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To: stak who wrote (69170)	11/28/1998 10:05:00 PM
From: L. Adam Latham	Respond to of 186894

stak: Off-topic - cable modems It could be that 85% of cable modems homes are 2-way not 15%. If it is 85% one way then there's around 100 million one-way ready homes?? This came from Earthlink's Pipeline FAQ at earthlink.net. They say "Approximately 85% of all cable networks in the United States are One-Way." The confusion here may be that they say 85% of networks, while a significantly higher percentage of homes may have 2-way access. I wasn't aware that there is any choice of speed. @Home has the top Megabit speed available for all. I rechecked Earthlink's Web site, and it does appear that St. Louis has a flat rate of $34.95 for 1 Mbps downloads, not including cable modem rental (not sure what that costs). Other cities offering Pipeline do have plans priced on the download speed, some quite expensive. Adam

To: stak who wrote (69170)	12/3/1998 4:47:00 AM
From: stak	Respond to of 186894

Linux--Achilles' heel? By Ben Heskett Staff Writer, CNET News.com December 2, 1998, 4:00 a.m. PT special report It is the once-obscure operating system that could. Linux is on a roll, the beneficiary of a series of moves in recent months by some of the largest companies in the computer industry, feeding the perception that the freely distributed, Unix-like software could provide a serious alternative to the dominant Microsoft Windows franchise. If successful, Linux poses a big threat to Microsoft's platform dominance. Linux is outside Microsoft's API control. Since the operating system is based on standard Internet protocols such as HTTP, TCP/IP, and other technologies defined and maintained by bodies outside Microsoft's purview, the software giant can't steer its future direction, or even be guaranteed of revenue from selling Linux applications. An internal research paper, part of the so-called Halloween memos believed to have been intentionally leaked to the Net by Microsoft, shows that Microsoft's own engineering staff sees Linux as a serious, commercial-ready operating system. According to a memo written by Microsoft engineer Vinod Valloppillil, Linux "represents a best-of-breed Unix that is trusted in mission-critical applications, and--due to its open source code--has a long-term credibility which exceeds many other competitive OSes." In what the memo's author considers the "worst case" scenario for Microsoft, Linux will "provide a mechanism for server OEMs to provide integrated, task-specific products and completely bypass Microsoft revenues in this space." Evidence of the momentum is everywhere. Estimates peg the installed base of machines running Linux software at anywhere from 7 million to 10 million users. One Linux-based company, Red Hat Software, recently garnered the financial support of both chip giant Intel and Netscape Communications. Corporate software developers such as Oracle, Sybase, and Informix also have pledged to offer their software on Linux. That has been buttressed by efforts to create more wide-ranging support options for Linux, a weak spot for the operating system in the view of some. And the Redmond, Washington-based software giant has noticed. In a recent annual filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft said it expects to have more competition in the market, due in part to the growth of Linux and the support it continues to receive from third-party applications developers. Linux is thought by some to be an attractive alternative to Microsoft's Windows NT Workstation and Server operating system, which has experienced significant sales growth in recent years. Based on the recent publicity surrounding the Halloween Memo, it also seems Microsoft could learn a thing or two from the Linux distribution model. Linux is a product of the 1990s, though its genesis came out of AT&T's Unix software efforts in the 1960s. Linux's roots as a Net-based software phenomenon date back to 1991, when Linus Torvalds--then a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland--decided to build an alternative to Windows and DOS.

To: stak who wrote (69170)	12/3/1998 4:53:00 AM
From: stak	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Another CEO's views on PCs ============================ HP's Platt: PCs are "pretty crude" By Tim Clark and Brooke Crothers Staff Writers, CNET News.com December 2, 1998, 6:35 p.m. PT SAN FRANCISCO--The head of one of the largest personal computer companies in the world, Hewlett-Packard CEO Lewis Platt, today talked about the obsolescence of the PC. "I'm not predicting the demise of the PC, but the PC is a pretty crude device, hard to use, and so 'general purpose' that very few of us use more than five percent of its capability," the Hewlett-Packard executive told a Business Week conference here. "You'd be better off with an appliance that is cheaper, smaller, and does the special-purpose job [that you're] doing," he said. Platt's comments are more evidence that computer companies are seriously rethinking the utility of this aging paradigm. His disclaimer notwithstanding, all of the largest PC vendors are all anticipating significant changes in personal computing as users have known it for more than a decade. Rod Schrock, senior vice president in charge of Compaq's consumer products division, also indicated that he sees the writing on the wall in discussions with CNET News.com at the Comdex computer show. Compaq is now looking at a number of specialized devices, he said, alluding to one kitchen appliance that could "handle personal finances, home shopping, and home video and voice mail." Prices would range from about $200 to below $1,000, he estimated. "You're going to see a whole lot of experimentation," Schrock added. Along with Dell, Compaq further envisions more specialized computer models, targeted at discrete markets. For instance, both have recently begun marketing some PC models essentially as feature-rich Internet terminals. Platt's comments came after he painted an environment of "information utilities" in which people and companies will pay for data and services as needed, saying that a variety of digital devices could be used to access these information services. He showed a handheld scanner called "CapShare," which he said can scan up to 50 pages and then move that information into any device that is infrared transfer-enabled. "This can literally squirt the data into a phone or printer so you can fax or email a colleague and embed an image in it," he said. "We think this is a kind of appliance that will become more popular," he continued. "Just as we have hundreds of specific-purpose electrical appliances in the world today, we will have hundreds of these appliances. "You don't hear people complaining about lots of electrical appliances--I think we're headed toward that world [for digital appliances]," he said. HP will supply processors to power the appliances but also the computers on the back end to host those services, Platt said. Later, the company will have the opportunity to build appliances to plug into the new information utilities. "We see the Internet and Web as the first step toward an information utility or pervasive computing," Platt concluded. "It will be device-, location-, and user-independent. We think it's going to do for services--billing and commerce and others--what the Web has already done for data: Provide universal access."