From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 7 April 1999
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 07:59:05 -0500
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dedicated to transforming education through information technologies.
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TOP STORIES for April 7, 1999
Microsoft to Offer Privacy Tools
BMG and Universal Said to Form Internet Venture
Division Over Internet Learning
Cutting Microsoft Tether? Dell Makes Linux Move
ALSO
The Next Generation Shows Its Potential
Hole in One [IBM's Millipede]
Y2K System Freezes Chill IT Plans
MICROSOFT TO OFFER PRIVACY TOOLS
Microsoft and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have partnered to offer
free privacy tools that will eventually give consumers control over
their personal information on the Internet. Through the use of P3P
technology, the tools will allow Web browsers to make sense of Web
sites' privacy policies, negating the need for consumers to undertake
the often-laborious task of manually reading through the policies
themselves. Mass adoption of the tools -- months away at the earliest
-- is being held up by a patent dispute and the likelihood that many
Internet users will need to upgrade to new browser software. (Associated
Press 04/06/99)
BMG AND UNIVERSAL SAID TO FORM INTERNET VENTURE
BMG and Universal Music are expected to announce today plans for a joint
Internet venture that will include the establishment of several Web
sites to promote and sell music. The move by the nation's two largest
record companies illustrates the growing importance of the Internet as a
sales channel for recorded music. Analysts estimate that 2 percent of
U.S. compact disk sales will take place on the Web this year. The
companies will also set up a new online music store, called
Getmusic.com, which will sell the music from artists of all major labels
as well as independent record companies. (New York Times 04/07/99)
DIVISION OVER INTERNET LEARNING
Two new studies being released this week question the value of online
college courses. The College Board says in its report that Internet
courses could put underprivileged students who have less exposure to
computers at a disadvantage. They will arrive at school with less
computer knowledge and thus be less prepared for online courses.
"There's this rush to get online and go virtual," says College Board
researcher Larry F. Gladieux. "Colleges, policy makers, and Internet
providers who are driving this market need to think about broad access."
The College Board is concerned that schools facing budget cuts might be
lured online by pitches from technology providers that online learning
cuts the costs of real-world learning. But colleges must realize that a
technical divide exists, as only 20 percent of low-income households own
a computer. Meanwhile, the Institute for Higher Education Policy says
in its report that Internet-based education
is too new and untested to justify its rapid growth in colleges. The
report notes that there is a higher dropout rate of 32 percent for
online classes, compared to just 4 percent for real-world classes.
(Associated Press 04/07/99)
CUTTING MICROSOFT TETHER? DELL MAKES LINUX MOVE
Dell Computer, historically a strong Microsoft ally, announced Tuesday
several deals that link the company to the free, open-source Linux
operating system that Microsoft sees as not only its ideological
antithesis but also as a growing competitive threat. Dell announced its
first-ever contract for PCs running Linux, and also announced an equity
investment -- the company's first of any kind -- in Linux distributor
Red Hat Software. Dell will supply Burlington Coat Factory with 1,250
desktop PCs running Linux, making Dell the first PC maker to extend
Linux to the desktop. Further, the company is the first to preinstall
Linux at its factories, as most companies leave that task to systems
developers. The strategy is beneficial to customers, Dell says, because
Linux has a reputation as being difficult to install. (Investor's
Business Daily 04/07/99)
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THE NEXT GENERATION SHOWS ITS POTENTIAL
Several next-generation Internet networks are now being built in the
United States, and the features of these new Internets may indicate the
future direction of the Internet. The Internet2 is a private network
1,000 times faster than the World Wide Web, which aims to connect over
130 university and government research centers. The congestion that
affects the public Internet will not apply to the Internet2 because it
is a private network. Several companies are working on separate
next-generation Internet projects that will extend the Internet through
wireless devices, such as hand-held computers and smart phones. Over
the next four to five years, Motorola and Cisco Systems plan to jointly
invest over $1 billion in the development of a wireless Internet. In
addition, Microsoft and British Telecom will work together to develop
Internet services based on wireless devices using the Windows CE
operating system. (Financial Times 04/07/99)
HOLE IN ONE
Peter Vettiger and his team of researchers at IBM's micro and
nanomechanics group in Zurich are in the process of creating the world's
smallest data storage disks. With a certain number of cantilevers,
Vettiger's new product, called the Millipede, can store more than 100
times more data on a polymer-coated disk than today's magnetic hard
disks can store. The Millipede can read and write data at roughly 100
Mbps, and can store as much as 3000 GB of data on one square centimeter.
Such a microscopic mechanism may have a few problems, one being that an
assembly has not yet been built to fit into a real computer's disk
drive. Other problems relate to the long-term durability of the moving
parts, and to the fact that the polymer surface that contains the data
only moves in a straight line and has not yet been formed into a disk.
However, IBM says these problems should be solved soon, and that it will
not be too long before the product is available on the market. (New
Scientist 03/27/99)
Y2K SYSTEM FREEZES CHILL IT PLANS
Y2K is causing two out of ten large companies to halt installations of
new systems beginning in June, while many other companies plan to
partially freeze IT spending. These freezes are affecting new purchases
of ERP software and PC hardware, deployment of new equipment, and
business for outside consultants. A Computerworld poll shows that 20
percent of companies surveyed expect to freeze all hardware, software,
and services purchases during the second half of 1999. Of the 241
executives surveyed, 40 percent expected to reduce overall IT spending.
Worldwide, 5 percent of companies plan a total systemsfreeze, according
to the Gartner Group. Fifty to 60 percent of all companies worldwide
plan to halt upgrades and enhancements to"a small subset of their [core]
systems," says Gartner Group year 2000 research director Lou Marcoccio.
(Computerworld 03/29/99)
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
Networking '99 Conference on Advanced Networking
April 28-30, 1999, Washington, DC
http://www.educause.edu/netatedu/contents/events/apr99/
Information Resources for the 21st Century
May 5-7, 1999, Portland, Oregon
http://www.educause.edu/conference/regional/nwacc/1999/
CUMREC '99 Breaking Through: 2000 and Beyond
May 9-12, San Antonio, Texas
http://www.cumrec.com/cumrec99/
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Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
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