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To: SpecialK who wrote (15306)	12/11/2002 12:57:01 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57684

Why does it feel like there is less value? You may say because you spend more time watching TV than your PC. Because the extended cable channels feel something like "premium content" to me. You can't go buy a TV and turn it on and get premium cable, in the way you can log onto the internet for free using netzero and dialup (although it will be slow, agreed). The dialup companies also have the infrstructure issues to deal with, do they not? And yet they can still price at $10 (or less)/mo. I'm not saying broadband isn't a valuable service but putting a "non-tech" consumer hat on for a moment, bb seems way overpriced at $40/$50 considering you can get dialup for $10 or less and cable TV for $40. BTW my cable company has some bundling packages that make cable worthwhile now. Phone, tv and internet for $85-$90/mo, thats a good price. Lizzie

To: SpecialK who wrote (15306)	12/11/2002 5:14:00 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

Accenture: Reality Going Online By J. Bonasia Investor's Business Daily Tuesday December 10, 10:31 am ET Researchers at Accenture Technology Labs are probing the outer edges of business and technology to glimpse the future for their clients. They say reality itself may soon be captured online, with a virtual mirror of everything floating in cyberspace. "People in the future will not surf the Internet, they'll surf reality," said Luke Hughes, director of research at Accenture's lab in Palo Alto, Calif. A global consulting firm, Accenture Ltd. runs similar labs in Chicago and the south of France. Hughes says the emergence of pervasive computers and cheap, networked sensors will have a profound impact on the future of business. He describes a world in which every object and process will be modeled and improved online. "Reality online means that once you put the Internet in the physical world, you have the opportunity to suck the physical world back into the Internet and create a virtual copy of the physical world, or a digital double," he said. 'Copy Of Real World' Product makers and farmers might learn how to boost output by tweaking digital doubles of their production systems. Doctors could do online diagnostics before using therapies on people. And military strategists might use tiny battlefield sensors to track the spread of chemical weapons. "This copy of the real world will be increasingly detailed and delivered closer to real time," Hughes said. "Because business is still conducted in the physical world, we can get a digital handle on it in order to optimize processes." Reality online could have dramatic effects on both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets, says Anna Danilenko, an analyst with International Data Corp. "Using the Internet, networks and sensors is not new," she said. "But combining them in new ways could revolutionize business processes in both the B2B and B2C worlds." A virtual double of reality means firms will be able to simulate business processes on their networks. These virtual processes could be tested to see what will speed time to market, raise yields or cut waste, says Danilenko. "You create a double of reality to have a virtual equivalent," she said. "This could tremendously broaden the chance to increase productivity and be more efficient." Recreating reality online will hinge on a number of breakthroughs, says Hughes. They include "smart dust" and radio frequency ID tags. Motes of smart dust are actually supersmall sensors that use a wireless network to talk to a central command post. Such little machines have big potential, says Hughes. Lumber firms could drop clouds of smart dust on forests to monitor fire hazards and timber health. Likewise, oil companies could use smart dust to track far-flung pipelines and wells. Radio frequency ID tags, or RFIDs, are spawning another concept known as silent commerce. Such tags are microprocessors with antennas embedded into products or user cards. They send detailed information about the products or users when queried by external devices. Tracking Products RFID tags already help speed commuters through bridge toll booths. In the future, they'll be used to detail the life cycle of products for manufacturers, says Paul Mackinaw, an Accenture Labs manager. Carmakers could put a tag on each engine to pinpoint its unique history. Detailed updates could then be added to the tag at each step of the engine's assembly, says Mackinaw. He says such tags create a kind of sensory system that will detect changes in the body of a company. "These are active tags that allow you to trace the physical process to do troubleshooting," he said. "The world is digitally available, so now you can debug the world." RFID tags could also turn the whole world into a showroom where any manmade item can be ordered online. For instance, a person might literally scan a co-worker's necktie and then order it directly from the garment maker. The wearer might even earn a commission on each sale. "This concept could be a big breath of fresh air for e-commerce," said analyst Danilenko. Mackinaw demonstrates this "real-world showroom" with a doll prototype that shops for its own clothes. The doll has a tag reader and sensor embedded into her body. This allows her to order doll accessories by connecting to a personal computer - but only if her owner has given her a shopping allowance. This bizarre doll model is intended to grab the attention of Accenture clients, says Hughes. Yet the concept of a self-guided purchasing agent could be applied to many business problems. Such an agent could be a factory shelf requesting replacement parts, a truck signaling the need for service or a printer ordering more paper. "I give my printer a budget to buy paper because I don't need to make those decisions," Hughes explained. Applying Technology By raising such points about the future, Accenture hopes to win over customers and influence debates about business technology. In that sense, the research at Accenture Labs serves as a marketing tool for the larger consulting firm, says Gartner Inc. analyst Michael Palma. "What stands out about Accenture's R&D efforts is the linkage between technology advancements and how to apply these advancements to the needs of their clients," he wrote in a recent report. Clearly, the team at Accenture Labs envisions a broad shift for conventional commerce. The age-old concepts of buying and selling are about to be upended by reality online, Hughes says. "Increasingly, everything is a store," he said. "Everything you see will be available for commerce."