From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 2 June 1999
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 16:50:15 -0500
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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association
dedicated to transforming education through information technologies.
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TOP STORIES for June 2, 1999
Intel Agrees to Buy Dialogic for $780 Million
HP to Sell PCs Directly to Corporations
After Three-Month Recess, Microsoft Trial Resumes
Hackers Spur Pentagon to Bolster Its Security
ALSO
Thin Clients Shed Unwanted Pounds
Customer Service Shortfall Cuts Into Net Sales
Tech Workers Good as Gold
It's Academic
INTEL AGREES TO BUY DIALOGIC FOR $780 MILLION
Intel has announced that it will buy communications software manufacturer
Dialogic in Intel's second-largest acquisition to date. Intel's $780
million acquisition, coupled with its $2.2 billion agreement to buy
networking chip maker Level One Communications, indicates Intel's expansion
from hardware into communications. Dialogic manufactures software and
add-on cards for computer servers to merge messaging services. Using these
products, voice mail, electronic mail, facsimile, and paging services can be
accessed through a single network. The technology can also allow the user
to access messages or speak to people over the Internet, a benefit in
electronic commerce, as customers can negotiate with a salesperson online.
(Wall Street Journal 06/02/99)
HP TO SELL PCs DIRECTLY TO CORPORATIONS
Hewlett-Packard today will announce plans to sell products directly to
corporate customers through the Internet. Although the company currently
sells its entire consumer line of PCs, printers, scanners, and supplies over
the Internet, it has traditionally restricted sales to corporate customers
to third-party dealers. HP plans to minimize the impact of its new
direct-sales strategy on third-party dealers by allowing dealers to compete
for sales. In addition to offering sales directly from HP, the company will
offer a link to a list of local dealers that sell the same products and
offer installation assistance.
HP will also attempt to appease dealers by handling large-volume corporate
customers directly but working with other dealers to fill these orders. HP
maintains that although it does not intend to damage sales among third-party
dealers, it must remain competitive by entering the increasingly large
direct-sales arena. (Wall Street Journal 06/01/99)
AFTER THREE-MONTH RECESS, MICROSOFT TRIAL RESUMES
The Microsoft antitrust trial resumed yesterday after a three-month recess
during which a settlement could not be reached. This is the final stage of
testimony to determine whether Microsoft holds a monopoly. Three witnesses
for each side are expected to take the stand to rebut previous testimony. In
the first day of this rebuttal phase, MIT economics professor Franklin M.
Fisher testified for the government, criticizing the economic analysis of
fellow MIT economics professor Richard L. Schmalensee. Schmalensee defended
Microsoft in his previous testimony, claiming that Microsoft does not have a
monopoly because Microsoft's currently weak competitors could challenge the
software giant in the future. Fisher argued that Microsoft could have a
monopoly today, regardless of the potential for serious competitors in the
future. Furthermore, while Schmalensee stated that Microsoft was charging
too little for Windows, a move uncharacteristic of a monopoly, Fisher
claimed that Schmalensee miscalculated Windows' value by assuming that the
average PC price was $2,000 to $2,500, rather than $900. (New York Times
06/02/99)
HACKERS SPUR PENTAGON TO BOLSTER ITS SECURITY
The Defense Department has briefly disconnected all of its computers from
the Internet to install firewalls between sensitive and non-sensitive
systems. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the move is more in
accordance with a long-term security plan than a reaction to recent hacking
attacks. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is considering placing all of its
unclassified networks on a proprietary system that would be called the
Global Network Information Enterprise (GNIE) -- "genie" -- and would operate
separately from the Internet. (Washington Post 06/02/99)
=======================================
THIN CLIENTS SHED UNWANTED POUNDS
Enterprises using networks based on thin clients are likely to extend those
installations to other parts of the enterprise, according to a study by
Gartner Group's Datapro unit. The study, which interviewed 25 IT managers,
reports that thin-client applications such as Windows terminals or PCs
accessing Windows applications on a server require 80 percent less
management than fat client PCs. Mortgage bank Mila found that after
deploying Network Computing Devices' WinCenter thin-client hardware and
software, the annual cost of managing a PC dropped from $4,458 to $550.
Although many have resisted thin clients due to perceptions that there will
be a loss in capability, many users find that there are advantages. The
technology is suitable for 80 percent of all PC users, and thin-client users
benefit from the fact that all applications are compatible among terminals.
(Computer Reseller News Online 06/01/99)
CUSTOMER SERVICE SHORTFALL CUTS INTO NET SALES
Poor customer service is largely to blame for uncompleted electronic
commerce transactions, according to a study from software firm Net Effect.
The study shows that 67 percent of purchases on the Internet are abandoned
because of a lack of real-time online customer service and support. Just
5.75 percent of visitors to e-commerce sites even attempt to place a
transaction, according to Net Effect CEO Julie Schoenfeld. Online shopping
is expected to generate $18 billion in sales this year, compared to $8
billion last year. The customer service concerns plaguing online sites
include deliveries, returns, and product specifications, according to the
study. (USA Today 06/01/99)
TECH WORKERS GOOD AS GOLD
The high technology industry's rapid expansion has made the industry the
third-largest employer in the nation, according to a survey by the American
Electronics Association. The high-tech industry has created more jobs than
any other since 1990 while wages grow faster than in most other industries.
Wages continue to rise due to a consistent demand for tech workers, allowing
qualified workers to switch jobs frequently, commanding better salaries each
time. Despite the rapid growth of the industry, there remain too few tech
workers while technology develops constantly. Facing a lack of new employee
resources, companies recruit employees from other technology companies and
other industries. Systems integrator BTG reported that it will spend up to
$1.5 million training new employees, nearly a 100 percent increase in
training expenses from last year. (Washington Times 06/02/99)
IT'S ACADEMIC
Columbia University decided to jump into the online instructional market,
and to further that end the school hired Ann Kirschner -- once a Princeton
University English professor -- away from NFL.com. Columbia University's
for-profit venture, Morningside Ventures, is now Kirschner's charge as CEO
and president, and her goal is to put the university's core content onto the
Internet and to charge users a fee for it. Morningside Ventures is
scheduled to launch at the end of the year. Kirschner intends to make
Columbia's resources available to a wider audience than just students and
teachers. One of the markets that Columbia is seeking is that of
corporations that want to strengthen their staff's skills. The university
has already made a deal with Unext.com, in which it will provide courses and
materials in exchange for company royalties that can be swapped for stakes
in Unext.com. (Industry Standard 06/07/99)
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If you have questions or comments about Edupage, send e-mail to:
edupage@educause.edu
Edie Clark, Editor
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
Taming Technology Institute
Sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges and EDUCAUSE
June 13-15, 1999, Seattle
http://www.aacc.nche.edu/conf/taming/tamingtech.htm
Seminars on Academic Computing (SAC)
Strategy, Technology, Organization, Relationships, and Mission (STORM!)
August 6-11, 1999, Snowmass Village, Colorado
http://www.educause.edu/sac/sac99/sac99.html
For additional information on these conferences see
http://www.educause.edu/conference/conf.html
For information on other technology related educational conferences see
http://www.educause.edu/ir/events.html
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OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS
EDUCOM REVIEW is a bimonthly print magazine on information technology and
education. U.S. subscriptions are $18 a year.
CAUSE/EFFECT is a quarterly practitioner's journal about managing and using
information resources on college and university campuses. U.S. subscriptions
are $52 a year.
For additional information on these and other EDUCAUSE publications see:
http://www.educause.edu/pub/pubs.html
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TRANSLATIONS & ARCHIVES
Edupage is translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese,
Estonian, Greek, Hungarian, and Korean. Information is
available at http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html
Past issues of Edupage are available at
http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
News abstracts Copyright 1999, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD
Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
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EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to transforming
education through information technologies