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Technology Stocks : Gemstar Intl (GMST) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (1980)	2/11/2000 8:55:00 PM
From: Jon Khymn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6516

Uncle, the market tanking, GMST rocketing, I love it!!! Great earnings and I think more good news will keep rolling in... Uncle, personal question, is this your 2nd favorite stock after Qcom? If not, could you rank them in order? TIA, web

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (1980)	2/12/2000 1:59:00 AM
From: pompsander	Respond to of 6516

Nothing would be finer than an old-fashioned range war developing over the next six months. AOL TV comes out of the chute strong, signing up five million customers. WebTV responds, providing equipment upgrades, pricing enhancements, new services, upgraded IPG (hmmm). It adds two million new customers. ATT and other Cable refine their products in a variety of ways trying to hold on to the huge customer base they currently have. New STBs make the scene, each touted as the "latest thing" in total television enjoyment. The customer has a number of cost competitive, affordable choices....all with either an EPG or an IPG. Can't wait. Let the games begin.

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (1980)	2/14/2000 10:55:00 AM
From: Raymond Clutts	Respond to of 6516

I've been playing with that AT&T guide for the last two weeks after its recent installation and it has improved our viewing habits significantly. I've now taken GMST as my single largest position (aprox 9100 shares) and I had these thoughts about how this product has changed our viewing habits. First, with a 7 year old daughter and a year old son, we as a family have had a lot of concerns about channel surfing to inappropriate material. The guide has a four digit code lock for each channel that is based on our choice of ratings limits (ie in our case that code must be used to unlock anything rated over PG.) That ability to block classes of programing has given us a lot of comfort in letting our kids change channels in our absence. We can now insure that our kids are not prematurely exposed to all sorts of influences that we regard as too advanced. Second, the guide aggregates similar types of content (sports, movies, etc...) and lets you choose from among all the options on an equal footing. Which, IMHO, can only serve to further reduce the stature of the broadcast networks to a level equal to that of other cable channels or pay per view as one of several program options among all those available as broadcast content. Third, the Guide permits you to schedule your own viewing options during available leisure time, further fragmenting the networks' promise to advertisers of a unified viewing public. When TiVo is added to the Guide, I think that this will really reduce the impact of advertising as it permits you to choose exactly what you want to view, edit out the ads (with no more than a five to ten minute lag behind real time programing as it's broadcast) and to do this with real ease as a regular aspect of your viewing habits. Yes, I suppose that the VCR+ system and the VCR fast forward button technically gave you the same options but this time the ease of information access makes it an alternative that can be used on an almost real time basis. Finally, I think that with video on demand through broadband becoming a near term alternative, I can see the Guide evolving toward the status of broadcast portal for on demand video of all kinds. It's ease of use and consumer friendly organizational format should mitigate toward all types of content being sold through its aegis. This is really a great consumer product.