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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mkilloran who wrote (9838)	12/19/2000 6:32:07 PM
From: MikeM54321	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Mkilloran- The below is from the exact same report where ONS quotes '6% access using digital TV.' You say access via the two-way HFC network using a cable modem built into the STB. But I'm not certain this is what they mean. "Respondents were asked which technologies they had used to access the Internet and if they had used more than one technology respondents were then asked which method they used most often. Virtually ALL those who used the Internet for personal use had done so mostly or exclusively using a computer (98 per cent)" Even reading un-biased government reports can be difficult at times. ________________ Digital TV Delivery Again, I feel certain digital TV(analog signal digitized by the content providers and/or the MSO and then sent down the HFC network to a digital STB for their subs to watch on a plain old NTSC TV) is definitely for real and the stats supporting this are impressive. This is a here and now technology that MSOs have no choice but to rollout. But I can tell you if DBS dies, the rollouts by the MSOs will slow considerably. Unless VOD really turns out to be a strong money maker. In that case, digital TV will really crank up. Interactive-TV The jury is still out. No deployments have been done and it's a very confusing situation with about 50 to 100 players all vying for the same market. With Gemstar seemingly suing them all. I'm totally lost on where this is heading and who stands to gain by it. Totally lost. Internet-TV As far as Internet access via a TV, keep in mind there are two kinds. One is simply a dial-up connection via a WebTV-like box. The other is access via a cable modem built into the STB. I'm under the impression you think cable modem via the STB is for real. Yet I still have not found any definitive stats about the number of people signing on using their analog TV sets via a digital STB with a built-in cable modem--I think the answer is zero. Again, if you find any definitive stats, please reference them. I'm very curious as to what would be the motivation behind rolling out cable modem service over a Television set would be. Your ONS stats may mean, 'Internet access over a cable modem built into the STB for TV viewing,' but I cannot find where it says this. If you can, please point it out. I'm guessing ONS means something along the lines of WebTV dial-up service. 'Internet over digital TV' could mean many things. I know Microsoft is pushing their WebTV product hard. But it's really a dial-up service. Not a cable modem built into the STB service. Yet in spite of the big push by Microsoft, I believe there are only something like 1 million subscribers to their WebTV service today. Thanks for the ONS refferal. I saved them for future reference. -MikeM(From Florida)