Edupage, 25 June 1999
EDUCAUSE
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 25, 1999
High-Tech Giants Team up to Take on Y2K
Senate Committee OKs Digital Signature Bill
CompUSA in Revamp to Stem Slide
AOL in Talks to Enter PC Business
ALSO
Office Depot to Warn About Y2K
Microsoft Reacts to Service Pleas
Survey Reveals Consumer Concern Over E-Commerce Security Issues
Web Storage Sites Loom as Next Big Thing
HIGH-TECH GIANTS TEAM UP TO TAKE ON Y2K
A number of high-tech corporations have formed a consortium to
share Y2K information and resources and hopefully reduce the
impact of the bug on the high-tech industry. Cisco Systems,
Motorola, Solectron, Dell, and Sun Microsystems have created the
High Tech Consortium (HTC) to keep track of the Y2K compliance of
major suppliers and service providers. Because the industry
consists of a tangled network of suppliers and distributors, it
is nearly impossible for individual companies to assess the Y2K
readiness of their entire production lines. The consortium will
allow companies to compile their information, simplifying the
assessment process. The HTC will use standardized tools to
determine and prepare for possible Y2K disruptions. Trained
representatives from HTC member companies will assess the
suppliers, then post the results on the Data Sharing Service, a
secure, Internet-based database. (InformationWeek Online 06/23/99)
SENATE COMMITTEE OKS DIGITAL SIGNATURE BILL
A nationwide standard for electronic signatures moved one step
closer to reality this week when the Senate Commerce Committee
unanimously passed a bill that would make electronic signatures
as legally valid as handwritten signatures. Several states have
already passed laws that validate electronic signatures, but Sen.
Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), the Senate bill's sponsor, says
federal guidance is needed. Abraham says, "If we're going to be
able to move forward and experiment with the Internet, the key
vehicle we need is electronic verification methods." The bill,
which doesn't endorse a specific technology, follows legislation
passed last year by Congress requiring the federal government to
use digital signatures for electronic transactions. The bill is
expected to receive the endorsement of the Clinton
administration. (Bloomberg 06/23/99)
COMPUSA IN REVAMP TO STEM SLIDE
CompUSA announced a total overhaul of its operations to shift its
focus away from PCs and add more consumer electronics and other
product lines. Falling PC prices and the rising popularity of
Web sales are the main reasons for the reorganization, the
company says. CompUSA says it and many other retailers are
facing stronger competition from Web sales, as PCs are one of the
most popular items sold on the Internet. Indeed, Jupiter
Communications predicts that PC sales on the Web will reach $3.11
billion this year, with the total percentage of Internet PC sales
to consumers and small businesses rising from 7.1 percent this
year to 13.3 percent in 2002. CompUSA has been slow to adopt the
Web, and has a reputation for poor customer service, but the
company says part of the new reorganization is an emphasis on
improving service by boosting staffing and training.
(Financial Times 06/25/99)
AOL IN TALKS TO ENTER PC BUSINESS
AOL may partner with PC manufacturer Microwerkz to produce an
AOL-branded computer, according to people close to the companies.
Microwerkz is a small startup that makes inexpensive PCs,
including its new $200 iToaster, a computer/Internet appliance
displayed at the PC Expo trade show. Although AOL refused to
comment, Microwerkz CEO Rick Latman confirmed that there were
ongoing negotiations between the companies. Although one source
close to the negotiations said that AOL may buy the company
outright, another source close to AOL said that the company does
not plan to manufacture hardware, but could instead take a
minority stake in the company. AOL's negotiations with
Microwerkz, along with recent deals with Hughes Electronics and
3Com, indicates a move toward the hardware business. AOL
announced Monday an alliance with Hughes Electronics, which owns
DirecTV and DirecPC, to offer a high-speed Internet service
through satellites nationwide. Meanwhile, AOL announced Tuesday
a deal with 3Com to allow AOL subscribers to access e-mail through
Palm Pilot devices. (MSNBC.com 06/24/99)
=======================================
OFFICE DEPOT TO WARN ABOUT Y2K
Office Depot will post signs in its computer aisles, customer
services desks, and cash registers to warn consumers that its
computers may not be Y2K compliant. Although consumers often
believe that the Y2K bug will only affect older products and
large corporate networks, Office Depot will warn them that their
hardware or software may be susceptible to Y2K, no matter how new
it is. The company will also release Y2K information in its
Sunday advertisements and provide manufacturers' Web addresses
and phone numbers. This decision is the result of a lawsuit
filed against Office Depot, Circuit City, Fry's Electronics, the
Good Guys, CompUSA, Staples, and OfficeMax by California swim
coach Tom Johnson. Johnson, frustrated that store clerks could
not provide Y2K information about their products, contended that
the stores had violated California's Unfair Competition Law. The
lawsuit is the first to target retailers. (Associated Press 06/24/99)
MICROSOFT REACTS TO SERVICE PLEAS
Microsoft is launching a three-year, five-stage initiative to
respond to complaints about the company's customer service. The
goal is to "reinvent" the way Microsoft communicates with
customers, trains its engineers, and responds to problems,
according to vice president Kevin Johnson. As part of the
reinvention, Microsoft is aligning service and support by type of
customer instead of by product; redefining service delivery so
that big enterprise customers receive more services than small
businesses or individual customers; improving engineer training
and education with such things as mentoring and week-long
internships; boosting the number of engineers from 7,500 to 9,000;
and setting up a database and routing engine to keep track of
engineers and their competencies. (Computerworld 06/21/99)
SURVEY REVEALS CONSUMER CONCERN OVER E-COMMERCE SECURITY ISSUES
A recent report studying consumer confidence and acceptance in
technologies indicates that consumers worry about privacy and
security regarding e-commerce. The National Technology Readiness
Survey, conducted by Rockbridge Associates, indicated that 58
percent of consumers do not consider any financial transaction
online to be safe; 67 percent are not confident conducting
business with a company that can only be reached online; 77
percent think it is unsafe to provide a credit card number over
the computer; and 87 percent want e-commerce transactions
confirmed in writing. The two-year survey polled 1,001
randomly-chosen households. (E-Commerce Times Online 06/21/99)
WEB STORAGE SITES LOOM AS NEXT BIG THING
A number of Internet companies are offering online file storage
to attract users who may want to access their files from any
networked computer. Although Apple first declared the floppy
disk drive to be obsolete by excluding it from its iMac, it took
the innovation of a number of companies, such as NetFloppy.com,
My Docs Online, and Visto to offer an alternative to floppy
drives. Most of these companies provide free storage of 15 MB to
20 MB of data that can be accessed through the Internet.
Although Web-based file storage has yet to achieve notable
success, the companies cite the popularity of free e-mail and
online calendaring services as a sign that the service will catch
on. My Docs Online has used its file-sharing feature to attract
customers; as current customers post files, those who access the
files instantly learn about the service. My Docs has attracted
40,000 registered users in over 40 countries since its launch in
March. (C|Net 06/24/99)
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
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
CAUDIT-EDUCAUSE Institute
August 8-12, 1999, Port Stephens, NSW, Australia
http://www.caudit.edu.au/caudit/institute/index.html
EDUCAUSE '99
"Celebrating New Beginnings"
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
October 26-29, 1999, Long Beach, California
http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/
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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Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
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EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to
transforming education through information technologies