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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rande Is who wrote (1611)	1/4/1999 11:54:00 AM
From: BANCHEE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57584

Rande Something you spoke about Fear of Y2K glitches fuels sales of solar supplies By Vicki Vaughan and Travis E. Poling Express-News Business Writer Those who fear Year 2000 computer glitches will cause services to go haywire are fueling some unlikely businesses, including sellers of solar power equipment and conventional generators. "Our business has roughly doubled in the last two months," said Larry Bowers, owner of Sun Energy Systems in San Antonio. "It is kind of staggering. We've only now gotten to where we can handle the workload." The real surprise is that many of the buyers of the solar systems work in the computer industry. "Computer people tell me they're just beginning to look at the enormous workload they're facing with Y2K, and they're starting to get concerned about their own homes. They are concerned about having a reliable source of power that they can count on." The so-called Y2K computer glitch refers to computers' potential to misread the year 2000 as 1900. If not fixed, the computer malfunctions could affect everything from air traffic control to power grids. Bower said his business started picking up in September "and it got real heavy starting in October." Before this latest surge in business, Bowers said most of his customers were people who believe use of solar power is good for the environment and those who want to save on utility bills. Bowers has added two part-time workers — engineering students at the University of Texas at San Antonio — who are working full time during the school break. Sun Energy sells solar systems that provide power to residences, as well as a range of solar-powered equipment ranging from windmills to generators and pumps. Bowers' newest customers are, in some cases, willing to shell out thousands of dollars to fight the threat of potential Y2K interruptions. Solar panels to power electricity to a three-bedroom house may cost $500, while a basic pump runs about $180. But the pump requires solar panels to operate, pushing its price up to $1,200 or more, depending on the needs of the homeowner. To heat a house with solar power costs about $4 a square foot, Bowers said. SunTrapper Solar Manufacturing, another San Antonio-based company, also has had increased orders for systems. "There's been a move afoot, but it's been a gradual thing that started about a year ago," said SunTrapper owner Rick Fossum. "I don't think (Y2K) is going to be anything disastrous, but if anything goes wrong, people can at least keep their refrigerators running," Fossum said. At another San Antonio business, Emergency Power Systems, owner Larry Baker said, "We've had a lot of calls, and there are a few who have bought generators. A lot of people are concerned about Y2K." Baker said, however, that he hasn't tried to sell equipment by tapping into people's fears about Y2K, "because I really know don't if it'll be that bad." Bill Wurz of Alamo Generator Service said Y2K concerns have fueled a flurry of phone calls to his business in the past four months — more than he has ever had in 28 years of business. "People are worried about their families," Wurz said of the callers. "These are not doom-and gloom-type people. They say 'there's going to be a lot of this fixed, but there's going be quite a bit that isn't fixed." Wurz said about 20 generator sales in recent months have been directly related to Y2K worries. At $11,000 for equipment powerful enough to supply all the electricity in a house and thousands of dollars more for propane tanks and the services of an electrician, the investment is not made lightly. One generator manufacturer told Wurz that orders made this month aren't likely to be filled until August, despite an expected 60 percent increase in production for 1999. Wurz said the hype and fears may be good for business, "but we don't want to wait another 20 years for it to get good again." f Saturday, January 2, 1999

To: Rande Is who wrote (1611)	1/4/1999 12:05:00 PM
From: BANCHEE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

Rande Maybe we should invest in some lawyers stocks if their are any..... 2k legal battles to heat up new year By Peter Coffee, PC Week Online December 30, 1998 11:40 AM PT Year 2000 action is shifting from solving the problem to determining who will pay. Federal courts got into the act last week: Cincinnati Insurance sought a partial shield from growing Y2K costs, and a software developer started class-action moves against Microsoft. In the first case, Cincinnati Insurance sold a business liability policy to Source Data Systems, and Source Data sold hospital management software to the Pineville Community Hospital Association. In 1996, five months after the software's installation, the hospital group determined that its newly acquired software would not perform correctly post-Y2K. The Pineville parties seek $1.25 million to cover the cost of replacing the system, and Source Data seeks coverage of the costs under Cincinnati Insurance's policy. Of course, everyone denies liability, but there are plenty of deep pockets. In particular, Source Data is now owned by Keane, whose annual revenues are quickly approaching $1 billion. Keane gets about a quarter of its revenue from Y2K work, according to Gartner Group estimates earlier this year. Now, watch closely: Source Data says that its contract with Pineville did not guarantee post-Y2K operation. Cincinnati Insurance asserts that its policy does not cover the costs of curing defects before they actually cause harm. Are we having fun yet? Let's look at the precedents that are waiting to be set. In custom software development, is operation beyond Y2K an implicit requirement unless specifically disclaimed? In sales of mass-produced software, is post-Y2K usability an element of implied warranties (which may vary from state to state)? If implied warranties are disclaimed by shrink-wrap licenses, are these effective? Or are they void due to either unconscionability or lack of fair bargaining power? Is it in the public interest to wait until someone gets killed, then count the bodies and send the insurance checks, instead of preventing the harm? If not, should insurance companies assist in preventing foreseeable harm? Is there anyone reading this column who doesn't have a large amount of money riding on the answers? At least as broad are the implications of Ruth Kaczmarek's lawsuit against Microsoft. She asserts that Microsoft sold versions of FoxPro and Visual FoxPro with knowledge of the products' date-handling defects. No, really? And exactly where is the boundary between "defect" and "bad design"? Kaczmarek demands compensation and punitive damages. Can you imagine the upper limit on a jury's punitive-damage award? Neither can I, especially if the suit does become a class-action case. I wonder, who will the class be? All FoxPro developers? All buyers of FoxPro-based applications? All users of FoxPro-based applications? And their children and pets? This isn't a can of worms--it's a barrel of rattlesnakes. What we're seeing here is the same thing that my civil engineering department head at MIT, Frank Perkins, called the abdication of the engineers. When a problem doesn't get handled by the people who can actually solve it, it slouches toward the courthouse or the statehouse to be reborn. The result is always a combination of messy lawsuits and misguided laws. Suppose, to be (I think) conservative, that the number of court cases doubles monthly from now through the end of 1999. We'll have 4,000 cases in progress before the odometer even flips to 00. When we return from the holidays, the Y2K marathon will start its last mile. Enjoy the season; next year's will be far more naughty than nice.