Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : MSFT Internet Explorer vs. NSCP Navigator -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Andy Thomas who wrote (23304)	4/23/1999 8:24:00 PM
From: Rusty Johnson	Respond to of 24154

Life Without Microsoft Nothin' But Net April 19, 1999 by Aaron Goldberg Upside Opinion As hard as it may be to believe, as the information appliance (or Internet appliance) starts to explode on the scene, Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., is not positioned to own it. Can you imagine an entirely new, major category of computing products and no Microsoft software to deal with? I can. It's not that Microsoft doesn't have an offering for the nascent Internet appliance market. It does: It's called Windows CE. It's just that Windows CE's design is flawed. And once you understand what the information appliance is, you too can see why Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Jini; Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com Corp.'s Palm OS; London-based Symbian Ltd.'s EPOC platform; and the upcoming OS from Tokyo-based Sony Corp. are better information appliance operating system options. The Internet appliance product group comes in many guises. But the huge and fundamental difference between an information appliance and a PC is that an information appliance is designed to do only one thing, and do it simply. It's a Rolodex with a communications link; it's a cell phone on steroids; it's a pager that only does stock quotes and basic trades. It's a solution to one problem, not a tool, like a PC, for solving many different problems. And that's why Windows CE is such a poor fit. Windows CE started life as a slimmed-down version of Windows for small form-factor computers. However, it's still a full-blown, monolithic, can-do-everything operating system. Simply put, Microsoft designed CE to be a Rolls-Royce when what an information appliance device maker needs is a shopping cart. A pumped-up pager doesn't need a graphical user interface or printer drivers. What these Internet appliances need is low-cost, simple, small-footprint software. They don't need megabytes of operating system; they need kilobytes of embedded code. Even a $25 CPU is too much money and too power-consumptive. For many of these Internet appliances, the cost of just hosting Windows CE means that price points will be missed and that the physical design of the appliance will likely be compromised. upside.com Life Without Microsoft: Willing and Able Competitors Furthermore, Microsoft has some willing and able competitors in this new market. One of the most publicized is Sun's Jini platform. This platform was designed as a small, compact software environment that could support the application-specific aspect of the Internet appliance. In fact, one can build Jini devices for connecting to the Net that have no CPU and run from a single programmable read-only memory. The platform with the largest installed base (3 million plus) is 3Com's Palm OS. While this OS is a bit more of a derivative of a real operating system, it does meet the criteria for an appliance. Also, 3Com has finally realized the value of its asset and is now really starting to push the Palm OS as a platform others can license and use in their information appliance offerings. Another contender comes from Europe. Symbian's EPOC platform was co-developed by London's Psion Plc; Stockholm, Sweden's LM Ericsson Telephone Co.; Nokia Corp. of Helsinki, Finland; and Motorola Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill. While this software clearly is focused on the cell phone aspect of the Internet appliance, to view the Symbian initiative as solely a telecommunications project would be shortsighted. And then there's Sony. While the Japanese giant is a new entrant to the field, it is, of course, a force to be reckoned with. Naturally, the Sony OS is aimed at consumer electronics devices. Probably the final nail in Microsoft's coffin regarding Internet appliances is the palpable dislike for Microsoft that exists among many developers. Too many individuals and firms believe that working with Microsoft is a recipe for disaster, and they'd rather work with any other partner. Still, this is not a death knell for Microsoft. Rather, it's the first manifestation of new products that are Internet-driven and that the software behemoth won't control. Appliances are one product category that will not look to Redmond for software direction. Aaron Goldberg is executive VP of Ziff-Davis Market Intelligence. He has spent 21 years analyzing the computer industry.