Franchising, Wizards, and Destination - best of edupage 8/22/96.
Fri, 23 Aug 96 00:07:22 PDT
Next message: I Find Karma: "How Infospheres differs from Java Beans, Active X, Netscape ONE."
Previous message: I Find Karma: "Top Dollar is Going to the Visionaries."
Edupage, 22 August 1996. 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.
WHERE WIZARDS STAY UP LATE
The New York Times praises the new book by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon
("Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet") for "rescuing
from oblivion the collection of geeks and nerds, bureaucrats and geniuses,
who changed everyday life for millions of people all across the planet."
The book is published by Simon & Schuster, and an excerpt appears in the
current issue of Educom Review. (New York Times 21 Aug 96 B2)
FRANCHISING HITS THE NET
The First Internet Franchise Corp. is selling franchises to set up service
businesses offering Web page design, Web page hosting, hardware sales,
leased-line sales and other Internet-related services. The company, which
has sold 15 licenses so far, has been approved in 41 states, and has
applications pending in the remaining nine. For $23,900, First Internet
provides business training, billing software, marketing and advertising
materials and access to value-added reseller programs. (Investor's Business
Daily 21 Aug 96 A6)
GATEWAY 2000'S DESTINATION - RETAIL STORES
Gateway 2000 , which has made its name in mail-order sales, has lined up two
retail chains to sell its $4,000 Destination PC. The machine, which sports
a big 31-inch screen, will be available in about 200 Nobody Beats the Wiz
and CompUSA stores this fall. "We're creating a new product category and
they need to see how the elements... can work," says Gateway CEO Ted Waitt.
(Tampa Tribune 21 Aug 96 B&F8)
NETSCAPE BROADENS MICROSOFT CONFLICT
Netscape Communications has stepped up its attack on Microsoft in the
ongoing browser battle, accusing it of offering improper payments and other
inducements to persuade PC makers and Internet service providers to use
Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser software. The allegations are
contained in an Aug. 12 letter to the U.S. Justice Dept. Microsoft has
denied the charges, calling them a "PR stunt," and accusing Netscape of
manipulating Internet standards to the detriment of Microsoft and other
competitors. "This is really the pot calling the kettle black," says a
Microsoft VP. Meanwhile, Netscape's lawyer counters, "Microsoft's enemy is
not Netscape, its enemy is consumer choice. They don't want consumers to
choose another way of getting to the Internet." (Wall Street Journal 21 Aug
96 B8)
JAVA GETS A JOLT
Ten big names in high-tech have invested in the $100 million Java Fund,
designated to support start-up companies developing Internet software that
uses the Java programming language. The group includes Cisco Systems,
Comcast, Compaq Computer, IBM, Itochu, Netscape Communications, Oracle
Corp., Sun Microsystems, Tele-Communications Inc., and U S West. "Nothing
like this level of adoption and endorsement has ever happened in computers,"
says John Doerr, a partner in Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, which will
administer the fund. Java Fund sponsors hope to seed some 25 start-ups:
"We've got to jump-start the development of these applications," says Sun
Microsystems chief of technology Eric Schmidt. "The Java Fund will find the
next killer app." Schmidt predicts Java could be used to provide real-time
stock quotes via the Internet, or to send and receive e-mail via "smart"
cell-phones. (Wall Street Journal 21 Aug 96 A3)
CALLING FROM THE WEB
NetSpeak Corp., which makes WebPhone Internet telephone software, is working
with Rockwell International Corp. to develop Internet-based call centers on
the Web. The technology will allow electronic shoppers to browse a Web site
and place voice calls to the company by clicking on an icon. (Investor's
EDUPAGE IN GREEK
We are pleased to announce a Greek-language version of Edupage, prepared by
Leonidas Athanasopoulos in Athens. Welcome to our Greek readers of Edupage!
See < http://www.fnet.gr/edupage/ > Edupage is now translated from English
into Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian,
Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak and Spanish.
=============================================================