In, Around and Online- Issue 2.26 - Week Ending 6/30/95 ======================================================= Copyright (C) 1995 Robert Seidman (robert@clark.net). All rights reserved. May be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes. In This Issue... ================ -Stuff From The Editor -The News as a Commodity Online (or: Should I keep the Newsletter?) -Pinching Bob Dole -Battle of the Browser IPOs? -CompuServe Seattle? -Prodigy's User Home Pages - Yawn -eWorld Launches Golden Gate -The Delphi Shuffle -Short Takes -Stock Watch -Subscribing and Unsubscribing to this Newsletter Stuff From The Editor ===================== Beginning next week, I'll be shifting the delivery schedule of this newsletter from Saturday or Sunday (or in the case of this week, Monday) delivery to delivery by the close of business on Friday. Consider it part of my ques to"get a life." Next week's issue may be light since this is already Monday, but after that it should balance back out. Also, starting this week (but probably after the July 4th holiday), I'm going to try to update my WWW pages with items on a daily basis from Monday-Friday. The newsletter that will go out on Friday by e-mail will more or less be a collection of those items plus a bonus or two thrown in. For those of you that are webheads, keep your eye on http://www.clark.net/pub/robert/ . The voting for the coffee mug logo will be extended for another week. Right now, logo #3 is winning by a 2-1 margin over logo #1. The next closest has been the number of letters saying, "none of the logos does your newsletter justice, get more submissions!" I appreciate the sentiment, but the price was right! I'll keep you posted as to how to order the mugs. If you are interested in ordering mugs, please let me know by sending me an e-mail with the subject line of: "I Want a Mug!" If you want more than one, let me know how many. The News as a Commodity - Should I Keep Writing this Newsletter?) ================================================================== Back on September 10, I found myself wishing that someone would abstract everything I was reading as a matter of course, and sort out the really good stuff for me. At the time, with the exception of Cowles/SIMBA and their Cowles/SIMBA Media Daily, nobody was really doing much -- and at the time, the Media Daily could only be found on America Online and CompuServe -- and that was back when they had actually proposed charging $29.95 a month to gain access to their area online. Now, there are many FREE sources of news about this industry available the World Wide Web. Because there are so many, the abstracts themselves have become a commodity. But you'll want to give NetGuide Now a look at http://techweb.wais.com/techweb/ng/netnow/ngnow.htm). There you'll find out how to receive NetGuide Now by e-mail. I confess I did a prototype for NetGuide Now back in January. I'll further confess that that they didn't use much of it -- but hey, I never invoiced them for my work either! What they've done though, is something that heavily mirrors the original issues of this newsletter -- heavy on news abstracts, sites on the web and online events. While many of you have suggested that I create a separate "Short Takes" list, and I'd recently announced that I'd do so, I think NetGuide Now fills that void. The only reason I recently offered to create the new list was because NetGuide Now seemed like it might not ever get here! Now it's here. News abstracts have value -- don't get me wrong. But, when I visit a site on the Web, it isn't to see their news abstracts. Many sites have them now and soon I'll add the links to my Web Page. The newly launched c|net has some very nice summaries of online related news. But that isn't what will keep me coming back to that site. There's a regular column by John Dvorak there. If Dvorak says it, I want to know it. When it comes to computers, software, etc., I value his opinion that much. The same principle can be (and is, on a regular basis) applied to other news media. I can read the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for "news", and I do. But when I pick up the Wall Street Journal on Thursdays, I skim the front page and then head straight for Walter Mossberg's "Personal Technology" column. I don't need Mr. Mossberg to tell me that Hewlett-Packard has a wireless printer -- the press release can tell me that. But, I need Mr. Mossberg for his inside and hands-on view. What he writes has value far and above the press release. I don't know about you, but there are several writers whose opinions I value so much that I feel like I _need_ to read them. I have no delusions that I am in the same league as Mr. Dvorak and Mr. Mossberg, but hey, I'm a little younger than those guys! Initially, my goal was to provide you with "the news" all of the news. Now I'm completing my migration from "the news" to analysis, review and commentary of the news. Unless this results in every single one of you signing off the list, I have every intention of continuing this FREE newsletter! Pinching Bob Dole ================= I'd hoped to take a week off from mentioning Microsoft and the Microsoft Network, but all such hopes were dashed when I read my news on Friday night. "Dole Attacks Justice Department On Microsoft Probe," the headline of the story from the Associated Press read causing me to think, "Darn, couldn't he have waited until next Wednesday?" Now Robert "Bob" Dole has turned his sights towards the US Department of Justice for their "overzealous" conduct in investigating Microsoft. When you're running for office, especially the office of President of the United States you take all the press you can. But poor, poor Microsoft? "A company develops a new product. A product consumers want. But now the government steps in and is in effect attempting to dictate the terms on which that product can be marketed and sold," said Dole. "Pinch me, but I thought we were still in America." On paper, I understand Mr. Dole's position - if you look at the picture from one side, it sure does seem the way Mr. Dole paints it. "Bob Dole is a good man and might someday be a good President -- but not unless he learns that it is usually better to understand both sides of an issue before taking a stand," said America Online CEO Steve Case when I asked him for his thoughts on the Dole comments. "Microsoft is intending to leverage its monopoly position in operating systems to cross-sell their own products and services on an exclusive and exclusionary basis," said Case. "Short term, this represents a significant loss of consumer choice and diminishes free and open competition. "Long-term, it threatens the industry by creating an uneven playing field to the advantage of one already dominant company, further depriving consumers of a full range of choices," Case continued. Mr. Case summarized his thought by saying, "Given these risks, it is perfectly appropriate for the Department of Justice to investigate this matter; they would be shirking their responsibility if they didn't." I agree with Mr. Case on the long term ramifications, but don't think the picture is quite as bleak as he paints it for the short term. In fact, level playing field or no, in the short term, I think Microsoft's entry is great for this industry and its consumers. If you worst case the long term scenario, it gets frightening. I've dealt with that issue enough in this newsletter. But, I'd be happier with Mr. Dole if he understood both sides of this issue. Online is a broadcast medium. It requires a computer. If Microsoft gets their way, in a few years, most of the computers will have the Win 9x operating system. Based on their current dominance, it isn't hard to imagine they will succeed in the same way with Win '95. They plan on succeeding even more, and with Win '95, that isn't an unreasonable expectation. As it stands today, Microsoft Network will be integrated with every desktop installing Windows '95. America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, etc. will be on many of those desktops too, but no one of them will be on most of them (most being more than 50%), and all of them will have to PAY for their bundling arrangements. Microsoft Network will come bundled with all of them. Not 50%, not 75%, but 100% of every Windows '95 desktop. I don't blame Microsoft, Mr. Dole. I'd do the same thing if I were them and I could get away with it! Mr. Dole, in America, leveraging a dominant position representing over 75% of all computers would be considered anti-competitive. You're still in America, Mr. Dole, but consider yourself pinched. In the meanwhile, it looks like Microsoft has until July 24 to respond to the DOJ Antitrust division's request for information re: the Microsoft Network. By then it looks like the "gold disk" (the final version of the software code) for Windows '95 will have already been sent to the disk manufacturers. That is, if Microsoft is still intending to make the August 24th launch date. Rumors abound that there will be delays but Microsoft has held firm that August 24 is the date. Battle of the Browser IPOs? =========================== With all the press the Internet and "cyberspace" in general have received lately, most of the technology stocks involved with those areas have become the darlings of Wall Street. It was no exception this week when Spyglass, a little company in Illinois that owns the license to distribute commercial versions of NCSA's Mosaic Web browser, launched their IPO. Spyglass' initial public offering was set at $17, but by the time it hit the market it was in the $20's and got as high as $29.25 before closing for the week at $28.63. Spyglass' biggest claim to fame so far is that Microsoft paid a lump sum to license the Mosaic browser from them. For now, rather than including the browser with Windows '95, the browser will be included in an add-on package for Windows '95. Microsoft probably doesn't care much about the Spyglass Mosaic browser. Once UUNET (an Internet Access Provider that Microsoft has a stake in ) has put a PPP network in place, folks will be able to get to the Microsoft Network and use whatever Internet clients they want. And right now, most people are using Netscape. In fact, Microsoft and Netscape have been very "buddy-buddy" as of late. It wouldn't shock me to see Microsoft try to do a deal with Netscape. Based on the initial success of the Spyglass IPO, it looks like Jim Clark and Marc Andreesen will be very, very, very rich men soon when the offer they're on IPO. This is a growing trend with Internet/Online service companies. Make no real money to speak of (often LOSE money)-, generate a lot of press, come out with an IPO and get rich! Whether a Netscape/Microsoft deal is just a fantasy in my head, it doesn't matter -- the stock is sure to soar at first. Today, Netscape has the best browser, well, arguably the best. It is certainly the most popular. While an initial price for the Netscape IPO hasn't been set yet, whatever the price is, it won't matter. By the time it hits the market, barring any really bizarre announcements between now and the IPO, it will be worth a whole lot more than whatever price they set. What Netscape may lack in revenue, they've apparently made up for in innovation. They have lined up several partners to invest in them, and regardless of their earnings, the stock will most likely soar. Netscape has become the leader in cutting edge technology for the "consumer" Web browser. They were the first to come out with a slew of features that previously couldn't be found anywhere else. Now Netscape has already released it's second beta of 32 bit Windows '95 version of the browser. Even without the Win '95 "shortcut" feature, which Netscape says will be available in the Beta 3, I'm impressed -- most notably with the bookmark feature for saving and organizing the sites you want to visit. While bookmarking has always been easy with Netscape, organizing the sites has not necessarily been as intuitive or easy as it should be. Not so with the Window's 95 version. The new bookmark feature uses the MS-Windows' "file manager" tree structure and there is full flexibility in designing how you want to surf through your bookmarks. It is hard to quantify, but for me, this sort of flexibility has enhanced my Web experience by allowing me to organize the sites I want to visit. The only thing that comes close is the "Favorite Places" feature available in the America Online "beta" (keyword: AOLPREVIEW), which basically offers the exact same structure for organizing the online (and Web) sites you want to visit. Could Netscape be looking at AOL for ideas? Okay, probably not, but they've come out with something near identical that adds a little functionality. At any rate, look for the Netscape IPO later this summer, we'll keep you posted. CompuServe Seattle? =================== Since CompuServe purchased Seattle based Spry Inc. for about $100 million, they've been calling it the "CompuServe Internet Division," but now it looks like they've decided to call it "CompuServe Seattle". So, what does this mean? It means "CompuServe Seattle" president David Pool didn't want to move to Columbus, Ohio! CompuServe Seattle made a couple of big announcements this week. First, that they would be coming out with their own Win' 95 browser for the "In A Box" series called "Mosaic In A Box for Windows '95". The "For Windows '95" product is scheduled to be available at the time Win '95 launches and is looking to give Netscape a decent run for their money by including the S-HTTP secured server protocol, an electronic wallet for safe purchases, selected extensions from HTML 3.0 and more (disk caching, Internet shortcuts, full leveraging of the Win '95 interface, the Adobe Acrobat reader, a floating toolbar, AND VRML -- virtual reality markup language allows for 3-D imagery on the Web). The expected street price for the product is $9.95. Additionally, a new pricing model was announced for Internet access via the CompuServe network -- which is different than the CompuServe online service. The good news is that now instead of getting 3 hours with your $9.95/mo. subscription, you get 7. This plan is dubbed the "Silver Surf Club." The bad news for heavier users is that the $20/20 hour plan (called Gold Internet Club) hasn't changed. Now, instead of getting an additional 17 hours for an extra $10/mo., you'll only get an additional 13. More good news though, the price for additional hours under both plans is $1.95/hour. Previously, that price only applied to the Gold Internet Club plan, now it applies to the Silver Surf Club as well and they'd previously been paying $2.50 for each additional hour. Yeah, I know it's still too expensive, but not for folks only wanting to use 7-20 hours a month. For them (and I think they are the majority of users) it is a very good deal. Prodigy's User Home Pages - Yawn ================================ Well, Prodigy has released the service that allows members to create their own Web pages. But as you surf through their member pages, I can't help wonder if they wouldn't have been better of waiting until they could incorporate graphics. The Web is great, hypertext linking is great, but the reason the Web has been so successful is that it offers full "multimedia" publishing. Prodigy plans to offer the ability to add pictures and sound down the road. Without them, the pages are pretty boring. A couple of things -- Prodigy has done a good job with the templates. It is very easy to create a page. If you don't want to use a template, you can create your page by writing it in HTML format. Note -- implementing a couple of WWW tags in the document directly apparently causes a bug. When I went back to edit my page, the form had been truncated. Word to the wise -- save a backup on your own! You can check out my Prodigy page at: http://pages.prodigy.com/NY/rseidman/rseidman.html. Prodigy has organized the pages by state. If you want to browse people's pages, you can put in: http://pages.prodigy.com/XX/ where XX is the two letter postal code for the state. XX must be in capital letters. eWorld Launches New Version =========================== eWorld has finally released the 1.1 client (code named: Golden Gate) of their online service for the Macintosh platform. The base software code is licensed from America Online and incorporates many of the features that have been around in the AOL "multimedia" Mac 2.5.1 client for many months now. Newsgroups and FTP have also been incorporated, though as of this writing, they were not available to the general subscriber base yet, but should be within a matter of days. Apple is saying that Web access will be available next month. But while Apple has paid to license the AOL code, they've gone a step better by introducing an electronic mail agent that sorts, filters and even replies to messages. eWorld also announced that by the end of the November, all 12,000 Apple employees on the AppleLink service will be transferred to eWorld and would work to transition the rest of the AppleLink subscriber base to eWorld (all told, AppleLink has 60,000 subscribers) by the end of the year. Ironically, if memory serves me correctly, the initial genesis of eWorld was not as a consumer online service, but as a service to replace AppleLink and reduce the high network costs associated with that service. These announcements came as eWorld celebrates its 1st birthday. They've line up 90K subscribers already. Not huge by today's standards, but not bad for an online service only a year old that is only available on about 15% of all personal computers. eWorld is still saying they'll have a Window's version available sometime in '95. Happy birthday, eWorld! The Delphi Shuffle ================== It's been pretty quiet on the Delphi front lately, presumably due to the huge investment MCI has made in News Corporation. They're still trying to sort out who'll do what, and as a result, Mr. Murdoch's tip that there would be a BIG announcement on June 22nd was a little premature. But make no mistake about it, Rupert is big time serious about the online thing. This week, News Corp. appointed Anthea Disney, who had been editor-in-chief of TV Guide for more than three years, to its to the top editorial post for online services. TV Guide, for what it's worth, is a big-time magazine when it comes to sales. Very big. Ms. Disney also did a stint as producer of Fox's "A Current Affair". The announcement presumably ends the short and happy Delphi life of former Microsoft employee, Mark Benerofe, who in March was appointed as executive VP and GM of Consumer Services for Delphi. Now this is all rumor and speculation, but it is beginning to appear that everyone at Delphi is going to get trashed. Let's face it, they appointed Dr. Alan Baratz as President of Delphi a year ago, and nothing, and I mean nothing, has happened at Delphi since then. Unless you count losing customers as an accomplishment. While obviously the MCI deal muddied the waters a little, Delphi was flapping in the wind without a GUI anyway. Also, we're talking about some major players with really big egos. While the inside skinny is that Scott Kurnit didn't know the News Corp. deal was in the works when he joined MCI as the head of its new info services division, you'd be crazy if you didn't believe Mr. Kurnit will play the situation to his advantage. While the early analysis is that News Corp. appears to have gotten the best of MCI in that deal, Kurnit is a player. Look for him to come out on top. In the meantime, the word on the street is that whatever the new service that grows out of Delphi or a Delphi/MCI combination will not be branded as Delphi. Probably a smart move. Look for an announcement really soon now. Short Takes =========== Only a couple... WHO AM I? I hope to find out when I appear as the guest of an interactive chat hosted by America Online's Internet Connection next Sunday, June 9 at 10PM ET. We'll talk about online, the Internet, the Web, and whatever else is on your mind. I'd be most honored if you joined me at Keyword: BOWL (then select the "Bowl" icon"). See you there! Note to those of you who've never attended an event in one of the America Online's auditoriums -- if you want to ask a question, you'll need to select the "Interact" icon once you've entered the Bowl. Text typed directly in the room can only be seen by members who are in your "chat row". So, if you type your question there, I won't see it! -- DISCOVERY CHANNEL ONLINE - Discovery Channel was already on AOL (keyword Discovery), now they've turned their sights to cashing in on the Web. They've done a nice job. One of the guys who worked hard on the Discovery site is the very same guy who helped me set up the LISTSERV to distribute this newsletter. Check it out at: http://www.discovery.com . Nice work Mr. Jones. Stock Watch =========== This Last 52 52 Week's Week's Week Week Company Ticker Close Close High Low ------- ------ ------ ------ ------- ------- America Online AMER $44.00 $42.00 $48.13 $13.75 Apple AAPL $46.44 $48.75 $50.94 $25.50 AT&T T $53.00 $52.88 $55.88 $47.25 Bolt,Beranek & Newman BBN $27.38 $28.25 $30.00 $10.00 General Elec. GE $56.38 $57.13 $59.25 $45.38 H&R Block HRB $41.00 $41.88 $47.63 $33.00 IBM IBM $96.00 $98.63 $99.38 $54.50 MCI MCIC $22.00 $20.25 $25.88 $17.25 Mecklermedia Corp. MECK $37.75 $34.25 $38.25 $ 4.25 Microsoft MSFT $90.38 $91.13 $92.38 $46.88 Netcom NETC $25.50 $24.13 $31.75 $16.75 News Corp. NWS $22.63 $22.88 $24.31 $14.38 Performance Syst. Intl PSIX $15.19 $15.25 $16.00 $12.00 Sears S $59.50 $58.63 $59.50 $43.50 Spyglass Inc. SPYG $28.63 $----- $28.63 $26.50 UUNET Technologies UUNT $27.50 $26.75 $28.50 $21.75 Happy 4th of July to all Americans at home and abroad! See you next week. Subscribing and Unsubscribing ============================= To subscribe to this newsletter by e-mail: Send an e-mail message to: LISTSERV@CLARK.NET In the BODY of the message type: SUBSCRIBE ONLINE-L FIRSTNAME LASTNAME Example: Subscribe Online-L Robert Seidman If you wish to remove yourself from the list please DO NOT reply to this message -- send an e-mail message to: LISTSERV@CLARK.NET with the text SIGNOFF ONLINE-L in the body of the message. An HTML version of "In, Around and Online" is available on the Web at: http://www.clark.net/pub/robert/ . .