From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 4 October 1999
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 12:02:56 -0500
*****************************************************
Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association
dedicated to transforming education through information technologies.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES for October 4, 1999
Advanced Micro to Offer a 700-MHz Computer Chip
CIA Looking to Invest in High-Tech Firms
InformationWeek 500: IT Excellence
The Chat Is Out of the Bag as Concerns Use Subpoenas to Reveal Online
Critics
ALSO
Younger Buyers Will Affect Online Commerce
Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself
Scholarships Could Be Just a Click Away
The Challenge of Managing Knowledge
ADVANCED MICRO TO OFFER A 700-MHZ COMPUTER CHIP
In the latest development in the battle between Advanced Micro Devices and
Intel, AMD today will release a 700 MHz version of its Athlon chip. The 700
MHz Athlon is the world's fastest PC chip, ahead of Intel's fastest 600 MHz
Pentium III chip. AMD says IBM, Compaq, and other PC makers will
immediately release computers based on the new Athlon, which is priced at
$849 in quantities of 1,000. AMD's Steven Lapinski says the release should
end criticism that the company was too slow for consumers in releasing new
chips and that Intel outpaced AMD in releasing the fastest chips.
Meanwhile, Intel is slated to announce a version of the Pentium III running
at 700 MHz or faster, possibly by the end of this month. (New York Times
10/04/99)
CIA LOOKING TO INVEST IN HIGH-TECH FIRMS
The CIA has begun working with Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurs to build
software technology to help gather intelligence. Brandishing their unique
sense of humor, the CIA-backed venture capital firm, which will operate in
both Washington, D.C., and Palo Alto, Calif., is called In-Q-It. The "In"
stands for intelligence, the "It" for information technology, and the "Q"
honors the gadget master made famous in Ian Spelling's James Bond stories.
The new venture capital firm is lead by CEO Gilman Louie, will employ about
20 workers, and is just getting organized. The CIA is looking for ways to
better use the information it already has, both on paper and in computer
files. Louie has no espionage experience; his work history includes a toy
company he built that was later acquired by Hasbro. In-Q-It's board of
directors includes top officials from Xerox, Lockheed Martin, as well as
former defense secretary William Perry. (Philadelphia Inquirer 10/03/99)
INFORMATIONWEEK 500: IT EXCELLENCE
As 1999 draws to a close, businesses are completing Y2K efforts and turning
their attention to new IT projects, especially e-business initiatives.
InformationWeek notes this trend in the 500 companies the magazine selected
as the most innovative technology users based on a survey of IT usage
conducted in May and June. Of the IT managers responding to the survey, 97
percent listed e-business as their top business, organizational, and
technology priority for the next 12 months. In terms of strategic
technology priorities, electronic commerce and intranet or enterprise
portals topped the InformationWeek 500's list. Intranets and corporate
portals are being more widely used for a larger range of applications, such
as human resources, training, customer service, management, decision
support, marketing and sales-force automation, workflow, and ERP. The
chosen firms reported that they now obtain an average of 21 percent of total
revenue from e-business. In addition, more companies are now offering
online customer service and are working to better serve customers through
Web efforts, data warehouses, and CRM systems. Customer satisfaction is now
one of the key measures of the value of an IT investment, cited by 81
percent of IT managers. (InformationWeek 09/27/99)
THE CHAT IS OUT OF THE BAG AS CONCERNS USE SUBPOENAS TO REVEAL ONLINE
CRITICS
Companies are increasingly using subpoenas to reveal the personal
information of online critics who post messages at message boards and chat
rooms. Ethan Caldwell, general counsel for Go2Net, says some of the
subpoenas he has received have had a negative effect on free speech. Some
online sites, such as Silicon Investor, are not always able to warn users
that they have been the subject of a subpoena. These users are left unaware
that their personal information is being revealed. AOL notifies its users
two weeks in advance of responding to subpoenas, so users may fight the
subpoenas. Lyrissa Lidsky, associate professor at the University of Florida
College of Law, says the subjects of most subpoenas have little money to pay
for damages, and thus the companies are suing critics to keep them silent.
(Wall Street Journal 10/04/99)
=======================================
YOUNGER BUYERS WILL AFFECT ONLINE COMMERCE
The teenage generation will change traditional shopping models as they get
older, said Forrester Research senior analyst James McQuivey at the recent
Selling to Digital Consumers conference. McQuivey noted that the 6.5 million
people aged 16 to 22 are comfortable spending money online--they spent an
average of $555 online in the first six months of the year, out of an
average annual income of only $3,000. The average adult only spends $423
online each year. He said that teenagers are "internalizing" the Web.
Forrester found that young people are accessing the Web from home, work,
friends' homes, and school; they have an average of three e-mail accounts
and enjoy Web shopping, added McQuivey. Analysts are saying this year's
holiday season will be the watermark for business-to-consumer e-commerce,
and are predicting that online sales will hit $6 billion during the last
three months of the year. McQuivey estimated that within five years online
sales will jump from this year's $20 billion to $184 billion. (TechWeb
09/29/99)
NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF
Many analysts believe that although the approach of the year 2000 will not
bring chaos in terms of computer failures and malfunctions as originally
expected, stockpiling stemming from Y2K could severely affect the world's
stock markets and economies. America's 15 biggest banks expect to spend
over $3.5 billion preparing for Y2K, much of which will be spent reassuring
customers rather than on fixing computer equipment as originally planned.
Companies that rely on imports from countries where Y2K readiness is
uncertain are stockpiling and ordering needed supplies in advance. Airline
passengers are expected to book flights before the end of the year, and
businesses are expected to spend more right before Christmas to prepare.
Fears about not having access to money will cause businesses and customers
to demand money from banks, which could lead to the banks not having enough
liquid assets. An extra $70 billion will be released by the Federal Reserve
to relieve this situation. (Economist 09/25/99)
SCHOLARSHIPS COULD BE JUST A CLICK AWAY
Students, with the help of specialized Web sites, are increasingly using the
Internet to search and apply for all kinds of scholarships. Misty Burton,
for instance, set up an e-mail account through fastWEB scholarship service.
Several opportunities emerged, and she won the Ty Cobb Scholarship worth
$2,000. FastWEB, one of the largest free scholarship sites on the Internet,
is among the many scholarship services on the Web that assist students in
their search for school funding. Other such sites include CollegeNET,
College Board Online, FreSch!, and Embark.com. FastWEB asks students to
answer a lengthy questionnaire and then sends an e-mail to the applicant
listing various scholarships that match the student's criteria. The site
last year alone reported 1.4 million people using the service. (Access
Magazine 10/03/99)
THE CHALLENGE OF MANAGING KNOWLEDGE
Although 78 percent of large U.S. businesses say they are moving toward
knowledge management, the definition of KM is unclear and companies should
consider whether it is possible to manage knowledge, writes expert Laura
Empson. The term knowledge is subjective, with different social and
organizational contexts shaping what is called knowledge, Empson writes.
Therefore, companies encounter difficulty in trying to force abstract
knowledge into a defined organizational model. Information becomes
knowledge when it is used to make comparisons, determine consequences, form
connections, and engage in conversation, Empson says. Knowledge includes
experience, judgment, intuition, and values, and therefore, many KM systems
are actually advanced ways of filing and distributing information rather
than knowledge. However, KM has the potential to significantly improve
business, and Empson hopes the concept will not be lost because of the
confusion surrounding it. Empson says companies should work to develop a
common language for discussing knowledge, either informally or through
training efforts. (Financial Times 10/04/99)
*****************************************************
If you have questions or comments about Edupage, send e-mail to:
edupage@educause.edu
For information about the Edupage editorial policy see
http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ed_policy.html
*****************************************************
UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
EDUCAUSE '99
"Celebrating New Beginnings"
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
October 26-29, 1999, Long Beach, California
http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/
The EDUCAUSE '99 information technology conference promises to be one of
higher education's preeminent educational events. The conference will shape
and define the agenda for the transformation of education through
information technologies for the 21st century.
For more information on EDUCAUSE '99, please visit the conference Web site
at http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/,
or contact us at conf@educause.edu or 303-449-4430.
THE LEARNING MARKETPLACE: NEW RESOURCES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
Presented by the Leadership Forum of the Center for Academic
Transformation (An EDUCAUSE Affiliate)
November 11, 1999, Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.center.rpi.edu/LForum/LMWkshp.html
For additional information on all EDUCAUSE 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
*****************************************************
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
*****************************************************
SUBSCRIPTIONS
To SUBSCRIBE to Edupage, send a message to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
and in the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName
To SIGNOFF Edupage, send a message to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
and in the body of the message type:
SIGNOFF Edupage
You can also subscribe, unsubscribe or change your settings by visiting
http://listserv.educause.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=edupage&A=1
If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to
EDUPAGE-request@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
*****************************************************
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
*****************************************************
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
News abstracts Copyright 1999, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD
Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
*****************************************************
EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to transforming
education through information technologies