by Al Massey
In his never-ending quest to geekify the world, his Nerdiness, Chairman Bill of the Nation of Microsoft has struck a deal with Tele-Communications, Inc. to place Windows CE, be as Windows Lite, on over 5 million set top boxes the cable giant plans to deploy in 1999. It seems that, in spite of his rampant disdain for TV, Chairman Bill has discovered there are over 68 million homes in America wired for cable TV, while only 20 million have Personal Computers. So marching orders have been issued to the Microsoft digerati, “take no prisoners, spare no ammo, PLACE WINDOWS in every home in America.”
If the latest round of PR emanating from Fort Redmond is any indication, the WORD for the second half of 1998 is “convergence.” Microsoft’s play on the word convergence means the melding of TV and your PC. If he can’t get you in one place, he’s hell-bent on getting you in another. In addition to TCI, Microsoft has snuggled up to Gemstar, the makers of VCR plus, to license its interactive program guide for Windows 98.
Gates has that little set top box firmly in his cross hairs and won’t rest till it either belongs to him or is controlled by him.
According to Gary Arlen of Arlen Communications of Bethesda, Maryland, “Microsoft desperately wants to be in the box.” Arlen went on to say that “TCI has essentially told Gates that the real estate belongs to TCI, but Microsoft feels secure in the knowledge that at least they are in the game.”
I can just see it now, TV controlled by a microchip and Windows. Yes sir, lets have the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) just as the plot thickens.
The Camel’s nose is already under the tent, it won’t be long till we hear “Start Me Up” every time we turn on the TV.
It says: “Please insert disk 7”
It means: “Because I know darn well there are only 6 disks.”
Byte bites. It is sad to note the passing of BYTE Magazine. In an era where so much of what we read in the popular computing press is sanitized through corporate PR departments, BYTE stood out as a voice for the consumer. As a somewhat irregular contributor to BYTE, I received a message to cease work immediately on any articles in progress.
They also announced that they were laying off just about everyone as of the following Friday.
Having been purchased by CMP Publications, BYTE will become part of CMP’s new Business Computing and Communications Group, which will also include InformationWeek, Network Computing, InternetWeek and Windows Magazine. Together, these publications represent the most comprehensive portfolio reaching the full spectrum of business IT buyers.
I’m taking bets that when, or if, BYTE returns to the scene, it will be hard to distinguish it from most of the mindless dreck now occupying the magazine rack.
So long old friend, it has been a pleasure knowing you.
It says: “Not enough memory”
It means: “I don’t CARE if you’ve got 64MB of RAM,
I want to use the bit below 640K.”
The Clinton Administration decided to withdraw from the Net-Name Game and was applauded mightily by Domain Name registrars. However, before you jump on the bandwagon and dance in the street, be advised that this will only start a mad scramble reminiscent of the Oklahoma Land Rush. Everybody wants their favorite policy-making foundation to be the anointed one when it comes to this most vital Internet function.
The Clinton administration said it would withdraw almost completely from making domain name policy decisions, ceding control to a new non-profit governing board drawn from the private sector.
“This is a victory for the Internet and a victory for Internet self-governance,” said Don Heath, president of the Internet Society. Heath’s group had sponsored a competing vision of self-governance, but he said Clinton’s Internet guru Ira Magaziner’s white paper had satisfied most of their concerns. “The white paper is good news for Network Solutions, the industry, and customers,” said Gabriel Battista, CEO of the Herndon, VA.-based Network Solution. Battista’s company has held a monopoly on registering .com, .org, and .net domain names, and will likely retain exclusive control of those name databases after its contract expires in September.
In what has become an all too typical approach to technology, the administration has taken a “one step forward, two steps back” gambit. Ira Magaziner’s paper represents a clear departure from the administrations more explicit policy recommendations, which were released in March’s green paper draft. No new top-level domains will be created immediately. All decisions about what new names can be used, how a company will qualify to become a name registry, and how the registries will operate will be left to the new non-profit corporation.
Administration officials had little to say about the creation of this new power center, other than to indicate it would be led by private sector forces. Stay tuned, the smell of greed is in the air. In the meantime, you can read all about it at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/domainhome.htm
It says: “Cannot read from
drive D:....”
It means: “...however, if you put the CD in right side up...”
On May 28th, AT&T and MCI announced that they would impose a new fee on residential long distance calls to cover the federal subsidies they pay to finance low cost rural phone service and Internet connections for schools and libraries. The subsidies are part of the Universal Service Fund.
The Federal Communications Commission is currently preparing to decide how much to increase the subsidies and whether to restructure the way monies are collected, potentially shifting some of the responsibility from long distance carriers to local phone companies. The new charges are expected to be imposed on June phone charges and appear on July bills.
Further information may be found at: http://cnnfn.com:80/hotstories/companies/wires/9805/28/phone_wg/
It says: “Please Wait....”
It means: “...indefinitely.”
During a recent online conference, Netscape’s head whiner Jim Barksdale was in full blab. He was explaining that Microsoft had forced Netscape to change its marketing strategy yet one more time, by making them “give away the browser.” What a radical concept! If memory serves, Netscape started this give-away by providing Navigator free in the first place, but that’s a story we will save for another time.
At any rate, Barksdale was attempting to explain Netscape’s “testing the waters” in something called Portals. Portals, or web-gateways, as they are sometimes called, are the latest darlings of the Wall Street-Vulture Capital crowd. Basically what Barksdale and Netscape hopes to accomplish as they slug it out with the Silicone crowd, including America Online, Yahoo, Excite, Infoseek and AltaVista, is to become the Web’s equivalent of the dial tone. Of course, Netscape will have to exert dominance over the Web in order to bring this about.
The core of Netscape’s entry into this market is its Netcenter project. Barksdale is pinning his hopes on Manhattan, Netcenter’s Home Page, in an effort to become the dominant Portal, or Web-Gateway, entry point for the average user. By worming his way onto your desktop and, in effect, your ISP’s server, Netscape hopes to sell more back-end products such as Web Servers and the like.
From a users standpoint, Manhattan will offer applets allowing users to take advantage of the page from multiple locations such as home and work. One applet could contain a users bookmark file, eliminating the need to maintain two separate sets of bookmarks on your home and office PCs.
Barksdale said, “...close integration between Netcenter services and Netscape Communicator is the key to distancing Netscape from competing Gateways such as Yahoo and Excite.” I for one hope and pray that Netscape finds its niche in this market soon because it is by far my favorite browser. I am growing weary of investing in truly elegant but doomed technologies — I still have a cabinet full of Betamax.
Al Massey is a HAL-PC member who can be contacted at almas@hal-pc.org
E-mail me at webmaster@hal-pc.org with any comments you have and tell me what you want to see here.