Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
In Around and Online 94 12 23
In, Around and Online- Issue 16, Week Ending 12/23/94
======================================================
Copyright (C) 1994 Robert Seidman. All rights reserved. May be
reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes.
How to Get This Newsletter In Your Mailbox
==========================================
Via LISTSERV: send an e-mail to LISTSERV@CLARK.NET and in the
BODY of the message type: SUBSCRIBE ONLINE-L YOUR FULL NAME
example: SUBSCRIBE ONLINE-L Robert Seidman
Corrections
===========
Last week's "Short Take" on a free (for now) quote service from Paragon
Software incorrectly instructed to send mail to user name: "service". It
should've been user name "services". Find out more by sending mail to:
services@paragon.wwa.com . Make sure that your subject line says: info .
Also I included a "Short Take" on the official 1.0 release of Netscape
Communications' Netscape WWW browser stating that it was free for
personal use. This is not correct entirely correct. Students, faculty
and staff members of educational institutions may use it free. Employees
of non-profit organizations may also use it for free. If your usage of
the software on a personal basis is for the purpose of evaluating
purchase of an ongoing license, it is also free. No terms on how long
one may evaluate are given. No support or telephone assistance will be
given if the software is not licensed.
What's New
==========
I didn't really think I would be feeling very festive this holiday
season, but that hasn't turned out to be the case at all. Maybe it was
all of the nice e-mail I've received over the past few weeks, maybe it is
having the pleasure of working with a great group of people in my "real"
job, or maybe it was being at the mall doing some last minute shopping.
The mall was jam packed, wall to wall with people - but everyone seemed
to be in a good mood! (For you regular readers: as you may have guessed,
I forgot to buy myself that down comforter.) I've just heard the
"Barking Dogs" doing their annual "Jingle Bells" thing, so now it is
officially the holidays!
I was wondering whether this would be a light news week, and whether I
might actually get to take the week off. In this industry, why I
would've even considered such a thing is beyond me! A lot happened this
week. I can't complain - I love writing this newsletter and apparently
there are quite a few of you that like reading it! For me, that is
probably the best gift of all. So thank you! And now, my gift to you...
This Week's Big Story
=====================
We have a first this week; a three way tie for the week's biggest story.
-Microsoft announced that Windows '95 may be delayed until August '95
-Tele-communications, Inc., officially announces investment in the
Microsoft Network
-AT&T acquires Interchange Network Company from Ziff Communications
Company
Microsoft this week announced that the newest version of Windows, Windows
'95 (previously code named Chicago), could be delayed until August.
Originally scheduled for release *this* year, a few months back Microsoft
announced that Windows '95 would not be available until sometime in the
first half of '95. Now they're pushing it out a little further. This
means the Microsoft Network, Microsoft's new online service (previously
code named: Marvel) that will be a part of the Windows '95 operating
system will also be delayed. I'm sure that all of the other services are
having at least a slightly happier holiday as a result of this.
Many have speculated that lack of content for the Microsoft Network is a
factor in the delay. I'm probably about the biggest cynic around, but I
don't buy this theory. Certainly, the Microsoft Network doesn't
currently boast any content, but I don't see Microsoft delaying the
operating system because of that. Microsoft has said that any potential
delay will be caused because they're trying to put out a quality product
and they want to get it right and that there are some problems with the
installation process when it comes to detecting hardware. I believe that
those things are true, but more importantly, the fact that the "point and
click, easy to use" access to the Internet is neither point and click nor
particularly easy to set up. At least not in the beta 2 version of
Windows '95. The access is there and it does work, but it is by no means
available at the click of a button. When Windows '95 ships, I think you
can expect to see something that is truly "point and click" and easy to
use. Also, the Exchange mail client seems to need a little work and
Exchange will be a big feature of the operating system; especially since
MS hopes to score big on the Exchange server technology. All that aside,
even in beta, it is a pretty darn good operating system. The user
interface is simply fantastic!
So, how much is an online service without any content, that won't be
available for at least 7 or 8 months worth? Well, TCI Technology
ventures, the technology business group of Tele-communications, Inc.
(TCI) must believe it is worth about $625 million, because this week they
announced that they were investing $125 million for a 20% minority in the
newly formed Microsoft Online Services Partnership (MOSP). "MOSP is a
partnership formed to own the assets and cash flow of Microsoft's planned
online service, The Microsoft Network," according to the press release.
Microsoft, the managing partner, holds the other 80% No other terms of
this deal were disclosed.
That being said, AT&T must feel like they walked away with a bargain when
they picked up the Interchange Network Company (that has developed the
"Interchange Online Network"), for a little over $50 million. Exact
dollar amounts had not been disclosed as of this writing. Interchange
already has content, and a lot of it is very good content. Interchange
has a 10 year deal with Ziff-Davis Interactive (which was recently sold
to Forstmann Little & Co.) that includes some of the best computer
publications around. Also onboard with Interchange are The Washington
Post, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Cowles Business Media, as well as
several others. Interchange is currently in wide beta test, and has
received some rave reviews for its ability to publish content online in a
compelling manner. If 20% of MOSP is worth 2.5 times the value of 100%
of Interchange, I'm wondering if there is any way that I can legally
change my name to Microsoft.
It is interesting to see AT&T make this acquisition. AT&T already has
ownership of or alliances with several other "online" products, including
General Magic and ImagiNation Network. Interchange has been touted as
the next generation of online publishing. How does that fit in with
AT&T, how will they integrate their various services? I don't think it
matters if it "fits in" and I don't think it is likely that AT&T would
try to consolidate services. From the point of view of a
telecommunications company one thing this definitely means is: minutes,
minutes, minutes. Telecom companies want more minutes on their
networks. In the short run at least, getting involved with a lot of
services that add minutes to your network seems like a pretty good fit to me.
America Online and This Week's Top Stories
==========================================
While America Online wasn't involved in this week's top stories, they
were impacted by them and did have some big news of their own. They
announced on 12/21 that they had surpassed the 1.5 million subscriber
mark and that they were now handling more than 1 million sessions a day
making them the most active online service. I tend to think that
the surge in transactions is due in part to the new software client for
the Windows operating system allowing Flash mail. Flash mail, which
allows unattended sending and retrieving of files has been available on
the Macintosh platform for some time (I believe since its inception).
All of that aside, the 1.5 million mark is still pretty impressive. On
August 16, they announced that they'd surpassed the 1 million mark. On
May 10, they announced they'd surpassed 800,000. It took them over three
years to hit 750,000; doubling that number only took around 3/4 of one year.
At the beginning of the week their stock was at $48/share. On the news
of the Windows '95 delay, it went up. On the news of the TCI deal it went
up more, on the news of the 1.5 million members it went up, and on the
news of the AT&T sale, it went up even more- getting as high as
55 1/4 before closing at 53 3/4, to end the week up $5.75. For those who
held shares before the recent 2 for 1 split...well, you get the picture.
CMG COMPLETES SALE OF BOOKLINK TO AMERICA ONLINE
================================================
CMG Information Services Inc. announced on Friday the completion of the
sale of CMG's subsidiary, BookLink Technologies Inc. to America Online
Inc. pursuant to an agreement signed in November. Under the terms of the
sale, CMG received 710,000 shares of AOL Common Stock. Now, here's
a little snippet from the original press release on 11/9:
" The number of shares of America Online common stock to be issued will
be based on the average closing price of America Online shares for the 10
days preceding the closing date."
Why do I include this? Because depending on the actual completion date
and based on the jump in the stock over the last week, the CMG gang is
probably grinning from ear to ear.
America Online Expands Personal Finance Content
===============================================
America Online announced that it has strengthened its personal financial
services area by launching the Investor's Business Daily (IBD) online.
American Online subscribers can now read each day's edition online.
I checked this area out and there is a slew of information available in
addition to the daily editions. If you've got money to invest, this is a
great place to look. This continues America Online's trend of trying to
bolster a somewhat weak gathering of personal finance content. They've
done a pretty good job recently and now can boast such titles as:
Decision Point, Morningstar Mutual Funds, The Motley Fool (a must see,
even if you don't have any money to invest), and the Nightly Business
Report in addition to the Stock Quotes/Portfolios and Hoover's Company
Profiles that have been around for a while.
Investor's Business Daily as available via Keyword: IBD. The main
personal finance area is available from America Online's Main Menu for
those on the newer versions or at Keyword: FINANCE .
Also announced were plans to launch Vanguard Online, a service provided
by The Vanguard Group of Investment Companies that will introduce an
innovative education and information service for mutual fund investors.
The service is expected to debut in mid January.
Attention All Shoppers
======================
In what seemed a pretty sharp contrast to the announcement of the
Investor's Business Daily service, America Online also announced this
week that K-MART had teamed up with America Online and Shoppers Express
to provide merchandise online. Currently, the service is only available
to America Online subscribers in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan
area. If successful, you may be able to find a blue light special (I
thought I could resist the temptation, but I was wrong) online in your
own city sometime soon.
Well, I can't slam K-Mart, if nothing else, they are THE place to get
Santa hats (I have a little experience with this from years past).
Perhaps that is where Steve Case got his.
Some Interesting Statistics
===========================
A recent study by CDB Consulting & Research came to the conclusion that
anyone reading this newsletter has already come to: "...the online
services market is due for a major takeoff in subscribership in 1995."
Of the survey's 356 respondents, 40% of them were aware of "aware of each
of the four major on-line information services". When I first
read this, I was wondering what was going on. I know about the 3 major
online services (PRODIGY, CIS, and AOL), and I know about the 5 major
online services (add GEnie and Delphi), but 4? It turns out that they
are counting the Internet as a stand alone online service. Purists will
hate this, but I admit that referring to it as an online service saves
some space. "The 3 major online service and the Internet" does take more
room. But if you thought that was interesting, you'll love what's
next. According to the survey more people are aware of PRODIGY than the
other 3. That's right of the people that were aware of all of the
services, awareness was highest for Prodigy at 73%, followed by the
Internet at 58%, CompuServe at 56% and America Online at 44%.
I have a couple of questions. Who commissioned this study? Prodigy came
out with a follow up press release touting that an independent study had
named them the service with the highest awareness. Now, I'm not trying
to say that Prodigy had this study done. I know if AOL or CompuServe
would've come out on top, they would've put out a press release too. The
thing that baffles me though is this, how do you measure degrees of
awareness? Whether I am or am not aware of something is an extremely
objective measure. I either know it exists or I don't. Now, if I am
aware of 4 things, asking me which one I am MORE aware of is extremely
subjective. The thing that really bothers me? Well, the number that
they used. The survey tells the level of awareness of the 142 that
are aware of all 4 services. I want to know of the entire 356 who was
aware of each service. When they threw away the 214 folks who didn't
know all 4, they threw away the MOST meaningful number. That being the
service with the highest on/off awareness. Now, I'm not saying Prodigy
commissioned this survey, but if Prodigy would've had the highest on/off
awareness out of the entire 356...
SHORT TAKES
===========
EXPRESS SYSTEMS Inc. unleashed The Software Management Resource Center on
the World Wide Web. The Center provides Internet users a collection of
free software management information and tools from the Software
Publishers Association and Express Systems, as well as references to
other online resources. Via the web at: http://www.express-systems.com
Some resources available by e-mail. Send mail to:
info@express-systems.com .
NET INVESTOR: Now you can set up an acct. via the Internet to track,
analyze and make investments. Currently for free in Beta test if you're
accepted. Via WWW at: http://pawws.secapl.com/invest.html.
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: Something I never would've looked at had it not
shown up online is now one of my reading staples. Check out the January
issue for stories on: Preserving Digital Documents, Earth Before Pangea,
Biomolecular Machines, The Oldest Old and more. On America Online at
Keyword: SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN .
MORE SOARING STOCKS: Is the net all hype? Many don't think so and
they're putting there money where their mouths are. NetCom Online
Communications (Netcom), priced their stock at $13/sh. in their initial
public offering on December 14. On December 23, the Internet service
provider's stock closed at $22.5.
HOLIDAY KWANZAA STYLE: Find out about the African American holiday,
Kwanzaa, via the WWW at: http://www.melanet.com/melanet/ . Sponsored by
MelaNet.
BOLT BERANEK and Newman Inc. announced that they have signed a letter of
intent with the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) to
acquire the SURAnet Internet service. The completion of this acquisition
expands BBN's growing Internet services business.
VIRTUAL CORPORATION? Check out Penton Publishing's IndustryWeek
magazine forum on CompuServe where they've set the forum up to be a
"virtual corporation".
THE RICHMOND Times-Dispatch has joined with Prodigy Services Company to
create an online service that will give personal computer users immediate
access to a wide range of news, features and information about Virginia.
Called Gateway Virginia, the service is expected to start next summer.
JUPITER COMMUNICATIONS announced that Russell Siegelman, the executive in
charge of the Microsoft Network, will keynote the second annual
Consumer Online Services Conference, to be held in New York City, Feb.
27-March 1. This is where all the big wigs hang out. I wish I could
go! For a mere $995, you can run with the in crowd. To register, or for
more information and a conference brochure, call Jupiter Communications
at 1-800-488-4345 and ask for Harry Larson.
MEGADEATH FANS can ask questions of Dave Mustaine of the metal band
Megadeth and will answer on 12/28. In the Music Bulletin Board on
Prodigy.
ABC PRIME TIME Online presents an interactive event with SHARON LAWRENCE
(NYPD Blue's Assistant District Attorney Sylvia Costas) on Tuesday,
JANUARY 3rd at 9pm (ET). On America Online via Keywords GLOBE or ABC .
INTERNET GROWTH: The population connected to the Internet will grow from
25 million today to more than 200 million by the year 2000 according to
INPUT, the global IT market intelligence firm. Vint Cerf, who is one of
the "inventors" of the TCP/IP protocol predicted 300 million for the same
time frame in an interview in the December issue of WIRED magazine.
Either way, that's a lot of e-mail...
NEW YEARS EVE in cyberspace: Members of the WELL online community have
joined forces to help create the first multi-city New Year's Eve party to
be organized and celebrated in cyberspace. You attend one of several
live sites around the country, or check in from your own home. More
information is available via the WWW at:
http://www.well.com/Conferences/foo/ .
THE OS/2 FIESTA BOWL home page is available by WWW at:
http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/fiesta.html . Yeah, I know this is
really just an advertisement, but for Fighting Irish and Colorado
Buffaloes fans, the links off the page are worth it!
CAROL BURNETT will be your mouthpiece when she interviews the All My
Children stars during its 25th Anniversary prime time special, airing
January 15, 1995 on ABC. You have questions? Carol will get the
answers. On Prodigy in the TV Bulletin Board.
What the heck is a bobtail ring anyway and why would you put a bell on one?
Happy Holidays! See you next week.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"In, Around and Online"-A Weekly Summary of Consumer Online Services
Robert Seidman http://www.clark.net:80/pub/robert/home.html
robert@clark.net Anon FTP: ftp.clark.net pub/robert
---------------------------------------------------------------------
