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To: Jing Qian who wrote (8584)	4/24/1999 11:47:00 PM
From: FIRENZA	Respond to of 29970

This article fails to mention @Home...it's a great read unfortunately, the reporter never connects the dots. newsweek.com While it was encouraging to see Johnnie L. Roberts article "Out of the Box", it was equally disturbing to see the Mr. Roberts has not been able to "connect the dots" on the emerging technologies. In the same paragraph that Mr. Roberts declares that "broadband pipelines" offer warp speed access to cyberspace, he also quotes Reed Hundt as saying that, "it's perfectly plausable that Yahoo, AOL, and NBC will be the top three TV networks as the term evolves." How can that be Mr. Roberts, if all three of the parties you mentioned have no access to the cale broadband? The cable broadband is literally owned by 2 companies, @HOME (part owned by ATT via it's recent TCI cable purchase), and Roadrunner(primarily owned by Time Warner, but also 25% owned by Media One for which ATT just made a bid). In order for Yahoo, AOL or any other company for that matter to capitalize on the broadband, they will have to deal through @Home and/or Roadrunner. Tele-fusion will also depend on the "fat pipe" of broadband cable. While early attempts to converge the internet via PC and TV in the same room are a first step, they are just that. What your article really misses is the actual form the convergence will take. Broadcom a chip maker which has proprietary and intellectual rights to the chips which will be in the next generation of Cable Set Top Boxes is already shipping chips which are essentially "systems on a chip". They also provide chips for the cable modems which will be hitting the shelves of retail outlets this summer in the US, and are already on the shelves in Canada. The off shoot is that the Set Top Cable Box will become the "smartest appliance in the home". Yes as smart if not smarter than your PC. The convergence is not a traditional TV and PC (accessing the internet via slow speed phone lines) in the same room. The convergence is the TV alone providing both Broadcast TV and internet over one appliance at lightning fast speeds utilizing the "fat pipe" of broadband cable. With Disney positioning itself perfectly for this transition to convergence, your last paragraph of the article reveals your ignorance of your subject matter. You state that, "as Disney and everybody else experimenting with the New Media is acutely aware, that vision will only work if the system combines the power and interactivity of the PC with the user friendliness and reliability of the TV." Both are in place Mr. Roberts, not as pie in the sky, but in the form of the "next generation set top box" and the cable broadband which is dominated by @Home and Roadrunner. Mr Eisner's difficulty in accessing the Fiesta Bowl interactivity will be a thing of the past, once companies like Disney stop relying on current slow dial up ISP service and roll out onto the "always on" cable broadband. The reason for the rush of mergers and aquisitions in the cable arena is precisely a result of this coming shift. Companies like ATT, and individuals like Paul Allen (of Microsoft fortune) see this shift and are in the process of positioning themselves to be in the middle of this convergence. Companies like AOL, much to Steve Case's chagrin (having passed on his opportunity to make the cable deals) are now in the unenviable position of having to cry to the Federal government to allow them access. How ready the Federal gov't will be to protect a near monopoly such as AOL (they have more customers than their eight largest competitors combined), is very doubtful. So in closing Mr. Roberts, convergence does not equal a TV and PC in the same room using dial up ISP's. It means truly converging the system through one unified "appliance", the next generation set top cable box combined with the ubiquitous TV. When I want to check the score of the Yankees game, I will not have to hope I catch it on ESPN, nor will it mean that I have to turn on my computer, dial into my ISP, and pull up my start page be it Yahoo, or Excite(soon to be owned by @Home) and then check a static written score alone. I will turn on my TV, hit the remote to my @Home or Roadrunner broadband cable internet service, click to my News page which will load instantly(just like changing a channel), and then click the link for the Yankee game, where I will view an actual video hightlight of the game streaming video not with the herky jerky internet look which you are now familiar. It will be streaming video undistinguishable from regular TV. Want to talk about what this will mean for the recording industry next???

To: Jing Qian who wrote (8584)	4/25/1999 7:25:00 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

Philadelphia Sunday Inquirer doesn't think this is a done deal. Watch for comcast to come back with another offer. Maybe with support from msft or Paul Allen. Another thought Media 1 management will not fit into at&t structure although they were part of on-going plan with comcast. Hence, incentive for Media management to work for their best interest. Another thought is break up Media one. Give phone access to at&t while comcast picks up the other pieces. Articles may be found at www.phillynews.com I got this background from print. take care John