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Technology Stocks : PC Sector Round Table -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yogi - Paul who wrote (345)	5/12/1998 1:43:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2025

Yogi, I've been looking into something that is turning out to be very interesting and not far off your subject of Interactive Kiosks. It's called agents, and it could develop into a totally new way we interact across the net. Now, we have an idea and we search out an address to get the answer. In the future, we'll have intelligent agents doing it for us. Our agents will reside on many places in the VPN as well as interacting with public agents from others. It could be that it will be very far reaching and may become a basic technology that is as important as a Java. I really don't know, but there are some very basic issues developing around the user interface. Instead of going to a browser and looking at an address as we do now, we'll have information gathered and assimilated for us. Think about Deep Blue making a decision for a chess move. How many different possibilities are plotted before you could be presented with a few good choices. It's kind of like push technology, but a thousnd times more powerful. Here are some examples given by General Magic (a major patent holder for the agent) about how it could be used: The power of agents becomes apparent when you consider that they can travel to any electronic marketplace equipped to handle agents, and accomplish many tasks all on your behalf. Saving you precious time and expense, by making calls, running errands and taking care of all life's little details. Plus, agents can be instructed to notify you when conditions change in the marketplace -- if, for example, a product you want suddenly becomes available at the price you are willing to buy. Here are some of the possible scenarios and applications for mobile agents. The Vigilant Agent Chris learns by chance that the Dave Matthews Band will be in town next month. He tries to get tickets but learns that the concert sold out in 20 minutes. Thereafter Chris's agent monitors Ticketron every morning at 9 a.m. The next time a Dave Matthews Band concert is listed in his area , the agent snaps up two tickets. If Chris can't go himself, he'll sell the tickets to a friend. Chris invests in several publicly traded companies. Chris's agent monitors his portfolio, sending him biweekly reports and word of any sudden stock price change. The agent also monitors the wire services, sending Chris news stories about the companies whose stock he owns. Chris buys a television from The Good Guys. Chris's agent monitors the local consumer electronics market for 30 days after the purchase. If it finds the same set for sale at a lower price, the agent notifies Chris so that he can exercise the low-price guarantee of the store he patronized. The Legwork Agent John yearns for a week in Hawaii. His agent voices his yearning in the electronic marketplace, giving details that John has provided: a few days on Kauai, a few more on Maui, beach-front accommodations, peace and quiet. The agent returns with a dozen packages from places like American Airlines, Hilton Hotels, Aloha Condominiums, and Ambassador Tours. Unlike the junk mail that John receives by post, many of these offers are designed specifically for him. The marketplace is competing for his business.John is in the market for a camera. He's read the equipment reviews in the photography magazines and in Consumer Reports and has visited his local camera store. He's buying a Canon eos a2. The only remaining question is: from whom? John asks his personal communicator. In 15 minutes he has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the three shops in his area with the lowest prices. A camera store in San Jose, 15 miles away, offers the a2 at $70 below the price at his local camera shop. Needless to say, the $70 that John saved was significant to him. He could have consulted the three telephone directories covering his vicinity, made a list of the 25 camera retailers within, say, 20 miles of his office, and called each to obtain its price for the eos a2, but who has that kind of time? John now considers his personal communicator to be an indispensable shopping tool. Combinations Mary plans to take Paul to see Phantom of the Opera next weekend. Her agent tries to book orchestra seats for either Saturday or Sunday, gets them for Sunday, reserves a table at a highly regarded Indian restaurant within walking distance of the theater, and orders a dozen roses for delivery to Paul's apartment that Sunday morning. Mary's travel plans change unexpectedly. Rather than returning home this evening as planned, she's off to Denver. Mary's agent alters her airline reservation, books her a nonsmoking room at a Marriott Courtyard within 15 minutes of her meeting, reserves her a compact car, and provides her with driving instructions to the hotel and the meeting. The agent also supplies Mary with a list of Indian restaurants in the vicinity. General Magic has devloped some patents for a users interface bringing together all this technology using voice interfaces. It seems to be very exciting. It's difficult to determine where fact becomes fantasy, but so far I see some pretty amazing stuff. I'm sure you've all wondered why General Magic was the most ative stock last week. Have you looked into it? Regards, Mark