//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Vol. 3, Issue 07 (c)1996 GKM Journals July 1998 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
MCI's residential customers will soon be forced to pay a new
fee in their long-distance bills to help subsidize low-cost
telephone service for Internet hookups for schools and other
government-mandated subsidies and low-income families.
Beginning July 1, residential customers will be hit with a 5.9
percent increase based on their total monthly charges for
long-distance interstate and international calls. Confirming
the fee, MCI formally entered a filing with federal regulators
last month.
MCI has been charging its large corporate customers 4.4
percent of their monthly long-distance bills to support the
government programs. But on Aug. 1, MCI will raise that to
4.9 percent. Small business customers (those with bills
totaling roughly less than $500 a month) will be assessed the
same percentage fee as residential customers beginning in July.
The Federal Communications Commission was supposed to decide
last month just how much money should be collected from the
telecommunications companies to pay for the low-cost hookups.
Also by June 9 the FCC will propose rules that will govern how
telecommunications companies may disclose these and other
levied surcharges. The Clinton administration initially came
out against revealing the charges on phone bills, but more recently,
officials have said they support a line item that specifically itemizes
the low-cost Internet hookups for schools, libraries and rural health
care providers.
Some opponents to the new fees have labeled them as the "Gore
Tax" because it will help V.P. Gore meet his pledge to wire
the nation's schools to the Internet by the year 2000.
The Universal Serial Bus (USB) was designed to eliminate many
of the problems encountered when installing new peripheral
devices on a computer system. When the specification was
first conceived by the USB Implementers Forum, which was
basically a vendor consortium, the members were anticipating
the arrival of an operating system such as Microsoft's Windows
98 to take advantage of its user-friendly features.
Until now, a PC user wanting to add a peripheral device would
in many cases have to open the case and insert a board, and
then fumble, sometimes by trial and error, to correctly set
some dip-switches or jumpers. Then the proper port connection
would have to be determined as to whether the new device used
a serial or parallel cable.
Many times a discouraged user would return an item to the
vendor after several attempts at installation had failed. But
with the advent of USB and the Windows 98 operating system,
the term "plug-and-play" has taken on a whole new meaning.
Rather than assigning just one device per port, USB utilizes
hubs, similar to those used in a system network, to connect
a variety of devices to just one PC port. As long as each
peripheral device is located within five meters from a hub,
and the hubs are properly "tiered," it is possible to link as
many as 127 different devises to one USB PC port. Some hubs
require an AC power supply, while others can draw their power
directly through the USB port.
Many equipment vendors and resellers view the Universal Serial
Bus specification as the most important development since the
introduction of the personal computer.
34 U.S. Senators, 70 members of the House of Congress, and
some 30 high-tech executives have joined forces in an
attempt to persuade the FCC to continue funding for the
E-Rate program.
The E-Rate initiative would provide $2.25 billion in
discounts to U.S. schools and libraries linking up to the
Internet this year. Supposedly, this funding comes from
new tolls (TAXES) the FCC collects from the phone companies.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich stated that Congress may block
the funding because it seems to be inappropriate for a
number of un-elected officials (appointed commissioners) to
be able to establish a tax on every telephone line in the
United States.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard,
on the other hand, received a letter signed by 34 U.S.
Senators declaring their support for the E-Rate program.
The letter ascertained that the E-Rate program will help
move our children into the Information Age of the 21st
Century, and asked that the program, which was created by
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, be maintained.
Several distributors and computer and telecommunications
vendors, including Intel Corp., have E-rate programs in
place. These companies would like to see the funding system
for E-Rate remain in operation.
Intel Corp. noted in a recent court filing that a federal
lawsuit against it should be dismissed.
Intel has requested a federal judge to throw out a suit,
which was filed by Intergraph Corp. in U.S. District Court
in Birmingham, Ala. last year. The suit claims that Intel
used its monopoly power to leverage Intergraph.
Intergraph's suit resulted from a patent dispute with Intel.
A judge in the case and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission)
have all charged Intel with denying technical specifications
from Intergraph to muscle the Huntsville, Ala.-based computer
manufacturer into dropping a claim that Intel was violating
an Intergraph patent for the infamous Clipper encryption
chip.
Intel has denied the charges and previously stated that it
believed it had a license for the Clipper, even though
Intergraph owned it. As one observer explained, Intel held
a broad cross-licensing pact with National Semiconductor
Corp., who owned the disputable patent before selling it to
Intergraph.
U.S. District Court Judge Edwin Nelson, in granting
Intergraph a preliminary injunction, noted that Intel had
unfairly withheld information from Non-disclosure agreements
(NDAs) knowing that it controlled the market for the
processor chips that Intergraph needed to build its
computers..
Intel Corp. confirmed plans to shut down fab plant #5 and
#15 in Oregon beginning on the July 4th weekend.
The chip maker is asking employees at the two plants to
stay home for ten days and consider a "voluntary severance
package," as part of its decision to reduce its work force by 3,000.
As older technology gives way to new, these "warm down"
periods are considered as normal by Intel executives. The
older technology in this case is the 0.50 and 0.35 micron
silicon wafer technology, which has given way to the newer
0.25 micron assembly process.
According to trade sources, Intel was already building 50
percent of its chips with the 0.25 micron technology in
May. Intel officials predict that by the end of this year
most all of their computer chips will be produced under the
0.25 specification.
Intel refers to the "warm down" as a temporary shut down,
but according to past history, this has always led to more
job cuts. One company executive stated that his company
needed to trim expenses due to a lack of revenue growth..
National Semiconductor Corp. and IBM Corp. have signed a
foundry agreement to co-manufacture the highly-integrated
MediaPC processor chip.
First previewed in April, a formal introduction of the
low-cost system-on-a-chip will not occur until June of
next year, according to one top Executive at National.
The company also noted that MediaPC will replace the
MediaGX integrated processor manufactured by subsidiary Cyrix
Corp., Richardson, Texas.
The MediaPC will be produced by National and through
foundry agreements with IBM Microelectronics and Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
A 333- and a 350-MHZ version of the 0.25-micron device, which is
the successor to the current M II chip is being designed by
Cyrix. They are slated for shipping in January 1999 and will
target sub-$1,000 PC market..
Sprint has spent about $2 billion to construct what is called
the Integrated On-demand Network (ION).
ION is described as a broadband network of switching
routers that departs from the traditional circuit switching
fabric, which the telecommunications network has depended on
for more than 125 years.
A savings in costs of almost 70 percent and a phenomenal
gain in speed is in store for Sprint customers in the near
future. Company spokesmen have declared that Sprint will
offer the new service in 36 markets by the end of this
year and 60 markets by the end of 1999.
Sprint's ATM backbone and hubs can recognize and determine
what type of service the user is asking for, whether it be
voice, data, fax or other. Sprint hubs will also measure
usage, and customers will only be billed for what they use.
Bell Communications Research Inc. is developing the hub
software and providing consulting service for Sprint. Sprint
will also sell its products and service through Radio Shack.
.
A general beefing up of its Web sales efforts appears to be in
the making at IBM Corp.'s Personal Systems Group, according to
a recent story in the Computer Reseller News magazine.
Under pressure from competitors such as Gateway and Dell, IBM
is re-examining its consumer products, PC workstations, and
service/support operations. The company also has acknowledged
changing buying trends as weighing into its decision to bolster
its sales efforts over the Internet.
In the early part of June, IBM launched its "Netfinity Direct"
sales program, which allows online users to purchase, and in
some situations, receive delivery of computer products directly
from IBM. The company is also considering another Web site by
which PC customers could configure their own custom systems.
Price structure under the new Web endeavor has not yet been
determined at IBM, but company executives have hinted that its
Internet pricing will be at the same level or slightly lower
than current reseller prices to the consumer..
Industry observers have noted that the demand for the DVD-ROM
drive has spilled over from the desktop PC to the notebook
variety.
The DVD stands to be a likely replacement for the CD drive in
both desktop and mobile computing due to its sheer advantage in
storage capacity. On the same size platter (120 mm dia.), the
CD-ROM can store up to 650-Mbytes of information, but the DVD
can pack away as much as 17-Gigabytes of data-- that's 26 times
greater than the CD-ROM drive.
IBM Corp. is already producing its ThinkPad 770 notebooks with
a DVD-ROM-- as is the case with Toshiba's Tecra 750CDT units.
Compaq Computer says it will add DVD support to its high-end
portables before the end of the year.
Some problems need to be addressed when implementing DVD into
notebook systems. One issue is the design of graphics systems.
DVD-ROMs were designed to support MPEG (Motion Picture Experts
Group) II graphics, which meant that many suppliers were waiting
for the Windows 98 operating system to debut, which fully
supports MPEG II.
Another issue remains in identifying the new customer base due
to the fact that DVD technology was first developed as a home-
entertainment enhancement product. DVD's abundant audio/video
capabilities has made it a hit with home theater fans and video
game players, but notebook computers are not a perfect match
for the new technology.
Battery life can be diminished as much as 20 percent when a DVD
drive is installed in a notebook. The extra cost of DVD as
opposed to CD-ROM is not likely to be justified by the business
user when expense budgets are scrutinized by upper management
either. A vendor may up the price of a DVD-equipped notebook
by as much as $700 to $1,000 over that of a similar CD-ROM-
equipped unit to cover his costs in parts and labor to make a
DVD unit fit within the small confines of a notebook PC.
One more negative for the DVD at present is the limitation to
"read only" access because to date, the manufacturers have
failed to agree on standards and "write" compatibility between
the DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, and DVD-RW architectures.
.
The computer display industry is facing the threat of being
divided into two opposing camps as graphics controller standards
remain uncertain.
Nearly all LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors use analog
connectors that are compatible with most PC graphics controller
cards. But to attain that compatibility, the graphics card
must first convert the PC's video signal from digital to analog.
Then the LCD monitor has to convert the analog signal back to
digital. This procedure is not only electronically inefficient,
but the extra components required make it more costly.
The VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association), which is the
body that sets video display standards, developed the "Plug and
Display" (PnD) standard that provides a way to transport the
PC's digital video signal directly to the LCD monitor.
Another organization, the DFP (Digital Flat Panel) Group, which
is made up by a consortium of LCD monitor and PC graphics
controller manufacturers, is ready to release their products,
which use a subset of PnD.
The DFP method uses the same PnD electrical specifications, but
eliminates analog, USB (Universal Serial Bus), and 1394
specification compatibility as a means to cut costs.
Both, Princeton Graphics Systems Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp.
have embraced the DFP approach with the unveiling of their
DFP-compatible LCD monitors last month. ViewSonic Corp. brought
its DFP-LCD monitor to the PC Expo in New York, but did not
announce when it will ship. IBM officials are promising their
PnD LCD monitors will debut later this year..
In anticipation of a deluge of requests for technical support
related to the release of Windows 98, Microsoft Corp. is beefing
up its support staff.
One industry source reported last month that the software mogul
has increased the number of engineers to more than 1,000 to
cope with the foreseen flood of customer calls. The company
has also strengthened its online/Web-based support services with
the addition of more than 200 Windows 98 "How-To" instructions.
Microsoft still remembers how it was caught off guard when
Windows 95 was released in August, 1995. Many users were unable
to get through to Microsoft's tech support people as the surge
of phone calls jammed all the lines..
Antivirus researchers have detected an Internet-enabled virus
that takes documents from infected computers and posts them on
sex-related and other Internet news groups.
Called the PolyPoster virus, the new menace has been described
as a macro virus that infects Microsoft Word documents, and
infects documents rather than programs. According to a Finland-
based security company called Data Fellows, documents infected
with the macro virus will try at random to post themselves to
one of several public Usenet news groups, using the computer's
news group reading software.
The virus is also known as Agent or Embarrassment, and can post
infected Word documents to one of 23 mainly sex-related Usenet
groups. Fellows noted that subject lines, including text that
says: "Free XXX Passwords," "New Virus Alert," or "Important
Monica Lewinsky Info," are automatically added to the posted
documents.
Users who view the posted documents using Microsoft Word will
themselves become infected. Reportedly, The virus can also be
spread if an infected Word document is sent as an e-mail
attachment and executed by the receiver. While other forms of
viruses can be "cleaned" from your hard drive after detection,
there is no user remedy that can recover from an incident where
a virus has posted confidential documents publicly to the
Internet.
One researcher at Fellows said that even more sophisticated
viruses are likely to follow PolyPoster. While our computers
may not be put at risk through this type of virus, our cyber
reputation may be greatly endangered!
More information can be found on the PolyPoster virus online at:
http://www.techweb.com/.
Compaq Computer Corp. announced that it intends to start
out sourcing the production of all printed-circuit-board
assemblies for its desktop computers.
The decision by Compaq to go to out sourcing is part of
the company's restructuring following its acquisition of Digital
Equipment Corp. Unfortunately for its workers, Compaq plans to
lay off about 5,000 manufacturing employees, including 1,000
people at its printed circuit board assembly plant in Houston,
TX..
34 U.S. Senators, 70 members of the House of Congress, and
some 30 high-tech executives have joined forces in an
attempt to persuade the FCC to continue funding for the
E-Rate program.
The E-Rate initiative would provide $2.25 billion in
discounts to U.S. schools and libraries linking up to the
Internet this year. Supposedly, this funding comes from
new tolls (TAXES) the FCC collects from the phone companies.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich stated that Congress may block
the funding because it seems to be inappropriate for a
number of un-elected officials (appointed commissioners) to
be able to establish a tax on every telephone line in the
United States.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard,
on the other hand, received a letter signed by 34 U.S.
Senators declaring their support for the E-Rate program.
The letter ascertained that the E-Rate program will help
move our children into the Information Age of the 21st
Century, and asked that the program, which was created by
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, be maintained.
Several distributors and computer and telecommunications
vendors, including Intel Corp., have E-rate programs in
place. These companies would like to see the funding system
for E-Rate remain in operation..
Creative Technology Ltd. won its suit this week against
National semiconductor's Cyrix Corp. over a patented Sound
Blaster technology.
Cyrix is now banned from labeling or describing any audio
core or products as "Sound Blaster-compatible," and is
prohibited from using any of Creative's software drivers.
Now Cyrix must design its own software and promote its
products as compatible with legacy standards, according to
one spokesperson at Cyrix..
National Semiconductor Corp. and IBM Corp. have signed a
foundry agreement to co-manufacture the highly-integrated
MediaPC processor chip.
First previewed in April, a formal introduction of the
low-cost system-on-a-chip will not occur until June of
next year, according to one top Executive at National.
The company also noted that MediaPC will replace the
MediaGX integrated processor manufactured by subsidiary
Cyrix Corp., Richardson, Texas.
The MediaPC will be produced by National and through
foundry agreements with IBM Microelectronics and Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
A 333- and a 350-MHZ version of the 0.25-micron device,
which is the successor to the current M II chip is being
designed by Cyrix. Shipping is slated for January 1999 and
will target sub-$1,000 PC market..
While the Year 2000 problem remains unsolved, and the whole
world braces for a financial impact in excess of $1.3 TRILLION,
the future looks encouraging for value-added resellers and
computer programmers.
The most common language used in those antiquated business and
government enterprise computer systems is COBAL (COmmon Business
Oriented Language).
As more people in the government and the private sector take
heed to the warnings given by Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan
Greenspan, when he advised a Congressional panel earlier this
year that the Y2K problem will impede the U.S. economy even
before the clock strikes that fateful hour, a business boom in
programming will occur.
Since COBAL is not in step with the Internet generation, many
organizations are turning to retired COBAL programmers in hopes
that they can bail them out in time. The Senior Staff 2000
job information databank in Campbell, Ca. has a listing of
8,000 senior/retired technical personnel, who are ready to
answer the call to action.
But as the clock ticks away, the costs to remedy the Y2K
situation continue to rise. 85 percent of companies polled in
a recent survey said they had underestimated the cost of Y2K
compliance. Only three percent of those polled felt that their
cost estimates were on target..
In a survey conducted by Answers Research Inc., Solana Beach,
Ca., which was compiled from the responses by some 6,000 plus
resellers, for the second year in a row, Netscape Navigator
took first place over Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
The popular Web browser from Netscape Communications Corp.,
Mountainview, Ca., swept all eight categories in the survey.
With a perfect score being a [7], Netscape was rated by the
resellers at 5.6 for overall satisfaction, compared to a score
of 5.1 for Internet Explorer.
In the areas of vendor response time and tech support, Netscape
won out over Microsoft by scores of 5.3 to 4.5 and 5.3 to 4.4
respectively.
The resellers showed a lot of enthusiasm for the Netscape
Communicator/Navigator product. Some of those positive votes
for Netscape, however, were thought to be a backlash from the
negative feelings resellers developed against Microsoft for its
"heavy-handed" marketing strategies, according to the pollsters.
.
Value-added resellers have complained that Microsoft Corp.'s
upcoming Windows Terminal Server network software may be too
pricey for their small and mid-size business customers.
The price breakdown unveiled by Microsoft last month for the
new multi-user version of Windows NT would require businesses
to cough up $319 per user for NT workstation licenses, as noted
by one industry analyst.
If that isn't enough, Bill Gates & company will require WTS
customers to pay $1,129 for a package consisting of one server
product and 10 client access licenses on top of the $319 user
fee. No big deal for large corporations, especially if they
already own the NT Workstation licenses as part of their current
network. WTS licensing fees for the smaller businesses may,
however, deter them from such an investment..
Windows 98 finally made its 1998 debut, but how will the
consumer public accept it?
What was to be called Windows 97 one year ago, has finally
been launched as Windows 98 by Microsoft Corp., but many
corporate buyers are saying nix to 98 and are opting for
Windows NT, according to tech news sources.
With many court battles now over, Bill Gates and company may
still have to sweat out public acceptance of the new and
"improved" PC operating system-- with its Internet Explorer
and all..
The 06/24/98 merger between AT&T Corp. and cable giant
TCI (Tele-Communications Inc.) was completed as a stock
purchase deal valued at about $48 billion.
The merger creates a new division within AT&T called Consumer
Services, which is just one of three divisions making up the
entire AT&T empire.
It appears that AT&T's WorldNet division, the Internet service
provider, will end up in the consumer division through the new
restructuring process. The deal also prescribes that TCI will
give AT&T a way to reach out and touch approximately 33 million
more homes..
A big load was lifted from Bill Gates' shoulders in June
when a U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a
preliminary injunction barring integration of the Internet
Explorer Web browser with Windows 95 was improper. In
addition, the panel ruled that it was improper for
District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to appoint a
Special Master to analyze technical issues in the case.
The $1 million-a-day fine sought by the government was also
tossed out by the panel.
Within the 39 page document issued by the panel, the court
deemed that separating Windows 95 and the browser would
produce two disabled products-- being the operating system
and the graphical interface, which includes the Internet
Explorer browser.
The court opinion did not leave much room for doubt that
it takes a dim view of excessive government intervention
in matters such as in software design. Microsoft
executives were quick to reiterate their stand that the court
ruling represented an authoritative reinforcement of their legal
and business strategy.
A trial date of Sep. 8 has been set for the consent decree case
against Microsoft, which will take place in U.S. District Court.
The court and the Department of Justice antitrust division has
said it intends to pursue the case.
Microsoft officials said that they will include a wide
range of possible alternatives to their strategy based on
the June 23 decision..
