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

To: levy who wrote (26487)	8/17/2001 10:06:59 AM
From: Sarkie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

Hmmm That has been some time ago.

To: levy who wrote (26487)	8/17/2001 11:46:34 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 28311

Knew it had been too quiet from him....Now, what about those other "folks" who seemed to just pop up to support Jain when needed....wonder where they are now? Message 16197762

To: levy who wrote (26487)	8/17/2001 3:53:52 PM
From: Roger Sherman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

Time for INSP to dump their "wireless" strategy??? Is 60% of ALL cell phone use now in jeopardy? Heck, just as INSP is planning for a massive roll-out of their cutting-edge, state-of-the-art (even "patented") incredibly compelling "wireless" e-coupon paperless promotion part their "new and improved" business model. And I was so looking forward to scrolling through all those new thousands of "Alerts" from INSP on my cell phone, while screaming down the freeway, hair blowing in the wind without a care in the world...And perhaps if lucky, even finding a "paperless coupon" from the nearest Baskin-Robbins, offering me 7 or 8 cents off their double-scoop chocolate-chip-mint ice cream cone...if I can just take a very hard right at the next freeway exit. But then the following article comes out today, and completely ruined my entire day. Just how the heck can INSP make any "wireless" profits now? And it sure looks like fertile ground for an entire new round of massive class-action lawsuits...keeping tens of thousands of starving attorneys off the streets for decades to come (i.e. Senior Citizen Sues for Head-on Crash While Distracted by Cell Phone E-Coupon Viagra Discount "Alert"): seattletimes.nwsource.com ************************************** Friday, August 17, 2001, 12:00 a.m. Pacific STUDY FINDS HANDS-FREE CELL PHONES NOT ANY SAFER By Elizabeth Douglass Los Angeles Times Driving performance drops significantly when a driver is on a cell phone, regardless of whether a headset or other hands-free device is being used, according to a new safety study released yesterday. The study, conducted by University of Utah researchers and released by the National Safety Council, contradicts conventional wisdom that headsets and hands-free phones are safer than regular cell phones, which often require users to take one hand off the steering wheel. At least a dozen localities and 23 foreign countries have established various bans on using cell phones while driving, and at least 39 states are considering similar legislation. New York recently became the first state to pass a law outlawing handheld phones while driving. In Seattle, City Council staff members are working on similar legislation, as recommended by Councilman Jim Compton. "All of the laws that have been proposed or enacted, they all make the assumption that it's holding the phone that is the problem," said David Strayer, a psychology professor and lead author of the study. "Now the research community is coming out and saying, `No, it's not just that. You are impaired to dangerous levels when you are just conversing on the telephone.' " The bottom line of the new study: "People were four times more likely to get in an accident using a hands-free device" than if not talking on a phone, Strayer said. He added that the probability is the same for handheld phones. That finding puts wireless phone companies in a tough spot because at least one study found that their customers do as much as 60 percent of their talking while in a car. For the companies, the cell-phone bans with hands-free exceptions have represented a livable compromise, especially because of their side benefit of boosting sales of headsets, voice-dialing and other products. Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS and others typically offer a $5 discount on the purchase of a hands-free device and give out pamphlets on safe-driving with their phones. Sprint PCS also is planning a seminar for employers concerned about the risk--and liability--of employees using cell phones on the road. The industry's primary trade group, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, has been issuing safe-driving tips for years. But it also has lobbied against the growing wave of cell-phone bans in cars. In response to the Utah study, the trade group reiterated its safe-driving tips and argued that "any activity a driver engages in, besides the task of driving, has the potential to distract. ... Therefore, we must remind drivers that their primary responsibility is to drive safely." The trade group often argues that cell-phone use is just one of long list of driver distractions that can include everything from applying makeup or shaving, to drinking coffee or changing a compact disc. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driver distraction -- including talking, eating, reading or even changing radio stations -- is involved in 20 percent to 30 percent of all crashes. But Strayer's study found cell-phone use significantly more distracting than other activities.** The initial phase of the Utah study included 64 undergraduate participants and tested their driving skills while talking on a cell phone, tuning a radio and listening to a book on tape. Driving performance was measured using a computer-simulated driving scene that tested reaction times to traffic lights and so forth. The study, completed two years ago, used joystick controls and a "brake button," not actual car controls. Studies using simulators with real brake pedals and steering wheels have reaffirmed earlier findings, Strayer said. A complete report will be published in the journal Psychological Science. The Associated Press and The Seattle Times staff contributed to this report. Copyright © 2001 The Seattle Times Company

To: levy who wrote (26487)	8/17/2001 4:37:55 PM
From: mikiespeedracer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28311

Wasn't Coddington head of the ITV program (in the Broadband group) as well as SI?

To: levy who wrote (26487)	8/17/2001 5:03:22 PM
From: Roger Sherman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

INSP's most recent U.S. "e-coupon" patent (#6237145)... Finally approved by patent office on 5/22/01 patft.uspto.gov Levy, scroll down to bottom of link above and please explain to us laymen what the hll it all means. They sure could have used someone of few words, such as yourself, to write the dmn "Description" thing up, as it goes on and on for pages.<ggg> Yep, it sure seems to be very compelling stuff to me. Only problem I see is that apparently it can take somewhere around $500 million of company funds to prosecute as single patent infringement lawsuit, and INSP claims to have only around $400 million at the moment...and with somewhere around another 50 other patents still "pending," perhaps all just as cool and incredibly compelling as this one. United States Patent 6,237,145 Narasimhan, et al. May 22, 2001 System for accessing promotion information and for generating redeemable coupons therefrom Abstract A system for accessing and displaying promotion information and for generating redeemable coupons based on at least one of the accessed promotions stores promotion information records each of which includes an electronic coupon offer and information in connection with a product/service a merchant sells. The system also stores a user profile for a system user which includes user preference information. The stored records are presented according to a hierarchical menu structure. The user navigates menus to select promotion information records for presentation. The user electronically clips the coupon offer of the presented record and the electronic clipped coupon is stored. At the merchant, the electronic clipped coupon is accessed and reviewed, and a paper coupon corresponding to the electronic clipped coupon is selectively generated for redemption by the merchant. ------------------------------- Inventors: Narasimhan; Ashok (Los Altos Hills, CA); Raman; Vas (Los Altos Hills, CA); David; Bernard (Wilmington, DE) Assignee: InfoSpace, Inc. (Redmond, WA) Appl. No.: 696705 Filed: August 14, 1996 ------------------------------- (Just the portion of the patent's "Decription" from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office link above): FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system for accessing and displaying promotion information and for generating redeemable coupons therefrom. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a system where the accessing and generating for each particular user is influenced by a user profile for the user. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Discount coupons and other similar "tokens" are conventionally offered by manufacturers and retailers in newspapers, in magazines, by direct mail, and the like to entice members of the public to buy a particular product or service. As is well known, such coupons are usually targeted to specific types of consumers, and such targeting may be performed in a highly sophisticated manner. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the redemption rate for coupons in many situations may be in the range of one to two percent. A major reason for such a low rate is that many coupons offered to a particular consumer are rejected by that consumer simply for lack of interest. Further, even if a consumer wishes to take advantage of a coupon offer, the consumer may be prevented from doing so based on the inability to redeem the coupon before the expiration date. As a result, ninety-eight percent or more of all offered coupons are never redeemed. Systems have been proposed to increase the rate of redemption of coupons. For example, in one system, product information (i.e., listings, specifications, prices, discounts or other information for a product or service including depiction by language or graphics) is broadcast from a central location to a user's remote location, either as an over-the-air broadcast television signal or a cable television signal. In response to the transmitted product information, the user can print a redeemable coupon at a generating unit at the user's remote location based upon the transmitted information. While such system may increase the percentage of coupons redeemed, the system has a serious disadvantage in that the user must endure what is essentially an unending series of television commercials, many of which are for products and/or services of no interest to the user. In an improvement to the aforementioned system, the transmitted product information from the central location is stored in a storage unit at the user's remote location. The user can then play back, rewind, and fast forward through the stored product information, and can print a redeemable coupon at a generating unit at the user's remote location based upon the stored information. The storage unit can be configured to store all transmitted product information or only the transmitted product information that meets pre-selected requirements (e.g., product information for food products only). However, the improved system shares the same disadvantage as the previous system in that a user must still sift through much product information of no interest to the user. Furthermore, both systems are impractical in that the cost of placing a coupon generating unit at each user's remote location is prohibitive. A need exists, then, for a redeemable coupon generation system that allows a user to quickly access and peruse promotions or offers that are likely to be of interest to that user, that allows the user to generate one or more coupons to take advantage of at least one of the accessed promotions and offers, and that does not require additional equipment beyond that which is likely already available to the user. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned need is satisfied by a system for accessing and displaying promotion information and for generating redeemable coupons based on at least one of the accessed promotions. The system has a promotion information record storage device for storing a plurality of promotion information records. Each promotion information record includes an electronic coupon offer in connection with a product or service a merchant sells and information relating to the product or service being promoted. The system also has a user profile storage device for storing a user profile for a system user. The user profile includes user preference information based on preferences of the user. The user has a unique system identifier. A presentation device presents the stored promotion information records according to a hierarchical menu structure which includes a main menu and a plurality of hierarchically linked sub-menus. Each sub-menu includes a plurality of choices and the user navigates among the main menu and sub-menus to select promotion information records for presentation. An electronic coupon clipping device allows the user to electronically clip the coupon offer of the presented promotion information record. The electronic clipped coupon offer is stored in an electronic clipped coupon database in connection with the user profile for the user. A paper coupon generating device is located at a merchant. With the paper coupon generating device, the unique system identifier of the user is entered, the electronic clipped coupon offer from the electronic clipped coupon database is accessed, the user reviews the electronic clipped coupon offer, and a paper coupon corresponding to the electronic clipped coupon offer may be selectively generated for the user. The paper coupon is then redeemable by the merchant.