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

To: Robert Rose who wrote (12801)	10/12/1999 11:43:00 AM
From: New Dog	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 28311

ABSOLUTLY...Russ made a serious commitment when the deal was struck with PA...he gave up a lot of the company, but went from a single player, to a team overnight. Which is the reason advertising has come almost to a dead stop. Everything they do from this point forward will be for the benefit of the team...which is part of the reason we have traded so flat, very few investors have a clear understanding how all this will play out.

To: Robert Rose who wrote (12801)	10/12/1999 5:17:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 28311

gnet now becomes the portal for chtr. Therefore, gnet's customers/users are largely a captive audience (freely acquired by gnet). As chtr's customer base expands, so does gnet's (free of charge to gnet). While I think the partnership of GNET with Charter and the other members of the broadband partnership announced the other day represents an important new market for GNET, I don't think it will (or should) replace the web market they've been building from the start. I see them as separate initiatives. The plans outlined the other day for the broadband portal strategy focus on TV settop boxes. That's a technology that's different enough from a computer-based internet connection that the two will probably remain largely distinct. It doesn't matter if one has high bandwidth, it still makes little sense to merely transfer current web pages to a TV because of the resolution limitations of TVs. One example: The page you're looking at right now won't fit onto a TV screen. It's both too wide and too long. Even if it did fit, it would be difficult to read since current TVs use a display method that causes static images to flicker in a bothersome manner. HDTV will fix those problems, but even then, there's little indication that TV viewers are interested in the same kinds of content chosen by computer users. The announcement the other day seems to recognize that the content and technology that will be developed by the Vulcan broadband partners will be unique and different from current web offerings. Another factor is market size. Charter is and will probably be for some time to come a relatively small cable operator. Even if the Vulcan partnership has a captive audience of all Charter subscribers, that's still a smaller number than one of their main competitors in this space will have. As a result of their eye-popping investment in AT&T a few months ago, Microsoft is guaranteed half of T's settop boxes. That's about 10 to 15 million captive eyes for their version of a settop portal compared to Charter's 6 million. Both Excite@Home and AOL also have divisions working on similar initiatives. It is, in other words, already a competitive market even before the first real application in the space is released. It's not even clear yet how these things will be presented to users. Will customers of an MSO be stuck with the video portal chosen by their franchise or will they (eventually) be able to choose among several choices as they do now with Showtime and HBO? But however that develops, it's a different market from the web as we know it now. The kinds of advertising campaigns being discussed here would focus on the web market and that will remain a primary part of GNET's business whatever happens with Charter.

To: Robert Rose who wrote (12801)	10/12/1999 8:09:00 PM
From: yzfool	Respond to of 28311

Robert, Agree with Rtev, GNET is content, whether its for Charter or the www. And its beneficial to all involved, CHTR,GNET and investors, that GNET evolves without completely changing their strategy to suit one project (CHTR) out of many. The PA investment enhanced the resources necessary to follow their plan and also gave them a hometeam jersey. yz

To: Robert Rose who wrote (12801)	10/12/1999 9:52:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 28311

Right on Robert.... I've been pretty much thinking the same thing and accounted for the lack of advertising effort as playing the waiting game for the Charter IPO. Let Charter carry the advertising burden and collect the hits from their captive audience as well as the rest of the internet. I really expect this stock to move in sympathy with Charter (pray for a good IPO environment that week.. :0), as well as on earnings due in the last week of this month. I will have to make a call in November... Either the stock motivates or I'll be forced to migrate and maybe roll into RMBS, COVD, CAIS, EGOV, QWST, or any of the other numerous issues I would like to own, but can't while I'm sitting on dead money here in GNET. No offence Russell, or anyone else on the GNET staff.... I know the street is loath to give this company the respect it deserves. Hopefully, Charter will cause them to stand up and take notice. And if GNET's earnings performance matchese that of YHOO, we'll be seeing a new high. Regards, Ron