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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. Davies who wrote (10638)	6/6/1999 7:02:00 PM
From: E. Graphs	Respond to of 29970

Eric, Dunno, but I get the feeling that Case would rather legislate than negotiate. He must want more than what is fair. E. Graphs

To: E. Davies who wrote (10638)	6/6/1999 10:30:00 PM
From: ftth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

Hi Eric, not sure I agree. I suppose one of the issues might be that @HOME hasn't developed any brand loyalty to speak of (note brand loyalty isn't the same as greed-driven loyalty). The content is zilcho (and therefore the advertising dollars) and no one keeps the service because of the content. If AOL were allowed to make inroads due to their developed and apparently likable (for whatever reason) content, @HOME would have a hard time stripping these folks away from AOL because the content would have to be clearly superior, not just equal, to entice them to switch. On the other hand, if the co-mingled AOL were put off until @HOME's content was developed and had a solid following, the ball would be in AOL's court to provide something clearly superior such that cable modem subscribers would switch. The early adoptors of the @HOME service subscribed predominately because of speed; many if not most bypass the "content" because it's of no value. Many would still bypass it even if it were an exact replica of AOL's. The market hasn't yet reached the point where the types that would go for (fall for?) AOL content are falling over each other to get cable modem service. The market is still a "I'll set my own bookmarks, thank you very much" group that also isn't particularly price-sensitive. The rest of the market (such as those that need to get the manual out to boil water in a microwave) is driven by entirely different things which they need to adjust to or they wont capture it. dh