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Technology Stocks : WavePhore (WAVO)- VBI fed WaveTop for WebTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doug (Htfd,CT) who wrote (1174)	4/7/1998 11:05:00 PM
From: David Gardiner	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2843

It seems most people think that WaveTop is only going to 50 markets right now. This appears to be incorrect The following is from the Florida Times Union - While tomorrow's launch officially is limited to 50 cities, not including Jacksonville, all PBS stations will be sending the WaveTop data, since it will be embedded in the national PBS uplink. However, WaveTop currently has monitoring equipment installed only at PBS stations in those 50 markets. Users in Jacksonville most likely will be able to receive WaveTop broadcasts starting tomorrow, but the company isn't making any promises until it has monitoring gear installed at WJCT TV-7 -- probably within a couple of weeks, said WaveTop director of operations Michael Sowell. ------ Here's some additional news: Dave LA Times story that says WaveTop has got 3000 downloads first day. Talks about need of Win 98 for WaveTop success. latimes.com:80/CNS_DAYS/980407/t000032908.html Additional more general story. latimes.com:80/CNS_DAYS/980406/t000032657.html NY Daily News Story SECTION: Business; Pg. 63 LENGTH: 307 words HEADLINE: IT'S THE LATEST WAVETOP IN TV PROGRAMING BYLINE: By KENNETH LI Special to The News BODY: The Web is getting its shot at TV stardom. WaveTop, the first nationwide broadcast of Web content over conventional TV airwaves, was launched yesterday by Phoenix-based WavePhore Inc. The service is free, but users must purchase a $ 100 TV tuner card to plug into their home PCs to receive broadcasts. At launch, WaveTop will begin broadcasting limited Web pages from a bevy of major content providers that include Time Inc. New Media, Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, CBS Sportsline and other content streamed directly onto their computers. Broadcasts will reach two-thirds of all U.S. households and reach 85% by this summer. WavePhore also secured a deal with Microsoft to have WaveTop software bundled into the next version of its operating system, Windows 98. "The whole premise of WaveTop is (that) you're not waiting for content anymore," said Sandy Goldman, general manager of WavePhore. Companies like Microsoft, Netscape, and PointCast who all provided a version of the technology largely conceded defeat last year when users failed to adopt the medium. Analysts noted WaveTop has solved some of the problems that had stymied others. "Compared to other data broadcast attempts, this one seems to be on pretty good footing," said group director Ross Rubin, of the telecommunications and technology division of Jupiter Communications, a New York-based Internet research firm. Still, WavePhore looks to face an uphill battle as it searches for advertisers at a time when mainstream advertisers are slow to market their products on the Web. For the launch, companies like Kellogg, Nissan, Smith Barney and Spiegel join more tradtional Net advertisers like Intel and Hewlett-Packard to advertise on WaveTop. The company also will live and die by the quality of its content, said Rubin.

To: Doug (Htfd,CT) who wrote (1174)	4/8/1998 7:18:00 AM
From: dale sicher	Respond to of 2843

Good morning, Doug. It's 4:15 AM and I just got back from softball and then the bar in Huntington Beach and I'm mostly thinking about Wendy the goddess behind the bar so if I ramble please forgive me... Firstly, I disagree that IE is becoming the dominant browser. Current figures show Netscape with about 60% of the market, 30% for IE, and 10% for others. browserwatch.internet.com 30% is not what I would call dominant, although I understand that IE may be gaining. Here is an overly simplistic argument: 1) Most everybody uses Windows 95 (or NT) 2) Windows includes IE as the default browser 3) Almost 2/3 of the masses rejected the default browser and actively obtained Netscape as their preferred browser Secondly, the conjecture that Microshaft coerced Wavephore into making their WaveTop solely compatible with IE4 is PURE speculation on my part. I watched keenly last spring the way Microsoft dealt with a small but very competant company called Citrix. Microsoft turned on them after years of having a good working relationship during which Citrix provided a popular and powerful extension of Windows (ICA) and made gobs of money for both firms. Microsoft trashed Citrix's stock with their threats but it turned out in the end that Citrix held the winning hand, and their management, if not investors, knew it and eventually outmuscled Microsoft. Wavephore in no way, shape, or form currently has the clout of a Citrix, and I think they just knuckled under to them in order to get their WaveTop included in Windows 98. It makes absolutely no business sense to me that when you are launching a new piece of software and are trying to get as many pairs of viewing eyeballs as possible to require 2/3 of the market to switch to a browser that they obviously do not prefer. The bottomline is that I just don't think it was Wavephore's choice to go that route. But hey, what do I know? If the DOJ and MS can't agree I'm sure this is all well beyond me. Thanks for sharing your experience with antitrust law. I'm going to try and catch a few hours of zzzs before I have to go to work. I'll bet I dream of Wendy and not of Wavephore! P.S. California lottery at over $70,000,000! Want me to buy you a ticket for tonight?