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Technology Stocks : Concurrent Computer (CCUR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Christiaan McDonald who wrote (7040)	2/11/1999 7:28:00 AM
From: Don Hand	Respond to of 21143

Nice circle of posts. Sensormatic (SRM) is actually making a come back. They make among other stuff those tags attached to clothes that secure department stores from pick pockets. I am sure the scramblers are hard at work to secure the digital packets on movies. Has anyone else noticed the number of STB's available in the market. They must me easy to make. They all seam to have claimed a niche of the market. CCUR would have to spend all their time just adapting their interfaces. It's okay with me if Intertainer's of the world do the content.

To: Christiaan McDonald who wrote (7040)	2/11/1999 7:44:00 AM
From: Nimbus	Respond to of 21143

FREE Ken ... do you pay for TV movies or TV Shows ? ... NO. Do you pay for website access ... rarely (like SI). Do you pay for ANY web Images ?? maybe to the porn sites you visit. The advertising revenue makes it free to the mass market. Are you new to this planet ? The amount of hours spent watching movies is NOTHING compared to that of other video content. And even if I have to pay for a movie, getting it downloaded from a website will likely be far cheaper than from my cable co. You always distort what I say and I'd wish you'd stop. Why can't you even consider this as a possibility ?? You are so bent on not losing another $100K for ever 25 cents this stock slides that you will do anything to supress selling. Are you in favor of cable co limiting our access to internet sites that have video files to watch, and even email with attached video files ?? Is Alabama now part of Cuba ?

To: Christiaan McDonald who wrote (7040)	2/11/1999 8:24:00 AM
From: Goodboy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21143

Ken, no doubt about it that some content can and will be streamed for free from portals to generate ad revenues. The problem is that bandwidth costs money and if all of us started to download a favorite episode of Cheers, we would clog the pipe and slow down the system for all the other users. This is bandwidth management 101. TM seems to think that the VOD model relies on any and all Video. That is stupid. We are talking about replacing the current first run format of pay per view or video release. Of course, there will be more content to be stored at the head end, but it will also come with a charge. Last time I watched the History Channel, A & E or even public television, they offered to sell me a video of the program for $19.95. This is a valuable source of revenue to the network. They aren't about to give it up for free. Maybe they charge you a buck to watch it on demand. We know Tivo will be recording your favorite programs so that you can watch them on demand later. As soon as these plans crimp the advertising paradigm, they will move very slowly. As for VOD, it is a perfect fit and doesn't change the paragidm with the exception of hurting the Blockbusters of the world.

To: Christiaan McDonald who wrote (7040)	2/11/1999 8:41:00 AM
From: Goodboy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21143

One of the things that is changing here is the telephone usage paradigm versus the bandwidth usage paradigm. When I call Ken, I can speak loud or soft, long or short and have as many people in my home pick up another phone and join in on the conversation. All of these factors put no more strain on the telco system. In fact, the only major strain that the internet has put on telco's is the amount of time that users stay on versus how the system was designed. The fact that a telco doesn't charge by the minute for local calls lets us stay on the internet for hours without worry. The broadband pipe of cable however is a very different animal. I can do things from my home by downloading large data or video files, opening multiple web pages or receiving or downloading large files by e-mail (we are all guilty of passing along large files on e-mail of Clinton jokes). Many corporations are actually starting to filter e-mail because it is taking too much bandwidth in the system and slowing it down for other more important functions other than a jpeg photo of Clinton holding Playboy magazine. The new paradigm is more like power usage. The more you use the more you pay. If your house is a shrine to electronics, chances are you pay more than your neighbor for electricity. Would it be fare if everyone paid the same price, but some used far more of far less electricity? A paradigm that will likely develop is pay to play. If you want full and open access to the cable pipe with no bandwidth restrictions (or at least a much higher threshold than others), you will pay a much higher access price. One day, maybe ten years from now, bandwidth constraints won't exist. Until that day, bandwidth will need to be managed so that you and I don't have degradation of service or fewer services available because TM rent is downloading the entire collection of 1/2 hour Brady Bunch episodes for his 70's sitcom viewing pleasure.