we see Symbian as a major player in the OS with EPOC leading. The challenge Microsoft will play will be with Win CE, and then you also have a secondary challenge with 3Com trying to channel specialty rich content into their Palm Pilot with a central server. I am not aware that PHCM is challenging the OS? I believe instead, they will try to provide the browser. Again, this seems to be open to resistance as I think Nokia and Ericson are supporting their own browsers, and perhaps there will be many more applicants. I can't believe Netscape is not a player. But, at what point does Microsoft's claim that the browser is a natural integration to the OS become a threat to any of these companies? Shouldn't it be true then that the major browser players will be Symbian and MSFT? Who chooses the browser anyway? Today, it looks like the browser and OS come bundled into the phone. Can MOT and Nokia sell different products into the same network? I guess they must, as this is the key to WAP. I suppose we all need to know that we can roam to other networks and still use their systems. But for a company like PHCM to profit from device side software, must they have a relation with the hardware manufacturer? Is MOT their only ally? Once we do know that they can profit from a browser, is it possible to quantify the benefit? $5 per phone for example? On the server side, is this where we will see the greatest profit and control? Regards, Mark PS My friends on other threads often laugh at my ability to ask questions. I hope its provoking thought. I wish I had the answers, instead of questions.