Message-Id: <55206A473154D011924D0020AFF7ACB527C860@mail1.oulan.ou.edu>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 1997 17:27:57 -0500
From: Bob Swisher <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@ou.edu'" <it-fyi@ou.edu>
Subject: Edupage, 9 September 1997
> ************************************************************
> Edupage, 9 September 1997. Edupage, a summary of news about
> information technology, is provided three times a week as a service by
> Educom, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and
> universities seeking to transform education through the use of
> information technology.
> ************************************************************
>
> TOP STORIES
> Clinton Administration Flip-Flops On Encryption Issue
> America Online To Operate CompuServe
> IBM Nixes Net PCs
> Power Computing Gets Rights To Mac OS 8
>
> ALSO
> Motorola And IBM Rethink Purpose Of PowerPC Chips
> Dell Changes Production System For OptiPlex Line
> Disposable DVDs
> Gelernter On The Beauty Of Software
> "Amazing Grace" Showcases Technology
>
> CLINTON ADMINISTRATION FLIP-FLOPS ON ENCRYPTION ISSUE
> Reversing its previous assurances that it was opposed to domestic
> encryption controls and determined not to regulate the development of
> Internet commerce, the Clinton Administration has drafted legislation
> that would require all encryption technology to include a "trap door"
> feature allowing immediate decoding of any message by law enforcement
> officials armed with a court order. The plan, which is opposed both
> by civil libertarians and by the technology industry, would also
> require telephone companies and Internet service providers to use the
> same feature in any encryption systems they offer. (New York Times 7
> Sep 97)
>
> AMERICA ONLINE TO OPERATE COMPUSERVE
> America Online has negotiated a complex deal with WorldCom that will
> result in AOL acquiring and operating CompuServe. AOL intends to keep
> CompuServe's content focused on business and technology issues: "AOL
> is going to use its scale and its resources to make it more focused
> and efficient in servicing the business and professional market," says
> a source close to the negotiation. The arrangement calls for WorldCom
> to purchase CompuServe as part of a $1.2 billion stock swap, then to
> turn it over to America Online, along with $175 million in cash, in
> exchange for AOL's ANS network service. The deal will give AOL some
> much needed cash, and a boost of about 30% in subscribership.
> WorldCom will get to keep CompuServe's global data network, which, in
> combination with the ANS network, will beef up WorldCom's data
> networking capabilities. (Miami Herald 8 Sep 97)
>
> IBM NIXES NET PCs
> Three months after demonstrating a prototype, IBM now says it won't
> pursue the NetPC market after all. The NetPC is a stripped down
> version of a desktop computer, priced at around $1,000 and based on
> Intel microprocessors and Microsoft operating software. "There was a
> herd mentality about NetPCs and now we see some of the breakup of the
> herd," says the president of a Washington, D.C.-based computer
> consulting firm. IBM says its customers have indicated they'd prefer
> to spend a little more money and get the network and software
> management features found on full-fledged PCs. With hardware prices
> continuing to fall, "nobody can give a compelling reason why a NetPC
> makes sense," says one PC vendor. (Wall Street Journal 8 Sep 97)
>
> POWER COMPUTING GETS RIGHTS TO MAC OS 8
> After cutting a deal last week wherein Apple Computer will acquire
> Power Computing's Macintosh assets for $100 million, Apple has said as
> part of the arrangement, Power Computing now has the rights to bundle
> Mac OS 8 with its clones until Dec. 31, when the assets transfer is
> complete. Power Computing has cut prices on its Macintosh
> compatibles, and sources say it's sold more than $1.4 million worth of
> its PowerTower Pro systems since its deal with Apple was announced.
> Meanwhile, Taiwan-based UMAX Computer has reached an agreement to
> include the Mac OS 8 system on computers sold in Asia; the
> arrangement for North American sales is still being worked out.
> (Computer
> Reseller News 7 Sep 97)
>
> ================================================
>
> MOTOROLA AND IBM RETHINK PURPOSE OF POWERPC CHIPS
> Though the original purpose of the PowerPC chip (co-developed by
> Apple, IBM and Motorola) was to compete against Intel's domination of
> the market for microprocessors used by PCs, Motorola and IBM have now
> decided to refocus that family of chips for use in noncomputer
> consumer electronics devices (e.g., cellular phones) and industrial
> applications (e.g., factory robots). Current speculation is that
> Apple leader Steve Jobs may use Intel processors rather than PowerPCs
> for the Rhapsody operating system it is developing for its
> next-generation Macintoshes, thereby reducing the already weak demand
> for PowerPC chips. (New York Times 9 Sep 97)
>
> DELL CHANGES PRODUCTION SYSTEM FOR OPTIPLEX LINE
> Dell Computer is squeezing more productivity out of its production
> line by moving to cell manufacturing, using one or two workers to
> build an entire machine from start to finish. Beginning with its
> OptiPlex line of PCs geared toward the corporate market, Dell's
> director of production says the new system cuts the time it takes to
> make a PC to eight hours from 10: "We have reduced or eliminated wait
> time for the product as it moves through the process. We've reduced
> the length of time it takes to assemble the product. We've reduced
> the number of touches (number of people handling individual parts) and
> just overall improved the flow." (Investor's Business Daily 8 Sep 97)
>
> DISPOSABLE DVDs
> Digital Video Express, a company backed by Circuit City Stores and a
> Los Angeles entertainment-law firm, is developing a disposable digital
> video disk aimed at consumers who would prefer to rent a movie for an
> evening, rather than spend the money to purchase the film in DVD
> format. The new Divx design is not compatible with existing DVD
> players; new Divx players will cost about $100 more than the current
> models being sold. Viewers could pay a rental-like fee of under $5
> per disk, have access to the movie for 48 hours after they first start
> watching it, and then throw the disk away when they were finished.
> If, instead, they felt like seeing it again, they could conduct an
> electronic transaction via modem to reactivate the disk. Consumers
> would also have the choice of making a higher one-time payment (likely
> to be below $20) for limitless viewing. The disposable option
> undercuts the basic business model favored by current DVD proponents
> who envision consumers building permanent libraries of movies at
> premium prices. "We think this product ought to be put into the market
> to let the consumer decide what they want," says the chairman and CEO
> of Circuit City Stores, who holds the same titles in Digital Video
> Express. Walt Disney Co., DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures and
> Universal Pictures have all agreed to provide titles for Divx release.
> (Wall Street Journal 9 Sep 97)
>
> GELERNTER ON THE BEAUTY OF SOFTWARE
> "Most computer technologists don't like to discuss it, but the
> importance of beauty is a consistent (if sometimes inconspicuous)
> thread in the software literature. Beauty is more important in
> computing than anywhere else in technology... Beauty is important in
> engineering terms because software is so complicated... Beauty is our
> most reliable guide to achieving software's ultimate goal: to break
> free of the computer, to break free conceptually.
> Software is stuff unlike any other... Software's goal is to escape
> this gravity field, and every key step in software history has been a
> step away from the computer, toward forgetting about the machine and
> its physical structure and limitations -- forgetting that it can hold
> only so many bytes, that its memory is made of fixed size cells, that
> you refer to each cell by a numerical address. Software needn't
> accept those rules and limitations. But as we throw off the limits,
> what guides us? How do we know where to head? Beauty is the best
> guide we have." (Adapted from "Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart
> of Computing," by David Gelernter, Discover Sep 97)
>
> "AMAZING GRACE" SHOWCASES TECHNOLOGY
> The USS Hopper, the Navy's second-ever ship to be named after a woman,
> is a part of a new class of "stealth ships," demonstrating the latest
> in marine design and computer technology. Named after Rear Adm. Grace
> Murray Hopper, a computer pioneer credited with coining the term "bug"
> when she found a moth in a switching contact, the ship is
> affectionately nicknamed "Amazing Grace." During her 40 years in the
> Navy, Hopper specialized in computer programming and developed a
> programming language based on a series of commands rather than
> elaborate mathematical codes, a breakthrough that cleared the way for
> modern computing. The 500-foot long destroyer's control panel has a
> helm that looks more like a car's steering wheel, giving it a video
> game aura. The ship's hull and superstructure have slanted sides to
> deflect radar, and the Navy calls it "one of the most capable warships
> ever built." (San Jose Mercury News 6 Sep 97)
>
> Edupage is written by John Gehl <gehl@educom.edu> & Suzanne Douglas
> <douglas@educom.edu>. Telephone: 404-371-1853
>
> Technical support is provided by Information Technology Services at
> the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
>
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> Today's Honorary Subscribers are two great young tennis players:
> Martina Hingis (b. 1980) and Venus Williams (b. 1980), who battled
> each other Sunday for the championship of the U.S. Open. Hingis, from
> Switzerland, is ranked No. 1 player in the world, winner of the
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> Williams, an American, is the first unseeded woman to reach the U.S.
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> title of 1997.
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