Collection of Education/collectionofeducationcarat1997.iso/COMPUSCI/EDU0396.ZIP/EDU03146.DOC

Text File | 1996-05-01 | 11.3 KB | 208 lines

Subject: Edupage, 14 March 1996

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Edupage, 14 March 1996.  Edupage, a summary of news items on information
technology, is provided three times each week as a service by Educom,
a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities
seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES
        Another Online Service!
        AOL Turns To Microsoft For Browser Software
        Information Infrastructure Report
        Home-Grown Software Still Tops
        Internet Live On TV

ALSO
        Europe Forecast As No. 1 Growth Market
        Pippin Atmark
        Wildfire's Electronic Assistant Learns New Tricks
        Digital Slashes Laptop Prices
        Compaq's Risky Business
        ACM Programming Contest
        Safe Surfing

ANOTHER ONLINE SERVICE!
CompuServe will develop a proprietary online service called Wow!, targeted
at families and novice computer users, and priced at a flat rate of $17.95
a month; the service will include a Web browser that would allow parents to
control which Internet sites their children could visit.  CompuServe
president Robert J. Massey believes that "the consumer market for online
services is about to explode," and industry analyst Nick Donatiello says
that "entertainment is the 600-pound gorilla in the home, and information
just a little chihuahua."  (New York Times 14 Mar 96 C2)

AOL TURNS TO MICROSOFT FOR BROWSER SOFTWARE
America Online has contradicted earlier reports that it would offer its
customers the Netscape Navigator software for browsing the World Wide Web,
and will instead offer them Microsoft's Explorer program to accomplish that
purpose.  In exchange, Microsoft will include access to AOL as a standard
option in future versions of the Windows 95 operating system.  By summer,
Microsoft Internet software will be extended into areas such as 3D graphics
and multimedia, and by the end of year Explorer will be extended by add-on
software (code-named Nashville) intended to allow a person to use a single
program to handle all files, whether they are on the PC or somewhere on the
Internet.  (New York Times 13 Mar 96 C1, C3)

INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT
A new report released by the National Research Council concludes that
government will continue to be a major player in information infrastructure
development, but notes that its role is still evolving.  "The Unpredictable
Certainty:  Information Infrastructure Through 2000" notes:  "Across the
rang of issues relating to information infrastructure there is evidence of
imperfect performance both in markets and by government.  Therefore, the
serious debate and commentary center on what imperfect government actions
to remedy imperfect markets are justified."  Suggestions include:
deregulating telecommunications services and avoiding regulating new
technologies; contributing as an "enlightened customer and participant" to
NII construction efforts, in particular supporting both basic and applied
university research; and sponsoring consensus-seeking activities and
finding ways to incorporate objectives in the NII structure.
<http://www.nas.edu >. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 12 Mar 96 A26)

HOME-GROWN SOFTWARE STILL TOPS
Despite dire predictions that most software programming jobs are moving
overseas, U.S. programmers are still cranking out software at a phenomenal
rate, with twice as many programmers employed in the U.S. as in Japan, No.
2 on the list.  The key to U.S. programmers' success in keeping jobs home
lies in exploiting leading-edge technologies.  "The Internet and new
programming techniques are giving us a new lease on life," says the author
of "The Rise and Resurrection of the American Programmer."  "Americans are
showing an unbelievable burst of creativity," says a Czech computer expert.
 "By relying on sophisticated tools, Americans have shifted the competitive
arena from sweat labor to imaginative design."  (Wall Street Journal 13 Mar
96 A3)

INTERNET LIVE ON TV
The Broadcast Production Group is planning a weekly half-hour TV show
called "Internet Live," which will also be available on PCs using CU-SeeMe
technology for real-time interaction with viewers.  The magazine-style
program will feature short items on Internet developments (INews), Internet
misuse (ILash), and a humorous Q&A session (Just the FAQs).  "It's the next
paradigm shift," says the show's executive producer.  (Broadcasting & Cable
11 Mar 96 p76)

=======================================================

EUROPE FORECAST AS NO. 1 GROWTH MARKET
A March 5 report released by the European Information Technology
Observatory predicts that Western Europe's information and communications
technology market is poised for dramatic growth -- 8.5% this year and 9% in
1997 -- outpacing the U.S. and Japanese markets.  Meanwhile, the
International Communications Round Table, representing Microsoft, IBM,
Lotus Development Corp. and others, has lodged a complaint with the
European Commission regarding the haphazard fashion in which technical
standards and regulations are emerging in different European countries.
"The Internet is the same in Germany as it is in France as it is in Spain.
Right now there are jurisdictional battles going on between states and
federal governments in all of these countries," says the legal
representative for Microsoft Europe. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 8 Mar
96 A13)

PIPPIN ATMARK
The Pippin Atmark, developed by Apple and Bandai as a combined computer and
game machine, is going on sale in Japan for 64,800 yen, or about $620, and
will be available in the U.S. by this Fall.  Pippin is the name for a kind
of apple, and Atmark refers to the @-sign used in e-mail addresses.  It
could be considered one of the first entries in the category of low-priced
"network computers" intended for browsing the Net.  Pippin Atmark has a
Power PC 603, 6 megabytes of memory, a 14.4 kbps modem, and a CD ROM drive.
A keyboard, PC monitor, and floppy disk drive are available at additional
cost.  (New York Times 14 Mar 96 C4)

WILDFIRE'S ELECTRONIC ASSISTANT LEARNS NEW TRICKS
Wildfire Communications Inc. is adding some new features to its electronic
assistant software.  Beginning in April, subscribers will be able to use
Wildfire to set up conference calls and interact with corporate voice mail
systems.  Because the system's designed with the executive-on-the-go in
mind, the conference call feature is especially useful, says a senior VP
for an investment banking firm:  "We're a bunch of mobile knowledge
workers, and we're not sure where we're going to be one day to the next.
We constantly need to put together conference calls, and we never know when
it's going to happen."  The system can add up to five callers simply by
speaking the person's name into the phone receiver.  The Wildfire server
then dials out and adds the conferees.  (Information Week 4 Mar 96 p78)

DIGITAL SLASHES LAPTOP PRICES
Digital Equipment has cut prices on its new HiNote laptops by about 20% in
an effort to compete effectively with rivals such as Toshiba.  "We have
targeted the best competitive machines on the market and ours outfeature
and outperform them at competitive prices," says PC unit chief Bruce
Claflin, who was hired away from IBM last year.  The top-of-the-line HiNote
weighs less than four pounds and is powered by a Pentium microprocessor.
(Wall Street Journal 14 Mar 96 B6)

COMPAQ'S RISKY BUSINESS
Chopping its PC prices by as much as 21% a couple of weeks ago was hailed
as a bold move by industry observers, but Compaq's strategy may be even
riskier than it seems.  Corporate customers are beginning to replace their
business PCs with powerful -- and cheaper -- home PCs, squeezing the margin
earned from as much as 38% down to 15%.  At the same time, Compaq's
dominance in the server market is under attack from HP, IBM and others, who
want a piece of the hugely profitable action.  "I'm going after that market
with a vengeance," says one IBM exec.  (Business Week 18 Mar 96 p40)

ACM PROGRAMMING CONTEST
The winners of the international collegiate programming contest staged by
the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) were students from University
of California-Berkeley (1st place), Harvard (2nd place), and University of
Waterloo (3rd place).   The ACM contest was sponsored by Microsoft, which
is also sponsoring a lab grant program that will award $20 million in
software licenses for Microsoft development tools to colleges and
universities;  for more info:
< http: // msdeved.isu.edu/ms >.

SAFE SURFING
A coalition of tech companies, an online services members group and the
National Consumers League has unveiled a new consumer education program,
aimed at giving the public the information they need to ensure responsible
use of the Net.  Project OPEN (Online Public Education Network) provides
information on parental empowerment, intellectual property rights, consumer
protection for buying and selling goods online, and user privacy.  Call
800-466-OPEN or check it out at < http://www.isa.net/project-open >.
(Investor's Business Daily 13 Mar 96 A8)

Edupage is written by John Gehl ([e-mail]) & Suzanne Douglas
([e-mail]).  Voice:  404-371-1853, Fax: [phone].

Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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