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In Around and Online 95 01 13
In, Around and Online- Issue 2.2 - Week Ending 1/13/95
=====================================================
Copyright (C) 1995 Robert "Don't Call Me Bob" Seidman. All rights
reserved. May be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes.
In This Issue...
================
- Billy "Bob" is Everywhere! (Microsoft Announces Internet Plans)
- CompuServe Announces Hourly Rate Drop
- Prodigy's World Wide Web Browser
- AT&T's Interchange Will Serve Up Some Real Competition
- Additional Interchange Online Network Commentary- By Scott Magoon
- Newsworthy Notes
- Short Takes
- Stock Watch
Billy "BOB" is Everywhere! (Microsoft Announces Internet Plans)
==============================================================
What do you call an interface with no arms and no legs that
floats in the water? I'm eternally grateful to my mother for instilling
anti-Bob tendencies in this Robert at a young age. What does Microsoft's
forthcoming front end assistant for Windows, "BOB" have to do with the
online service industry? Not a darn thing. Enough said.
This week at an online conference sponsored by the Washington Software
Association, Microsoft chairman and CEO, Bill Gates, announced plans to
provide full Internet access via Windows '95. With the onslaught of
stories I read about this, I might have gotten the idea that this was a
new direction for Microsoft. It isn't; Microsoft has been talking about
"point and click" access to the Internet as a part of its forthcoming
Windows '95 operating system for months.
Anyone really using the Internet knows that the only true point and click
access comes at the expense of being preconfigured for one particular
service. MS simply laid their cards on the table by announcing that MS
had formed a strategic relationship (a minority investment) with UUNET
Technologies Inc. What this means in the simplest terms is that MS now
can pre-configure SLIP/PPP connections to UUNET. Voila', "point and click".
If it isn't preconfigured for one service then the user has to do
"something". No matter how "trivial" that something may or may not be it
removes "point and click" by at least one step. IBM had the right idea
with the "Information Highway" access kit included on the OS/2 WARP bonus
disk. Once installed, the software is preconfigured to work over
the Advantis network. It works and it is easy. Unfortunately, it's
pretty darn expensive at $4.00/hour. The service can be configured for
use with other providers, but that's adding a step most users don't want
to deal with.
So, how does this affect "The Microsoft Network" (MSN) online service
that is planned. My guess is, that the Internet access will be wrapped
around it. If they're smart, (and make no mistake about it, they are not
dummmmmb) they'll package MSN so that it is accessible via TCP/IP. Since
it is "point and click" the access will be transparent to the user. Make
no mistake about it, MSN will be a full fledged online service. On the
other hand, Microsoft may not truly be offering the full sort of SLIP/PPP
Internet access that many are familiar with. How might it differ? For
one, MSN will have newsgroups as a part of the Online Service. I'd
predict that rather than offering an NNTP server that allows users to
read news from any of the winsock compatible newsreaders that news will
only be offered via MSN. Is this bad? If not for the flexibility of
MSN, I might say that it was. But since MSN is an integral part of the
operating system, you can manage newsgroups from your desktop. A user
could create a folder on MSN containing the newsgroups the user wants to
read. The user could then create a "shortcut" right on the desktop,
simply clicking on the shortcut would (at least in theory) go out and
update your newsgroup. "Point and click".
What about the World Wide Web? It's in there. Microsoft has announced
that they've licensed technology from SpyGlass Inc. that includes a
licensed version of NCSA's Mosaic so you can expect to see a WWW browser
as a part of Windows '95 operating system. Many are saying, "Big Deal,
Netscape now owns the browser market." While that may be true, there is
a far bigger truth: If analysts are even close to correct, 80% of the
folks that will be on the Internet in 5 years have never seen it or
thought about it. Besides, whether Microsoft provides the be all end all
WWW browser is irrelevant. If someone wants to use Netscape, then
they'll use it. I don't envision MS blocking use of 3rd party Internet
applications. Netscape seems to run just fine on the Windows '95 beta.
Many industry analysts have cast a cloud of doom for all the other
players once Windows '95 is shipped. A couple of analysts have even
speculated that it is Microsoft that will face the tough competitive
challenge. Who are these analysts and why is anybody paying for their
opinions? (Note: please keep in mind that this newsletter is FREE!)
Assuming that the Internet/Online service grow at the explosive rates
predicted, they'll be plenty of money for a lot of people for a while.
Even though their products have not fully been developed or released,
Microsoft is in the strongest position to be a dominant player. Still,
as MS will probably offer some form of metered Internet service, this
does not spell the death of local and smaller Internet providers. At
least in the short term, it just spells more competition. That is good
for all of us.
CompuServe Announces Hourly Rate Drop
=====================================
Rumored for weeks, this week CompuServe officially announced rate changes
that will go into effect on 2/5/95. CompuServe will be cutting 9.6 and
14.4Kbps hourly access in half, going from $9.60/hr. to $4.80/hr.
Additionally CompuServe will be jacking up the price of the monthly fee
for basic service from $8.95 to $9.95.
Is $4.80/hr. a good deal for CompuServe access? Well, it's a heck of a
lot better than $9.60! Ultimately, it depends on what you're accessing
and how much time you'd normally spend accessing it somewhere else. If
what you're looking for doesn't exist on any consumer service other than
CompuServe or can be accessed more quickly (via off-line reading) than
other services, then it's a pretty good deal. While CompuServe still has
more content than anyone, much of what the average user wants access to
can be found elsewhere; sometimes for a lot less. Internet access at
$4.80/hr. is not a good deal no matter how you look at it. However, when
CompuServe rolls out their stand alone Internet service, it may be priced
far more competitively. The one thing CompuServe has going for it is
that the bare essentials like news, weather and sports are available
within the $9.95/mo. fee at no extra cost.
Still, America Online and Prodigy are cutting the distance in
CompuServe's lead. Why not just go ahead and cut the hourly rate to
$2.95 an hour and blow the other guys out of the water? It would seem
Microsoft plays into this decision. When Microsoft rolls out their
services, CompuServe will ultimately have to do something. When that
happens, look for the rate drop to drop closer to the $2.95/hr mark.
Prodigy's World Wide Web Browser
================================
I thought this might be a long story. As it turns out, it's a very
short one. Prodigy's World Wide Web browser that is scheduled for
release this coming Tuesday (1/17) is very nice. It is as slow as one
might expect at 9.6 Kbps, but if you turn graphics off it runs just
fine. Even with the graphics turned on, it is not as slow as I expected
it to be. If Prodigy doesn't bog down due to all the people that are
about to go pounding on the WWW, they've done very well.
It has just about every imaginable feature out there. Rather than being
competitive with the standard NCSA version of Mosaic, it is competitive
with commercial quality browsers like Netscape. It can be set to paint
text first (this is actually the default), you can set up hot lists,
caching, and a number of other customized details. I could only find one
minor nit to pick with it. In pages that have links within the pages
themselves rather than on another page, it is nice to be able to click on
"back" to take you to the previous link within the same page. For
example, in the WWW version of this newsletter
(http://www.clark.net:80/pub/robert/current.html) if you click on one of
the headlines at the top of the newsletter, it takes you to that section
of the newsletter. Using the Netscape browser, clicking the "back"
button would take you back to the list of headlines. With the Prodigy
browser, clicking back would take you to the page you were on before.
Not a major deal though. Prodigy wins the Online Services race to the
WWW. We'll have to see what CompuServe and America Online serve up
next. Prodigy has set the standard to shoot for in the online services
industry.
AT&T's Interchange Will Serve Up Some Real Competition
======================================================
After months of using this newsletter as a vehicle to whine and gripe
about not being on the Interchange beta, with a little help from some
friends of the newsletter, I finally got on. I need to preface this
review in a couple of ways. First, since the service is in beta, I will
not cover any performance topics. If the service has performance issues
once it is released, I'll be the first person to write about them.
Secondly, I wanted to hate Interchange. Yep, I wanted it to suck very
badly! Why? Because I write this newsletter for free and it takes
time. If Interchange were to suck, I could just say that it was a piece
of crap and move on and not have to dedicate any time to it on a weekly
basis. Unfortunately, for me, it doesn't suck. Fortunately for me, the
time that it saves me, that's right, SAVES me, more than offsets the
amount of time that it has taken to investigate Interchange.
Interchange appears to be very much like Microsoft Network, only much
further along. In structure and organization, there are many
similarities. Interchange is light in content during the beta, but still
has more to offer than MSN is currently providing. While there isn't
much content there currently, for me the content that is there is
excellent. Eight of Ziff Davis' best computer publications, including PC
Week, are there. Also included is Coop's Corner, a daily column from
Charles Cooper that covers the latest and greatest happenings in the
computer industry. So you say, "What's the big deal about 8 computer
publications?". Well, if you like to read this newsletter, many of the
columns and features covered in the suite of 8 magazines would appeal to
you. For me though, the extra special bonus is The Washington Post
Extra, an electronic version of The Washington Post created by the Post
subsidiary Digital Ink. My hat is off to Digital Ink for a job well done.
While I'm enamored with this content and think that Digital Ink has done
an exceptional job in creating an interactive Newspaper, I do realize
that the appeal is regional.
Built into Interchange is some very basic smart agent technology. It is
so basic that an elitist might call it dumb smart agent technology. But
what they have works well. The reason this doesn't get more raves from
me is because it puts the responsibility on the user to surf the system
and find out what content is there. As you're surfing, you can mark
items that interest you and choose the "keep updated" feature. If the
item has sub items under it, you can choose to automatically keep those
updated too.
Interchange users can set up Interchange to automatically pull the items
that interest you. Each area and most sub areas are broken down into
logical topical content areas. For example, the Washington Post has the
Sports page and it is broken out into several areas like NFL Football,
NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey, etc. I can set Interchange up to go pull the
entire Newspaper, or an entire section, or just a sub section I want like
NFL Football or Tony Kornheiser's column. Then I can read the
information off-line and not in plain ASCII text either. The same can be
done with all the areas on Interchange.
Interchange has an elegant Interface and there are a couple of ways to
navigate it. There is the main directory which allows one to jump off to
areas. You can even create your own "custom" area that contains only the
information you want. Or, if you pull all the information you want from
your computer you can manage it from the Interchange "inbox", which is a
very nice folder based mail/document client. You can create and read
mail there too; whether you're online or not.
Internet access? They already have Internet e-mail, plus more direct
connections to CompuServe and MCI Mail (I'd look them to add AT&T mail to
the list REAL soon), and they plan to add newsgroups, WWW, etc. and allow
inbound access to Interchange via a TCP/IP as well; "...in fact we'll
apply many of the unique features of Interchange -- online/off-line use,
"Keep Updated", our discussion browsers, etc. -- to significantly advance
the state of the art in Internet browsing," according to Interchange
President, Michael Kolowich. This would definitely make my reading of
the newsgroups easier.
The capability to create documents, including pictures and eventually
sound exists. Already users can use standard word processing features in
their e-mail and messages such as bolding, underlining and changing
colors. Also, users can imbed links (icons) within other documents.
For example, if I wanted to post a message to one of The Washington Post
Extra's discussion threads about the latest Tony Kornheiser article, I
could copy the link to the column right into the message. Readers of the
message could click on the link, and the Kornheiser column would pop up.
If the user was off-line at the time, clicking on the Link would give the
user the opportunity to sign on to the service to pull the column, or to
add it to the Inbox to be retrieved later.
The message forums are very very usable. They've come up with a
simplistic way to create threaded message forums. Threads and
sub-threads (they call them branches) are easy to add and navigate.
While there are a couple of tools that could be added to make navigation
even easier, they're off to a good start.
I asked Mr. Kolowich what else we might expect to see in the way of
multimedia. "The idea is to get the basic information in, and start
enhancing it," according to Kolowich. "We're working, for example, on
the more powerful loaders which will enable us to automatically load in
all the infographics from PC Magazine reviews," Kolowich adds.
Noticeably missing in Beta are any type of chat or instant messaging
features. I asked Mr. Kolowich what Interchange users could expect in
the way of these services in comparison to services offered on America
Online and Prodigy. "...to simply imitate their chat methods would be
pretty ridiculous. As we did in discussions, we wanted to critique what
they did, and come up with a next-generation chat/conferencing facility.
That's under design, and will be released sometime around the middle of
the year," replied Kolowich.
Mr. Kolowich expects Interchange to be released to the general public
sometime in the next 3-4 months. Many of the content providers that have
already been signed do not have their services up and running in Beta.
Kolowich points out that Interchange is a network of independent
publishers rather than a general purpose online service. While many of
the basics will be there (news, weather sports, etc.) and will be priced
very competitively, much of the content on Interchange will be add on
services such as The Washington Post Extra. This will work similar to
the way the LA Times is available on Prodigy. Users may sign up for
TimesLink directly without using the Prodigy service, or they may sign up
for Prodigy and add on TimesLink. The individual publishers will set the
price for the add on services.
Interchange bills itself as the "next generation of online services". In
terms of the client software, it lives up to it's billing. For the
computer set, there is a good shot that Interchange will quickly turn
into the service of choice (though they have Mac publications, there is
no software for the Mac platform yet). As for the non-computer set,
expanded content is a must. More content and additional software tools
position Interchange as legitimate competition for CompuServe, America
Online, Prodigy and even Microsoft.
Here's a short piece from "In, Around and Online" reader and
Interchange beta tester, Scott Magoon. Scott brings up some interesting
viewpoints...
Additional Interchange Online Network Commentary- By Scott Magoon
=================================================================
The Interchange Online Network
or
Do you continue to work while your online service gathers
information in the background? ... You Will
In many ways the Interchange Online Network appears to be a cross
between Ziff-Davis' long-running Ziffnet on CompuServe and the "graphical
text" orientation of America Online. ION features shareware, utilities,
demos, and other files of the day on the opening screen. There is a
useful object orientation in that icons representative of files,
documents, and conversation threads can be cut and pasted into messages
(e.g. "for more information check out this ... ") or your personal
inbox. The inbox itself is an automating feature. Pasted links can be
designated as "keep updated," and "keep contents updated." So for
example, I have the Interchange Wish List message thread from the beta
forum in my inbox. I also have Newsbytes and today's top stories all
updated in my inbox at logon so I can read them offline. A status bar in
the lower right corner shows progress and how many tasks completed. All
of this functions as a background task and is not
supposed to affect performance - it's too early to tell on that one.
The most compelling reason to use any online service is, of
course, content. And here ION has an uphill battle. The Washington Post
implementation looks and feels very much like an online newspaper
should. There are links to related articles. The text columns scroll,
but the title and index stay put. And there are links to discussions of
the top stories, making this the most interactive newspaper I've seen
yet. While there are still many newspapers from which to chose, they
have a geographically limited appeal. Magazines have the relevant
content and digestibility that works well online, but the field is
narrowing. Newsweek on Prodigy, and Time on AOL and the web, are setting
the pace for interactive magazines. The big names are going online
quickly but there are still a few to choose from. I think that Forbes
would be a good fit.
Where ION will ultimately shine is in synergy. The kind of
synergy that Microsoft hopes to use to take the online world by storm.
In a message thread on the purchase of Interchange by AT&T, Interchange
president Michael Kolowich responded to a question regarding potential
synergy with the ImagiNation Network recently purchased by AT&T. He
offered a word-balloon link to an article stating that the two services
were purchased by separate divisions and probably would never work
together. However, Interchange and the Lotus Notes deal are both part of
AT&T's Business Communications Services division. Now the pieces can
fall into place. Imagine an online service, running on AT&T's network,
offering Notes for the masses, with intelligent agents routing messages
to your personal mobile 500 number. Home offices could be linked into
small business associations with pay for use databases. All for the
price of ... well nobody seems to know yet how much the service will
cost. Or if AT&T can reverse its less than stellar record in the
software/service industry for that matter. But they will have
to think big and launch a preemptive strike on Microsoft, because if
anyone is going to offer this kind of synergistic service ... They Will.
Scott Magoon can be reached by e-mail at: scottmag@mindspring.com
NEWSWORTHY NOTES
================
The New York Times Company will provide the first (according to the press
release) text and illustrated serial drama (AKA soap opera style
text/comic). Users of America Online will be able to access the weekly
serial dubbed "Parallel Lives", via the @times area sometime during the
first quarter of 1995. The serial will be sponsored by Nabisco. Look
for the initial 3 in 1 pilot (three separate story lines) soon, but be
prepared for cliffhangers!
----
A NEW SURVEY by the Information & Interactive Services Report claims that
at the end of 1994 there were 6,320,650 users of online services; a 38%
increase over the previous year. The Washington, DC based newsletter
attributes much of the growth to a surge in AOL membership during the
last three months of the year. From the press release, here's how the
survey ranked subscribership:
"The six largest consumer-oriented online operators at the end of 1994
are CompuServe, with 2.45 million users; America Online, with 1.5 million
users; Prodigy, with 1.2 million users; Delphi, with 100,000 users;
GEnie, with 75,000 users; and eWorld, with 65,000 users.
Interestingly, the newsletter points out "churn" as a big issue and
paints a scenario that compares well to the Long Distance
telecommunications industry where users hop back and forth from service
to service in order to get the best deal.
----
According to a report from Reuters, Apple Computer has made a filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commission informing that they're
contemplating an agreement where they might "hedge certain investment
risks associated with rights under warrants to purchase common shares
that it holds in America Online". Apple currently holds 1 million common
shares of AOL, or just over 6% of the company. As of the Reuters report,
Apple had not made any final determination as to the advisability of such
a transaction.
----
The Wall Street Journal reported that IBM was trying to take management
control of Prodigy. The story says that there have been no talks about
IBM buying out Sear's 50% stake in Prodigy. IBM just wants to streamline
operations and make Prodigy profitable. A Sears Spokesperson said there
have been no changes.
----
Europe Online, S.A. will license the Interchange Online Network software
for it's European multimedia online service.
----
SHORT TAKES
===========
CHEVROLET WILL PROVIDE "all the excitement" of the America's Cup
competition by following the America(cubed) crew. On Prodigy, Jump:
CHEVROLET. Look for Chevy to make the info available on the Internet soon.
A NEW CAR- Well, it's only a Nissan Sentra, but somebody's finally giving
a way a car on the Internet. User's can enter this contest provided by
Seattle based "Dealernet" by visiting their WWW page at:
http://www.dealernet.com . Or, you can e-mail wincar@dealernet.com with
the message: "I want the car!" The winner will be selected at random
from the pool of entrants and notified by e-mail on April 5th.
ABC PRIMETIME presents an auditorium with Ted Harbert, President, ABC
Entertainment on America Online. January 19 from 9:00 - 10:00 PM, EST
Keyword: Odeon.
FORTUNE MAGAZINE is now on CompuServe. GO: Fortune. I'll try to take a
deeper look at it next week.
COMEDIAN JIM GARNER has rewritten the classic fairy tales we now
recognize as sexist, discriminatory, and culturally biased, so they
won't offend anyone, in his book "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories."
On the Prodigy Comedy BB through 1/26.
WIN A TRIP on the Goodyear Blimp! To find out more, check out the
Goodyear area on CompuServe, GO: GOODYEAR .
FEELING LIKE A GOURMET delicacy? Well, I feel like I just got run over
by a car today, but a gourmet Mediterranean Gift Basket might cheer me
up. Check out Sid Wainer & Sons Specialty Foods at:
http://www.ag.com/Specialty/Foods for more scrumptious eats. This page
is produced by The Access Group, those wonderful guys and gals that
brought us Prophylactic Pete- "The Condom Cowboy". Pete is definitely
still worth a look (and a laugh!) at: http://www.ag.com/Condom/Country/
Stock Watch
===========
Last This
Week's Week's
Company Ticker Close Close
------- ------ ------ ------
America Online AMER $53.63 $50.00
Netcom NETC $23.63 $22.25
Apple AAPL $44.88
AT&T T $48.25 $49.00
General Electric GE $50.88 $52.00
H&R Block HRB $36.88 $35.24
IBM IBM $75.13 $76.37
MCI MCIC $18.06 $18.25
Microsoft MSFT $60.63 $62.75
Sears S $47.75 $47.88
See you next week.
