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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Korn who wrote (809)	12/30/1997 8:42:00 AM
From: Duke	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1629

WebTV takes off & High bandwidth reaches the Home ( from Net insider, Ten Net Stories that didn't happen 1997) : The subject of speculation for years, WebTVs from Philips and Sony finally made it into the stores last Christmas -- where they met a chilly reception. Some analysts said there was simply no market for the devices. Others said there was a market -- but not the one the manufacturers were targeting. Homes with PCs, especially those already wired to the Internet, were the most likely to experiment with the new appliances, not the unwired curious masses targeted in commercials. Either way, the first wave of WebTVs sat on the shelves. 1998 may be better for WebTVs. Mitsubishi says stores have already sold out of the stock of WebTV Plus appliances, a sign that consumers may finally be willing to invest in Net browsing appliances -- if the manufacturers meet them halfway. The new generation WebTVs offer hefty hard drives and the ability to surf the Web while watching TV. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was to be the year the speed limit on the infobahn shot up for home users. Cable modems, as pushed by Redwood City, Calif.-based @Home Network, were starting to make a dent. The new 56K dial-up modems were to replace the comparatively poky 28.8 and 33.6 modems for new computer users. Fast download times were to give Web publishers the ability to start using big graphics, video, and audio with a clear conscience. What happened? The fast dial-up modems have made a significant dent in the marketplace. But manufacturers came out with several different incompatible standards, and most ISPs chose to support only one. Consumers and businesses were forced to make a choice between technologies, knowing at least one of them could soon become the Betamax of the modem world. As a result, many chose to wait until the standards battle was settled, slowing adoption of the technology. Cable modems were even less successful. By the end of the year, @Home had about 25,000 subscribers. Time Warner's Road Runner and U S West's MediaOne, @Home's chief competitors, had merged to form a subscriber base of about 45,000, reaching respectability, but still a long way from ubiquity. The year ahead promises to be only marginally better. The 56K modems will likely consolidate around a single standard in 1998, boosting these to widespread acceptance. But the faster speeds Web users see at work will take longer to filter into the home. Forward Concept analysts said they predicted the United States would have 7 million cable modem subscribers by 2002 -- still only a small fraction of what will be total Web use by that time -- and other technologies such as ISDN, xSDL, or satellite modems must come sharply down in price before they can compete with traditional dial-up connections. So get used to those World Wide Wait jokes. They're not going away yet.