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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CPAMarty who wrote (32883)	5/3/1998 11:45:00 AM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

C-Cube and Open Cable boxes.................................. multichannel.com Obviously, the set-top box -- especially an OpenCable do-everything device -- could be one such appliance. There are other dedicated tools on the drawing boards. Admittedly, the network computer has been a nonstarter, so far. But it's early in this race for applications-specific devices that augment (if not replace) the not-so-ubiquitous PC. This looming proliferation of specialty products, hungering for connectivity, is one of the visions behind Sun's Java approach. More important, it should figure into the plans for the really wired household -- whether it is served by cable, telco or wireless connections. Last month's intriguing Java alliance between IBM and Sun for a new operating system (albeit mainframe-oriented at first) may offer a hint about alternatives yet to come. The opportunity to move beyond the PC is also one of the reasons why chip-makers like C-Cube have been showing up at cable conventions, and even broadcasters' conventions (when's the last time a TV station bought a set-top box?). Sure, they see new markets in the living-room wars -- but they also recognize that there's life beyond the PC. And they expect to be there. The love affair with the PC (if ever it existed, except in area code 408 -- now lapping into the new area code 650, as well) may soon be sidetracked. But connectivity is not going away. The next question may be: Connected to what? I-Way Patrol columnist Gary Arlen longs for the anthropomorphic days of home computers named VIC 20 and Trash-80.