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Technology Stocks : Ampex Corporation (AEXCA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hal Campbell who wrote (5951)	3/2/1999 3:52:00 PM
From: killybegs	Respond to of 17679

Confirmation of Ampex's strategy...they will be in a position to allow portals to link to specialized content.... -- Internet Executives Emphasize Need For Better Content >LCOS -- By Nancy Beiles NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Forget about weather reports, the day's top headlines and even stock quotes. Now prominent parts of most Internet portal sites, these basic features should take a back seat to unique content in the years ahead, according to several industry executives. Most Internet portal companies offer similar content categories - such as weather and stock quotes - in different formats. Consequently, the challenge for portals is "how do we avoid being seen as commodity distribution," said Excite Inc. (XCIT) Chief Executive George Bell during a panel discussion at Jupiter Communications' Consumer Online Forum here. Portals, he said, will have to provide "more than a little bit of everything." As the Internet grows more sophisticated, enabling audio feeds and film viewing, portals will need to find ways to deliver better content to users, said Matt Farber, senior vice president at Viacom Inc.'s (VIA, VIAB) MTV/VH1. In the end, he said, content offerings will distinguish winners and losers in the industry. Until now, portals have largely been able to rest on the numbers: how many Internet users pass through their gates. But to attract and keep users, portal companies may begin to place a stronger emphasis on providing information and entertainment that cannot be found elsewhere. "Content will be favored because it differentiates," said Linda McCutcheon, president of Time New Media, a unit of Time Warner Inc. (TWX). One way portals may try to do this is by tailoring some programming toward specific users. Robert Davis, chief executive of Lycos Inc. (LCOS), noted that his company's users tend to "naturally aggregate" to places on the Internet that reflect their interests - whether camping, financial wizardry or parenting. He suggested content providers may try to tap into such interest groups. But not everyone is embracing content as the domain of portals. "We're not a content provider," said Sky Dayton, chairman and founder of Earthlink Network Inc. (ELNK). Rather than envisioning portals as an Internet gateway/media hybrid, Dayton has a simpler definition: "We're how everyone connects to this stuff." - Nancy Beiles; 201-938-5267 (END) DOW JONES NEWS 03-02-99 03:44 PM- - 03 44 PM EST 03-02-99