Edupage, 7 July 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 July 7, 1999
States Bug-Free for FY2000
Apple Has Eye of Software Makers
Taxing the Net
Total Control in Your Hand
ALSO
Computer Industry's Lobbying Effort Begins to Click
Bookseller Is Ready to Offer Textbooks On Line
Server Appliances Threaten Manufacturers' Revenues
STATES BUG-FREE FOR FY2000
Forty-six states and several local governments switched over to
fiscal year 2000 on Thursday, and so far there have been no
reports of any computer glitches. "It's a little soon to know
for sure, but it looks good," says Gloria Timmer, executive
director of the National Association of State Budget Officers.
Technicians were on hand for the date transition to handle any
problems that may have arisen, but so far there have been no
reports of problems. "Nobody has had any meltdown," Timmer said.
(Reuters 07/06/99)
APPLE HAS EYE OF SOFTWARE MAKERS
A number of software developers have returned to making programs
for the Macintosh, following the revitalization in Apple's
products and attitude. Many software developers, particularly
game makers, had rejected the Macintosh on the grounds that there
were too few Macintosh users and that Apple's technology was
inflexible, making it difficult to adjust programs to run on the
Macintosh. As a result, the number of software titles available
for the Macintosh steadily dropped, falling from 2,900 in the
first half of 1998 to 2,800 for the same period this year,
compared to 11,000 titles for Windows PCs. Yet the creation of
the iMac, an innovative computer that has become one of the most
popular PC models released in years, has spurred developers to
create programs that can be used by the growing Macintosh user
base. While Apple previously limited itself to exclusive and
expensive technologies incompatible with PC standards, it has
now adopted OpenGL, a standard technology for building and
displaying high-quality three-dimensional graphics that makes it
easier to port Windows titles to the Mac.
(Los Angeles Times 07/05/99)
TAXING THE NET
States are losing out on a potential stream of revenue due to
"almost nonexistent" enforcement of use taxes on the Web,
according to a new study by Austan Goolsbee of the University of
Chicago and Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard Law School. However,
the study argues that the National Governors Association is way
off on estimates that it stands to lose up to $20 billion in
online tax revenues, noting that the association's predictions
lump business-to-business sales together with business-to-consumer
sales. The association's estimate is flawed because business-to-
business sales, which are mostly exempt from sales tax, account
for the majority of electronic commerce transactions, according to
the study. Nontaxable goods and services account for 40 percent of
e-commerce sales, while computer products account for about 30
percent of such sales, according to the authors of the study.
(Investor's Business Daily 07/07/99)
TOTAL CONTROL IN YOUR HAND
Wireless phones that provide users with rudimentary access to the
Internet are expected to be introduced in the U.S. over the next
six months. Already, mobile phones in overseas markets are
supporting credit-card functions, e-mail notification, and travel
directions. These functions, which should reach the U.S. market
by year's end, are expected to be expanded to include
videoconferencing, as available bandwidth increases and screen
displays improve. New devices and services slated to enter the
market include QUALCOMM's thin phones, which will enable users to
receive, display, and store e-mail and access Web sites;
Mitsubishi's Internet-capable MobileAccess T250; TeleVend kiosks
that enable users to wirelessly order vending-machine products
and pay for parking meters; and Koyocera's VP-210 VisualPhone,
the world's first color wireless videophone.
(USA Today 07/07/99)
=======================================
COMPUTER INDUSTRY'S LOBBYING EFFORT BEGINS TO CLICK
Lobbying efforts by the computer industry have seen some success
lately, as President Clinton and Congress recently approved two
measures important to the industry. First, a measure was
approved by both Clinton and Congress to limit the Y2K-related
lawsuits filed against high-tech companies. Next, Clinton eased
export restrictions on powerful computers made by U.S. companies.
The new tech measures were announced less than two weeks after a
high-tech summit in Washington. The recent events indicate how
powerful a force the computer industry has become, as it is
credited with contributing one third of the total growth in U.S.
economic production over the past seven years. Currently, more
than 20 computer companies maintain their own lobbying groups,
while two umbrella trade groups -- the Business Software Alliance
and the Information Technology Industry Council -- represent the
overall industry. (Washington Times 07/06/99)
BOOKSELLER IS READY TO OFFER TEXTBOOKS ON LINE
Online bookshop Varsitybooks.com will begin to sell textbooks
directly to students. Although college bookstores traditionally
handle textbook sales, some have outsourced the job to
Varsitybooks, in some cases discontinuing their entire
book-selling operation. Varsitybooks this week will announce
that it has signed contracts with 11 small universities,
colleges, preparatory schools, and distance-education programs.
The schools will receive an undisclosed percentage from each book
sold online. Outsourcing textbook sales appeals particularly to
smaller schools, which make little money from the venture and now
face added competition from other online textbook companies, such
as Bigwords.com and Ecampus.com. Varsitybooks client Alaska
Pacific University decided to outsource to promote organization
when it was found that students were already beginning to shop
online. (New York Times 07/05/99)
'SERVER APPLIANCES' THREATEN MANUFACTURERS' REVENUES
Compaq has released the first products in its line of server
appliances, amidst worries that the goal-oriented servers will
threaten the revenues of traditional server manufacturers.
Server appliances focus on a single goal in order to accomplish
it faster and more cheaply. Compaq's initial offering, the
TaskSmart C-series, specializes in Internet caching using a
customized version of Novell's NetWare operating system. Compaq
released two of the three C-Series models, which differ according
to the number of network cards, the number of hard disks, the
amount of memory included, and the quality of the data protection
features. Future Compaq server appliances will be focused on
price by offering inexpensive Intel Celeron processors and free
Linux operating system software. Other major computer makers are
joining the market as well. Dell has licensed the same Internet
caching software from Novell, while Hewlett-Packard may develop
some Internet appliances based on Linux. (C|Net 07/07/99)
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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