Edupage, 2 July 1999
EDUCAUSE
Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit
association dedicated to transforming education through
information technologies.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES for July 2, 1999
Textbook Publisher Lays Plans for an Internet University
U.S. Eases Restrictions on Selling Fast PCs to Russia and China
EDS, Connecticut Nix $1.5 Billion Contract
Microsoft Revamps Tech Support
ALSO
Y2K Scare Leads to Larger Advances
Global Net Effort Will Promote New Protocol
U.S. to Market Info-Tech Work to Teens
License Change Eyed for Win 2K
TEXTBOOK PUBLISHER LAYS PLANS FOR AN INTERNET UNIVERSITY
Academic publishing house Harcourt General is joining the growing
business of distance education. It plans to expand its online
offerings with three ventures: Harcourt University; an Internet
high school for students planning to take high-school equivalency
exams; and an e-commerce site called Harcourt.com. Through its
university, Harcourt may become the first major publishing house
to offer accredited college degrees, pending approval from the
New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Yet Harcourt
faces much opposition, particularly from college professors
concerned that Internet-based education denies students the
personal interaction central to a traditional learning
experience. University bookstores and other traditional
distributors may also oppose the venture because it competes with
their sales. Last, Harcourt will face strong competition from
the companies and universities already providing online courses.
Harcourt maintains that its educational offerings will be unique.
Its university, which may begin to offer courses by September
2000, will teach a range of subjects in arts and sciences.
(Wall Street Journal 07/02/99)
U.S. EASES RESTRICTIONS ON SELLING FAST PCS TO RUSSIA AND CHINA
President Clinton significantly reduced restrictions on exports
of powerful computers, arguing that technological innovations
have made laptop and desktop PCs as powerful as the
supercomputers produced just a few years ago. Previously,
companies were required to obtain individual export licenses to
ship computers faster than 10,000 Mtops (Millions of theoretical
operations per second) to a group of countries which include most
of South America, South Korea, South Africa, and much of Southeast
Asia, but Clinton's order increased the limit to 20,000 Mtops.
The old laws also required companies shipping to a category of
countries deemed "proliferation risks" -- such as China and
Russia -- to obtain licenses to ship any computer faster than
2,000 Mtops to military users or 7,000 Mtops for civilian users.
In contrast, Intel's Pentium III chip is rated at about 1,300
Mtops, and versions due out later this year will hit about 2,000
Mtops. (New York Times 07/02/99)
EDS, CONNECTICUT NIX $1.5 BILLION CONTRACT
The state of Connecticut has abandoned its planned billion-dollar
IT outsourcing agreement with EDS, which would have farmed out
centralized management of the state's entire computer operations.
The deal, which was expected to save the state $700 million, was
cancelled after the price tag was boosted to more than $1
billion. The breakdown of negotiations was signaled last week
when the state delayed signing the agreement because it wanted to
add a provision that would allow state IT workers the choice of
remaining unionized state employees rather than forcing them to
move to EDS' payroll. Further, state comptroller Nancy Wyman
said the state has not been satisfied with the results of
previous EDS privatization projects. Officials say they will
take a different approach to improving IT operations, which may
involve a series of smaller outsourcing contracts rather than a
wholesale privatization. (InformationWeek Online 07/01/99)
MICROSOFT REVAMPS TECH SUPPORT
Microsoft on Thursday will unveil a revamped online support
center that will handle technical support for the entire
Microsoft product line. The establishment of the Product Support
Services Center is the first step in Microsoft's three-year plan
to change its image and become a support leader. The center is
divided among 10 customer types in order to cater to each type's
specific needs and level of technical expertise. In the past,
consumers looking for help with Microsoft Publisher had to sift
through the same support data as computer professionals looking
for help with BackOffice. The company is also extending
its no-fee tech support hours and launching an online "support
portal" that includes regular Webcasts about common computer
problems. (PC World Online 06/30/99)
=======================================
Y2K SCARE LEADS TO LARGER ADVANCES
Experts say the Y2K bug may actually benefit companies and the
economy in general, as it forced many firms to completely
overhaul their computer systems and re-engineer their business
processes to become more efficient. Federal Reserve Governor
Alan Greenspan noted in his June 1 congressional testimony that
the American economy "is displaying a remarkable run of economic
growth that appears to have its roots in ongoing advances in
technology," and many experts say the Y2K bug is to blame. The
millennium bug gave senior management an urgent deadline for
assessing their computer systems as well as their entire business
processes, resulting in "a dramatic surge in buying" of ERP
systems, which reorganize and integrate a firm's accounting and
other business practices. Thus many companies' antiquated
business operations have been modernized, merged, and streamlined
to prepare for Y2K, producing benefits such as increased
productivity, improved customer responsiveness, reduced
inventory, and increased efficiency.
(Philadelphia Inquirer 07/01/99)
GLOBAL NET EFFORT WILL PROMOTE NEW PROTOCOL
A forum that aims to encourage the adoption of the updated
Internet Protocol called Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) will
be announced next week, according to a source with the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF). IPv6 Forum members are likely to
include British Telecom, L.M. Ericsson Telephone, Nokia, Telecom
Italia, 3Com, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Hitachi, and Nippon
Telegraph & Telephone. The move to hasten IPv6 adoption signals
the industry's need to update the existing Internet Protocol.
The need for more IP addresses to accommodate the expanding
Internet population is a major factor driving the push toward
IPv6. IPv6's 128-bit address system can provide trillions of IP
addresses, while IPv4's 32-bit system provides fewer than 4
billion unique addresses. Other advantages of IPv6 include
higher levels of security for online data, improved router
performance, better support for quality-of service applications,
and real-time communications, according to IETF Chairman Fred
Baker. (Computerworld Online 6/29/99)
U.S. TO MARKET INFO-TECH WORK TO TEENS
The Department of Commerce next year is planning to launch a
major advertising campaign to convince teenagers to choose a
career in information technology. The marketing campaign is
intended to help ease the shortage of high-tech workers by
convincing teenagers that computers are "cool" and to dispel the
"negative 'geek' or 'nerd' stereotype of technical workers,"
according to Commerce Secretary William Daley. Analysts estimate
that the U.S. tech industry will need more than 1.3 million tech
workers between 1996 and 2000, with California, Texas, and
Virginia being areas that will need workers the most. Among the
steps the Department advises to ease the shortage are forging
closer links between schools and tech companies, improving
methods of teaching math and science in high schools, and
increasing pay for teachers in those fields, and giving tech
workers incentives to fill teaching positions and train older
workers. (Washington Post 07/01/99)
LICENSE CHANGE EYED FOR WIN 2K
Microsoft may change its Windows 2000 licensing policy to make it
more server-centric. The company will not comment on the issue
and is planning an announcement for next week, but a source close
to the company says Microsoft is under pressure from customers to
make its licensing more server-centric, as the current model is
an impediment to Windows 2000 adoption. Indeed, analysts agree
that if Windows 2000 is to be accepted as a mission-critical
tool, Microsoft must offer a cheaper, easier way of handling its
software. IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky says that Microsoft's
current licensing model makes it two or even three times more
expensive than licensing Unix or IBM.
(Computerworld 06/28/99)
*** Edupage will not be published Monday, July 5, 1999 in
observance of the Independence Day holiday. Edupage will
resume Wednesday, July 7, 1999. ***
*****************************************************
If you have questions or comments about Edupage,
send e-mail to: edu...@educause.edu
For information about the Edupage editorial policy see
http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ed_policy.html
*****************************************************
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
*****************************************************
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
LIST...@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
and in the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName
To SIGNOFF Edupage, send a message to
LIST...@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...@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