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Technology Stocks : George Gilder - Forbes ASAP -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: George Gilder who wrote (250)	10/21/1997 11:45:00 PM
From: Bill Fischofer	Respond to of 5853

I agree As a recent (last two months) convert to cable modem service the idea of going back to a phone dialup is unthinkable (sort of like asking a 56K user to go back to a 300-baud accoustic coupler). Frankly, even if ADSL were offered today they'd have to match the cable pricing, which is something the RBOCs are loath to do. I'm still using a one-way cable modem here (phone for uplink, cable for downlink) which is well worth the small premium over standard (phone) ISP service. Two-way cable service (which I'm told will be offered within 12 months) will actually be cheaper than a standard ISP plus an extra phone line. Since the major capital cost for cable companies is the infrastructure they largely have in place to support Cable TV, adding modem service effectively allows them to double their revenue base at small incremental cost. Given the small cost to cable companies to provide this service and the huge consumer benefit, I see no way to stop cable from achieving near universal internet penetration in their service territories within the next 2-3 years. The market will thus be effectively sewn up while ADSL is still piloting and trialing. On another topic, I've been a subscriber to your newsletter since June and the one glaring omission I see in your telecosm thinking is network storage. All of these terabytes flying about have to come to rest somewhere. The company which seems to be filling this niche quite nicely of late is EMC, as today's earnings release demonstrate. Would you care to comment on the role you see data storage and management technology playing in the telecosm?

To: George Gilder who wrote (250)	10/22/1997 12:32:00 AM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5853

[RBOCs] <<<The RBOCs fear cannibalization of their T-1 revenues and are now falling far behind the cable companies in Internet potential, as even Bill Gates has recognized.>>> I suspect Gilder is right. I also wonder what will happen when their T-1 customers go to someone else for ADSL because it's cheaper. Hmmmm. . . reminds me of the fable about the monkey who put his hand in a jar of peanuts and filled it so full he starved because he wouldn't unclench it to get it out. Not an exact metaphor, but you get the idea. Cheers! Pat

To: George Gilder who wrote (250)	10/22/1997 2:24:00 PM
From: NYBellBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5853

Mr. Gilder-- I'm just an RBOC financial type, but isn't it true that the RBOCs couldn't do out of Region Internet Services because that was considered as Long Distance by the FCC? I firmly believe that the RBOCs are ready to begin Data, Internet & ADSL in particular in earnest as soon as the Long Distance restrictions are lifted. Ivan S. mentioned on Corp TV this morning that priorities are #1 Long Distance, #2 Data. My associates in Finance looked puzzled and I couldn't have been more delighted. Regards from 42nd St., :) BellBoy

To: George Gilder who wrote (250)	11/17/1997 7:01:00 PM
From: moat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5853

Mr. Gilder: I subscribe to your monthly letter. I have a suggestion: I wish you would consider graphing all your charts on a log scale when you are showing the growth of something. A log scale shows the human eye percentage change of something over time. For example, Chart 2 of November's letter shows Internet traffic in terabytes per month. The current chart don't show it, the growth-rate is actually slowing down a bit if you plot it on a log scale. Another good example would be Moore's Law of course--a straight line on a log chart over 30 years. Another example are the stock charts at quote.yahoo.com (see its ten year charts on a log scale). p.s. above, I really mean semi-log of course.