Seidman's Online Insider - Vol. 5, Issue 1
============================================================================
Seidman's Online Insider - Vol. 5, Issue 1
Visit the Online Insider on the Web for additional content and access to
the Insider Talk discussion forums. A new Seidman's 25 is coming soon.
< http://www.onlineinsider.com >
============================================================================
Copyright (C) 1997 Robert Seidman. All rights reserved. May be reproduced
in any medium for noncommercial purposes as long as attribution is given.
IN THIS ISSUE
- Editor's Note
- Clarifications
- What's Happening in Insider Talk
- I Switched Back to Navigator
- ISDN, It Works!
- Microsoft Buys Hotmail for MSN
- Stock Watch
- Subscription Info
Editor's Note
=============
Yes, I DID say that I would be taking this week off too and that I was
moving to a biweekly publishing model. But, I had last week off anyway,
and was in the mood to write, so... Right now the plans call
to publish next week as well (1/11) and then begin the every-other-week
mode.
My editor is on vacation and awl tipe-ohs end mizteaks ar myne.
While I think Yahoo! is a great company, over the past year or so I've
dedicated some space to saying that Yahoo's stock price is ridiculous (I
haven't picked on Yahoo! exclusively though). So, is Yahoo!'s stock
overrated? Christopher Byron did a great piece for MSNBC on that subject
that you can view at: < http://www.msnbc.com/news/132580.asp >.
Clarifications
==============
In the previous newsletter, I stated that CompuServe's new "C" service had
launched and was offering a two-month trial. At the time I wrote that,
though the beta had been made publicly available, C had not officially
launched. It officially launched on December 30, 1997. The free trial
offer is for THREE months, not two.
Based on the e-mail I received, apparently my position on the outlook for
C was not very clear, so I'll restate it here, hopefully more clearly.
CompuServe says that the main source of revenue for C will be advertising.
Because of this, I am not at all optimistic for the financial success of
the service. If the ongoing costs to maintain the service are
insignificant (and I'm told that they are, even though a lot of money was
spent on developing the service initially) C might not hurt CompuServe,
but it won't help it. Without spending significant marketing dollars over
a long period of time (say a year), or getting significant promotion from
soon-to-be owner, America Online, I think C will go nowhere. That does
not mean it is a bad service! I like what I see there, and really like
its implementation of Web-based forums, but overall, I find that the
content isn't that distinctive from anything else that is out there.
Will AOL promote C heavily once it takes over ownership of CompuServe?
Hard to say, there is a case to be made that AOL would, in conjunction
with what it is doing with AOL.COM, try to leverage the C approach. On
the other hand, AOL has maintained that it wants to keep CompuServe a
separate brand -- so, what to do with this new brand called C? Time will
tell that story pretty quickly, I think.
So, while I'd like to say I think this service is poised for success, I am
not optimistic, even though I do think it is, with the exception of the
authentication software necessary for members, a very nice implementation.
What's Happening in Insider Talk
================================
It's been kind of light over the holidays -- the juiciest threads seem to
be the ones in the Online conference telling me the implementation of the
forums isn't great. There are suggestions to switch to "C", which I am
considering, but overall, I think the forums are pretty easy to use.
Check them out at: < http://www.onlineinsider.com/html/insider_talk.html >
or, if you're an invited participant, at
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi? >.
I Switched Back to Navigator
============================
No, Janet Reno didn't get to me, and yes, I do recall writing the words
"the so called browser wars are over". It's like this, I still do think
the browser wars are over, UNLESS the Justice Department gets its way.
The notion that the browser wars were over were predicated on three things
-- one, that Microsoft would be allowed to bundle the browser, two an
equal caliber browser and three, time. I'm still technically on holiday,
so I'm steering clear of the MSFT vs. DOJ for at least another week. But
I did switch back to Navigator for one reason: on some pages, it draws
graphics much faster. On most pages, I don't usually notice the
difference, but the Insider Talk forums are a place where, for whatever
reason, Netscape draws and redraws the screens faster. And at the end of
the day, speed won out over the full-screen feature and the very nice
extra-pane view for history, favorites, etc., in IE. I still have IE
installed with Web integration (though ActiveDesktop is turned off!!) so I
get the special toolbars (I'm especially fond of the space to enter a URL
directly on the Windows 95 task bar) etc., and still use IE a lot.
Interestingly, entering a URL in the address toolbar within the Win 95
task bar fires up Netscape's Navigator very nicely. I honestly
half-expected an error message telling me that I couldn't use that feature
unless IE was my default browser. So points to Microsoft for allowing
seamless integration of someone else's browser (wonder what Ms. Reno would
say about that!?).
ISDN, It Works!
===============
I was really sort of looking forward to regaling you with the horror that
my ISDN installation was. The truth, however, is that once it was
installed, everything worked! My only complaint at all would be that Bell
Atlantic seems to have so many people involved in the order processing
that it at times got confusing, especially after I had to change my
install date. But once the guys showed up at my door to do the install,
everything worked fine.
But...the nature of personal computers is that they, in the immortal words
of Wall Street Journal Personal Technology columinst Walter Mossberg,
"...are just too hard to use, and it isn't your fault." That was true
when Mossberg first wrote those words in October 1991, and it's still true
today. (Special note to Walt -- Happy new year and I hope you're feeling
much better!)
I purchased, through Bell Atlantic (BA), a 3Com Impact IQ ISDN "modem".
BA gave me a good price, and the modem comes with a Wizard that will
automatically get you setup and going. I'd already elected to upgrade to
ISDN with my local ISP so I was ready. I followed the instructions, then
I signed on. It worked!
The first thing I noticed is that it was much, much faster than my old
28.8Kbps modem (actually I had a 56K modem, but it never connected at
better than 28.8 due to the way my line was configured). I was happy.
The second thing I noticed was I was averaging download speeds between
10,000 and 10,800 characters per second, or a relative connection speed
of 100Kbps-108Kbps. Compared to 28.8, that's not too shabby. The thing
was, I had dual channel ISDN! With each channel having 64K. Bonded
together via a special protocol (and I won't bog you down in all that) it
should have yielded roughly 128Kbps connections or about 12,800 characters
per second on downloads. Where was my other 20K-28K going?! Wherever it
was going, I wanted it back!
So, I did some reading up (mostly using DejaNews, www.dejanews.com , to
comb the newsgroups ) and found that the culprit was Windows and the
external serial port. Windows maxes out a normal serial port at 115Kbps.
It wouldn't matter how big my pipe was, if it was hooked into the standard
serial port, it wasn't going to go faster than 115Kbps no matter what I
did. And from what I read, there were other reasons, related to the
serial port and Windows that I wasn't even getting the full 115Kbps.
No matter, I wanted all the speed I could get. What I needed, I was told
(from what I read) was a high-speed serial port. This didn't really
bother me because my Dell has only one serial port anyway, and if I
plugged the modem in, without some kind of pass-through device, I couldn't
use my Palm Pilot docking station, so I needed another serial port anyway.
So, I stopped reading (a mistake) and headed down to CompUSA. I bought
what claimed to be a high-speed serial card that didn't wind up giving me
any faster connections than I was already getting. So you will not
experience the same waste of time, it was called a CyberPro by SIIG --
definitely not the way to go to get over the 115Kbps barrier.
Now, the card was fine for having extra serial ports, but you could get a
two-port serial card without the 16650 UART that the SIIG card contained
for a lot less money. What I wanted was to go as fast as I possibly
could.
So, I went back to DejaNews and read some more. Turns out, there were
others who, not surprisingly, had similar experiences with the SIIG card,
so I could've saved myself some trouble by doing better research. Then,
via DejaNews I found a link to column in the January 98 issue of Windows
Magazine. A column by Fred Langa. Fred Langa! Sheesh, I mean, while
there were several high-points of working at CMP, the high point for me
probably was getting to meet Fred Langa. As a computer enthusiast, I'd
been reading Windows Mag for several years and Fred is like the ultimate
computer enthusiast and a heck of a nice guy. But where was Fred Langa
when I needed him, he could've pointed me to his own column in Windows
Magazine and saved me a lot of trouble. But I'll cut Fred some slack,
because in addition to his columns in Windows Mag, Fred has started up his
own free newsletter that's available by electronic mail, and well, I know
what a time-sink that can be! I'll give pointers to the column and
instructions on how to subscribe to Fred's great free newsletter at the
end of this piece.
In reading the newsgroups via DejaNews, I'd seen several posts talking
about high-speed cards with 16650s and even 16750s in them (actually, it
wasn't until David Simons, who is the Managing Director of Digital Video
Investments, told me about the 16750 that I even knew such a thing
existed. Once I did know, I added that term to my DejaNews search and it
was there then that I found a link to Langa's column). There is even a
new breed of PCI-based serial cards that will reportedly blaze right
along. I kept seeing reference to something called a LavaPort by Lava
Computer. Lava Computer makes the high-speed LavaPort in both ISA and PCI
versions (with the PCI version being more expensive). But here's where
Fred Langa's column <http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/0101/analy011.htm>
really came in handy. In addition to being a heck of a source for
information on using Windows, Langa's experience is especially useful to
me because he owns the same model computer (a Dell XPS H266) as I do.
Langa wrote in the column that he couldn't get the highly regarded
LavaPort to work in his machine no matter what he did. That's all I needed
to hear. So, I took Fred's advice and ordered the TurboExpress Port 920,
from Pacific CommWare < http://www.turbocom.com >.
It installed easily and I find that on average I am getting relative
connection speeds between 130Kbps and 150Kbps, which represents between a
30%-50% increase. The card isn't inexpensive at almost $80 for a one
port version or $110 for two ports, but if the question is, would I pay
$80 for an additional 30Kbps-50Kbps, the answer for me is definitely yes.
Even with the adventurous route to get what I wanted, I have to say I'm
very pleased with the service. Of course, I haven't seen my first bill
yet and it is somewhat of an adjustment for me to remember to sign-off all
the time (or rack up $.01/minute/channel while I sleep!). The biggest
disappointment for me was that while there were a lot of great ISDN
resources on the Web, I could not find one resource that addressed all the
issues and questions that folks are likely to have. Though if I'd have
read the materials that came packaged with the 3Com Impact IQ, I'd have
been turned on to the TurboExpress Port 920 sooner.
Besides the issue of serial port speed (which I think is significant)
there are other issues like, "Should I buy an external or an internal ISDN
modem?" Depending on who/what you read, an internal modem will/won't get
you around the serial port bottleneck. But that's not the only factor to
consider. The ISDN service I signed up for provided me with two phone
numbers. Not only that, the 3COM Impact IQ comes with two analog ports,
so I can plug a phone into one and a fax machine into the other. I won't
do that, but it's nice to know that I could. There are internal modems
that will give you these analog ports too, but here's another thing I
learned only after I'd already had ISDN ordered and installed -- ISDN
ports are not powered like regular phone lines are. In other words,
you can plug a phone into any working regular phone line and you'll get
a dial tone. This isn't the case with ISDN lines where devices plugged
into it will ONLY work when the modem is turned on (thus providing power
to the line). With an internal ISDN modem, this would mean that if you're
computer isn't turned on, whatever you have plugged into the analog ports
of the modem isn't going to work! And for some of you, I imagine that is
a pretty big deal.
This experience gave me a chance to briefly encounter, as a true end user,
the computer shopping sites from both Ziff Davis (NetBuyer) and CNET
(Computers.Com). I figured, where better to find the information I need
than at a site whose purpose is to get me to buy something. While I'm
sure both sites do better with computers, peripherals (printers, etc.) and
regular modems they were both disappointing when it came to ISDN. At
NetBuyer (< http://www.zdnet.com/netbuyer/ >), I found no information
on the serial port bottlenecks. At Computers.Com, I found the content
regarding ISDN modems, better organized, but not a whole lot more
useful. It had a feature on ISDN modems with a section called "What You
Need to Know". This should be renamed "Some of the things you should
know, but not nearly enough information to really help you!" Okay, so
that's a bit over the top, the "What You Need to Know Section" addressed
the internal vs. external piece briefly. According to it, an internal
modem will get you around the serial port bottleneck (Langa's column says
it won't). It mentions that you can get an enhanced serial adapter card,
but it gives no further information on the subject and makes absolutely no
reference to the issue of power for internal modems.
I believe that successful shopping sites will at least put you in a
position to have no unanswered questions once you've made your purchase.
NetBuyer and Computers.com both fell short in my opinion.
ISDN doesn't fall short though, in my experience. At least now that I am
up to speed on getting up to speed.
To sign-up for Fred Langa's free "LangaList" e-mail newsletter, Send email
to subscribe@langa.com Please put the word "subscribe" in the email's
subject line.
Microsoft Buys Hotmail for MSN
==============================
On New Years Eve day, Microsoft announced it had bought free HTML e-mail
supplier, HotMail.
Looking at this purchase analytically, all other things being equal, it
makes sense. Microsoft has been making the shift with it's free and
fee-based Microsoft from television-style programming to "useful front
door" (personalize the new http://home.microsoft.com, which falls under
MSN, and you'll see their headed up against Snap!, Yahoo and Excite and
MyYahoo and MyExcite too). Since Yahoo! and Excite are both offering free
e-mail services, just from a competitive point of view, MSN needs to offer
free e-mail. Also, this purchase makes sense as a way for Microsoft to
extend Internet Explorer and its html-email client, Outlook Express (I'd
look for MS to offer HotMail via Outlook Express very soon).
Also, it's been hammered in time and time again, but it won't hurt to do
it again: it's the relationships that matter. Form a relationship with
someone and you have a lot better opportunity for things that will
ultimately yield dividends (i.e., form a relationship with me and then get
me to buy stuff). Whether you believe that works or not, clearly there is
value in getting the opportunity to have a relationship with more people,
but here's where this deal starts smelling a little bad for me. HotMail
touts 9 million users. If you believe that, watch out, I think your
crack pipe is getting a little bit too hot. Here's a rule you can live by
-- if the word "FREE" is involved it does not matter what else comes after
that, you can rest assured that whatever numbers, in terms of subscribers
are given are worthless. Nine million subscribers, yeah, and I have 9
million subscribers to this newsletter. This isn't just a HotMail thing
-- I'll give HotMail credit for becoming the leading provider of free
e-mail. But it makes its numbers even more worthless. What is the
barrier to starting a new account? NOTHING. I forgot my HotMail
password? Oh well, new account. I am getting too much spam on this
account. Oh well, new account. I want one account for Jesse Berst's
AnchorDesk, one account for InfoBeat and one account for regular mail?
New account, new account, new account.
Don't get me wrong -- I LIKE the concept of free e-mail and even think
the services, on the whole, are pretty good. They can provide universal
access to e-mail, and if you're like many who work in places where
there's a heavy-duty firewall, it's nice to have an option like HotMail to
pull your mail. I suspect that HotMail has hundreds of thousands of real
subscribers. Perhaps even a million. But not 9 million. But even if
it's only million relationships, that's worth something for Microsoft.
On the other hand, Microsoft is rumored to have paid $300 million to $500
million for HotMail. I think that's way high. For example, paying $425
million for WebTV made sense inasmuch as Microsoft could not have easily
or cheaply launched a competing service. I think Microsoft could've built
a competitor to HotMail, spent $100 million in marketing and blown all the
competition away for a lot less than $300 million. Of course, with all
the antitrust stuff going on, perhaps Microsoft viewed buying HotMail as
less painful. Then again, maybe they paid a lot less than the rumored
$300 million. On the other hand, if there are 1 million real subscribers
that Microsoft doesnt have existing relationships with it might not be
such a bad deal, but paying $300-500 per subscriber in acquisition costs
for a subscriber that doesnt even yield any subscription revenue seems
like way too much money.
See you next week!
Stock Watch for the Week Ending January 4, 1998
===============================================
Courtesy of InfoBeat's CLOSING BELL < http://www.infobeat.com >.
52 Wk 52 Wk P/E Week
SECURITY CLOSE HIGH LOW Ratio CHNG
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AT&T Corp................ 58 13/16 64 30 3/4 19 -6.7%
Amazon Com Inc........... 59 1/2 66 15 3/4 +9.6%
America Online Inc....... 89 5/8 91 3/8 31 3/4 +3.0%
Apple Computer Inc....... 16 1/4 29 3/4 12 3/4 +22.0%
At Home Corporation Ser A 24 30 5/8 16 5/8 -6.5%
C/Net.................... 27 46 1/2 15 3/4 +2.8%
CMG Info Svcs. Inc....... 30 5/8 32 1/4 10 7/16 +6.0%
Cendent Corporation...... 33 15/16 34 3/8 19 1/4 41 +8.3%
Cmp Media Inc Cl A....... 17 1/4 29 3/8 13 3/4 25 -2.1%
CompuServe Corp.......... 12 1/16 14 9/16 8 7/8 -2.0%
Concentric Network Corp.. 10 7/16 16 7 7/8 +30.4%
Cybercash Inc............ 12 3/4 24 1/4 10 1/2 -2.3%
Earthlink Network Inc.... 25 1/4 26 8 5/8 +5.2%
Excite Inc............... 31 15/16 35 7 1/2 +16.9%
FTP Software Inc......... 2 15/32 8 3/8 1 1/2 +27.3%
GTE Corporation.......... 50 13/16 52 1/4 40 1/2 17 +1.8%
H & R Block Inc.......... 44 1/4 45 3/4 28 49 +0.1%
Hewlett Packard Company.. 64 9/16 72 15/16 48 1/8 22 +6.9%
IBM...................... 105 5/8 113 1/2 63 9/16 18 +3.8%
Individual Incorporated.. 4 1/4 11 7/8 2 5/8 +25.9%
Infoseek Corporation..... 10 25/64 14 1/2 4 3/8 +30.0%
Lycos Inc................ 39 15/16 42 10 3/8 +5.7%
MCI Communications Corpor 42 11/16 45 27 5/16 43 -0.1%
Mecklermedia Corp........ 23 3/4 30 16 1/2 55 +2.7%
Microsoft Corporation.... 131 1/8 150 3/4 80 3/4 49 +8.5%
Mindspring Enterprises In 31 3/8 34 5/8 5 3/4 -0.3%
Netcom On Line Communicat 23 3/4 24 1/4 7 7/8 +9.8%
Netmanage Inc............ 3 3/16 6 3/4 2 3/32 +27.5%
Netscape Communications C 23 3/8 59 1/4 23 1/8 -1.3%
Network Solutions Inc. Cl 12 15/16 26 3/4 11 3/4 65 -4.1%
Onsale Inc............... 17 1/4 35 1/4 4 5/8 +22.1%
Open Market Inc.......... 10 1/2 17 3/8 6 1/2 +1.2%
Oracle Corporation....... 23 42 1/8 20 15/16 32 +7.2%
Psinet Inc............... 5 3/8 13 3/8 4 1/4 +7.5%
Quarterdeck Corp......... 1 57/64 6 5/16 1 3/16 +41.9%
Realnetworks Inc......... 14 1/4 19 3/8 13 5/8 +1.7%
Security First Network Ba 7 1/2 14 1/4 5 1/4 +15.3%
Silicon Graphics Inc..... 12 13/16 30 5/16 11 9/16 51 +5.6%
Sprint Corporation....... 58 60 5/8 38 3/8 25 +5.3%
Spyglass Inc............. 5 1/16 14 1/8 4 1/16 +15.7%
Sun Microsystems Inc..... 41 1/2 53 5/16 25 7/8 22 +7.2%
Vocaltec Communications L 19 7/8 33 1/4 5 1/4 +1.9%
Worldcom Inc............. 29 15/16 39 7/8 21 1/4 -2.0%
Yahoo Corporation........ 66 1/4 71 11 9/64 +0.1%
Dow Jones 30 Industrials. 7,965.04 +3.7%
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Seidman's Online Insider - Vol. 5, Issue 1
Visit the Online Insider on the Web for additional content and access to
the Insider Talk discussion forums. A new Seidman's 25 is coming soon.
< http://www.onlineinsider.com >
============================================================================
Copyright (C) 1997 Robert Seidman. All rights reserved. May be reproduced
in any medium for noncommercial purposes as long as attribution is given.
IN THIS ISSUE
- Editor's Note
- Clarifications
- What's Happening in Insider Talk
- I Switched Back to Navigator
- ISDN, It Works!
- Microsoft Buys Hotmail for MSN
- Stock Watch
- Subscription Info
Editor's Note
=============
Yes, I DID say that I would be taking this week off too and that I was
moving to a biweekly publishing model. But, I had last week off anyway,
and was in the mood to write, so... Right now the plans call
to publish next week as well (1/11) and then begin the every-other-week
mode.
My editor is on vacation and awl tipe-ohs end mizteaks ar myne.
While I think Yahoo! is a great company, over the past year or so I've
dedicated some space to saying that Yahoo's stock price is ridiculous (I
haven't picked on Yahoo! exclusively though). So, is Yahoo!'s stock
overrated? Christopher Byron did a great piece for MSNBC on that subject
that you can view at: < http://www.msnbc.com/news/132580.asp >.
Clarifications
==============
In the previous newsletter, I stated that CompuServe's new "C" service had
launched and was offering a two-month trial. At the time I wrote that,
though the beta had been made publicly available, C had not officially
launched. It officially launched on December 30, 1997. The free trial
offer is for THREE months, not two.
Based on the e-mail I received, apparently my position on the outlook for
C was not very clear, so I'll restate it here, hopefully more clearly.
CompuServe says that the main source of revenue for C will be advertising.
Because of this, I am not at all optimistic for the financial success of
the service. If the ongoing costs to maintain the service are
insignificant (and I'm told that they are, even though a lot of money was
spent on developing the service initially) C might not hurt CompuServe,
but it won't help it. Without spending significant marketing dollars over
a long period of time (say a year), or getting significant promotion from
soon-to-be owner, America Online, I think C will go nowhere. That does
not mean it is a bad service! I like what I see there, and really like
its implementation of Web-based forums, but overall, I find that the
content isn't that distinctive from anything else that is out there.
Will AOL promote C heavily once it takes over ownership of CompuServe?
Hard to say, there is a case to be made that AOL would, in conjunction
with what it is doing with AOL.COM, try to leverage the C approach. On
the other hand, AOL has maintained that it wants to keep CompuServe a
separate brand -- so, what to do with this new brand called C? Time will
tell that story pretty quickly, I think.
So, while I'd like to say I think this service is poised for success, I am
not optimistic, even though I do think it is, with the exception of the
authentication software necessary for members, a very nice implementation.
What's Happening in Insider Talk
================================
It's been kind of light over the holidays -- the juiciest threads seem to
be the ones in the Online conference telling me the implementation of the
forums isn't great. There are suggestions to switch to "C", which I am
considering, but overall, I think the forums are pretty easy to use.
Check them out at: < http://www.onlineinsider.com/html/insider_talk.html >
or, if you're an invited participant, at
< http://www.wellengaged.com/engaged/seidman.cgi? >.
I Switched Back to Navigator
============================
No, Janet Reno didn't get to me, and yes, I do recall writing the words
"the so called browser wars are over". It's like this, I still do think
the browser wars are over, UNLESS the Justice Department gets its way.
The notion that the browser wars were over were predicated on three things
-- one, that Microsoft would be allowed to bundle the browser, two an
equal caliber browser and three, time. I'm still technically on holiday,
so I'm steering clear of the MSFT vs. DOJ for at least another week. But
I did switch back to Navigator for one reason: on some pages, it draws
graphics much faster. On most pages, I don't usually notice the
difference, but the Insider Talk forums are a place where, for whatever
reason, Netscape draws and redraws the screens faster. And at the end of
the day, speed won out over the full-screen feature and the very nice
extra-pane view for history, favorites, etc., in IE. I still have IE
installed with Web integration (though ActiveDesktop is turned off!!) so I
get the special toolbars (I'm especially fond of the space to enter a URL
directly on the Windows 95 task bar) etc., and still use IE a lot.
Interestingly, entering a URL in the address toolbar within the Win 95
task bar fires up Netscape's Navigator very nicely. I honestly
half-expected an error message telling me that I couldn't use that feature
unless IE was my default browser. So points to Microsoft for allowing
seamless integration of someone else's browser (wonder what Ms. Reno would
say about that!?).
ISDN, It Works!
===============
I was really sort of looking forward to regaling you with the horror that
my ISDN installation was. The truth, however, is that once it was
installed, everything worked! My only complaint at all would be that Bell
Atlantic seems to have so many people involved in the order processing
that it at times got confusing, especially after I had to change my
install date. But once the guys showed up at my door to do the install,
everything worked fine.
But...the nature of personal computers is that they, in the immortal words
of Wall Street Journal Personal Technology columinst Walter Mossberg,
"...are just too hard to use, and it isn't your fault." That was true
when Mossberg first wrote those words in October 1991, and it's still true
today. (Special note to Walt -- Happy new year and I hope you're feeling
much better!)
I purchased, through Bell Atlantic (BA), a 3Com Impact IQ ISDN "modem".
BA gave me a good price, and the modem comes with a Wizard that will
automatically get you setup and going. I'd already elected to upgrade to
ISDN with my local ISP so I was ready. I followed the instructions, then
I signed on. It worked!
The first thing I noticed is that it was much, much faster than my old
28.8Kbps modem (actually I had a 56K modem, but it never connected at
better than 28.8 due to the way my line was configured). I was happy.
The second thing I noticed was I was averaging download speeds between
10,000 and 10,800 characters per second, or a relative connection speed
of 100Kbps-108Kbps. Compared to 28.8, that's not too shabby. The thing
was, I had dual channel ISDN! With each channel having 64K. Bonded
together via a special protocol (and I won't bog you down in all that) it
should have yielded roughly 128Kbps connections or about 12,800 characters
per second on downloads. Where was my other 20K-28K going?! Wherever it
was going, I wanted it back!
So, I did some reading up (mostly using DejaNews, www.dejanews.com , to
comb the newsgroups ) and found that the culprit was Windows and the
external serial port. Windows maxes out a normal serial port at 115Kbps.
It wouldn't matter how big my pipe was, if it was hooked into the standard
serial port, it wasn't going to go faster than 115Kbps no matter what I
did. And from what I read, there were other reasons, related to the
serial port and Windows that I wasn't even getting the full 115Kbps.
No matter, I wanted all the speed I could get. What I needed, I was told
(from what I read) was a high-speed serial port. This didn't really
bother me because my Dell has only one serial port anyway, and if I
plugged the modem in, without some kind of pass-through device, I couldn't
use my Palm Pilot docking station, so I needed another serial port anyway.
So, I stopped reading (a mistake) and headed down to CompUSA. I bought
what claimed to be a high-speed serial card that didn't wind up giving me
any faster connections than I was already getting. So you will not
experience the same waste of time, it was called a CyberPro by SIIG --
definitely not the way to go to get over the 115Kbps barrier.
Now, the card was fine for having extra serial ports, but you could get a
two-port serial card without the 16650 UART that the SIIG card contained
for a lot less money. What I wanted was to go as fast as I possibly
could.
So, I went back to DejaNews and read some more. Turns out, there were
others who, not surprisingly, had similar experiences with the SIIG card,
so I could've saved myself some trouble by doing better research. Then,
via DejaNews I found a link to column in the January 98 issue of Windows
Magazine. A column by Fred Langa. Fred Langa! Sheesh, I mean, while
there were several high-points of working at CMP, the high point for me
probably was getting to meet Fred Langa. As a computer enthusiast, I'd
been reading Windows Mag for several years and Fred is like the ultimate
computer enthusiast and a heck of a nice guy. But where was Fred Langa
when I needed him, he could've pointed me to his own column in Windows
Magazine and saved me a lot of trouble. But I'll cut Fred some slack,
because in addition to his columns in Windows Mag, Fred has started up his
own free newsletter that's available by electronic mail, and well, I know
what a time-sink that can be! I'll give pointers to the column and
instructions on how to subscribe to Fred's great free newsletter at the
end of this piece.
In reading the newsgroups via DejaNews, I'd seen several posts talking
about high-speed cards with 16650s and even 16750s in them (actually, it
wasn't until David Simons, who is the Managing Director of Digital Video
Investments, told me about the 16750 that I even knew such a thing
existed. Once I did know, I added that term to my DejaNews search and it
was there then that I found a link to Langa's column). There is even a
new breed of PCI-based serial cards that will reportedly blaze right
along. I kept seeing reference to something called a LavaPort by Lava
Computer. Lava Computer makes the high-speed LavaPort in both ISA and PCI
versions (with the PCI version being more expensive). But here's where
Fred Langa's column <http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/0101/analy011.htm>
really came in handy. In addition to being a heck of a source for
information on using Windows, Langa's experience is especially useful to
me because he owns the same model computer (a Dell XPS H266) as I do.
Langa wrote in the column that he couldn't get the highly regarded
LavaPort to work in his machine no matter what he did. That's all I needed
to hear. So, I took Fred's advice and ordered the TurboExpress Port 920,
from Pacific CommWare < http://www.turbocom.com >.
It installed easily and I find that on average I am getting relative
connection speeds between 130Kbps and 150Kbps, which represents between a
30%-50% increase. The card isn't inexpensive at almost $80 for a one
port version or $110 for two ports, but if the question is, would I pay
$80 for an additional 30Kbps-50Kbps, the answer for me is definitely yes.
Even with the adventurous route to get what I wanted, I have to say I'm
very pleased with the service. Of course, I haven't seen my first bill
yet and it is somewhat of an adjustment for me to remember to sign-off all
the time (or rack up $.01/minute/channel while I sleep!). The biggest
disappointment for me was that while there were a lot of great ISDN
resources on the Web, I could not find one resource that addressed all the
issues and questions that folks are likely to have. Though if I'd have
read the materials that came packaged with the 3Com Impact IQ, I'd have
been turned on to the TurboExpress Port 920 sooner.
Besides the issue of serial port speed (which I think is significant)
there are other issues like, "Should I buy an external or an internal ISDN
modem?" Depending on who/what you read, an internal modem will/won't get
you around the serial port bottleneck. But that's not the only factor to
consider. The ISDN service I signed up for provided me with two phone
numbers. Not only that, the 3COM Impact IQ comes with two analog ports,
so I can plug a phone into one and a fax machine into the other. I won't
do that, but it's nice to know that I could. There are internal modems
that will give you these analog ports too, but here's another thing I
learned only after I'd already had ISDN ordered and installed -- ISDN
ports are not powered like regular phone lines are. In other words,
you can plug a phone into any working regular phone line and you'll get
a dial tone. This isn't the case with ISDN lines where devices plugged
into it will ONLY work when the modem is turned on (thus providing power
to the line). With an internal ISDN modem, this would mean that if you're
computer isn't turned on, whatever you have plugged into the analog ports
of the modem isn't going to work! And for some of you, I imagine that is
a pretty big deal.
This experience gave me a chance to briefly encounter, as a true end user,
the computer shopping sites from both Ziff Davis (NetBuyer) and CNET
(Computers.Com). I figured, where better to find the information I need
than at a site whose purpose is to get me to buy something. While I'm
sure both sites do better with computers, peripherals (printers, etc.) and
regular modems they were both disappointing when it came to ISDN. At
NetBuyer (< http://www.zdnet.com/netbuyer/ >), I found no information
on the serial port bottlenecks. At Computers.Com, I found the content
regarding ISDN modems, better organized, but not a whole lot more
useful. It had a feature on ISDN modems with a section called "What You
Need to Know". This should be renamed "Some of the things you should
know, but not nearly enough information to really help you!" Okay, so
that's a bit over the top, the "What You Need to Know Section" addressed
the internal vs. external piece briefly. According to it, an internal
modem will get you around the serial port bottleneck (Langa's column says
it won't). It mentions that you can get an enhanced serial adapter card,
but it gives no further information on the subject and makes absolutely no
reference to the issue of power for internal modems.
I believe that successful shopping sites will at least put you in a
position to have no unanswered questions once you've made your purchase.
NetBuyer and Computers.com both fell short in my opinion.
ISDN doesn't fall short though, in my experience. At least now that I am
up to speed on getting up to speed.
To sign-up for Fred Langa's free "LangaList" e-mail newsletter, Send email
to subscribe@langa.com Please put the word "subscribe" in the email's
subject line.
Microsoft Buys Hotmail for MSN
==============================
On New Years Eve day, Microsoft announced it had bought free HTML e-mail
supplier, HotMail.
Looking at this purchase analytically, all other things being equal, it
makes sense. Microsoft has been making the shift with it's free and
fee-based Microsoft from television-style programming to "useful front
door" (personalize the new http://home.microsoft.com, which falls under
MSN, and you'll see their headed up against Snap!, Yahoo and Excite and
MyYahoo and MyExcite too). Since Yahoo! and Excite are both offering free
e-mail services, just from a competitive point of view, MSN needs to offer
free e-mail. Also, this purchase makes sense as a way for Microsoft to
extend Internet Explorer and its html-email client, Outlook Express (I'd
look for MS to offer HotMail via Outlook Express very soon).
Also, it's been hammered in time and time again, but it won't hurt to do
it again: it's the relationships that matter. Form a relationship with
someone and you have a lot better opportunity for things that will
ultimately yield dividends (i.e., form a relationship with me and then get
me to buy stuff). Whether you believe that works or not, clearly there is
value in getting the opportunity to have a relationship with more people,
but here's where this deal starts smelling a little bad for me. HotMail
touts 9 million users. If you believe that, watch out, I think your
crack pipe is getting a little bit too hot. Here's a rule you can live by
-- if the word "FREE" is involved it does not matter what else comes after
that, you can rest assured that whatever numbers, in terms of subscribers
are given are worthless. Nine million subscribers, yeah, and I have 9
million subscribers to this newsletter. This isn't just a HotMail thing
-- I'll give HotMail credit for becoming the leading provider of free
e-mail. But it makes its numbers even more worthless. What is the
barrier to starting a new account? NOTHING. I forgot my HotMail
password? Oh well, new account. I am getting too much spam on this
account. Oh well, new account. I want one account for Jesse Berst's
AnchorDesk, one account for InfoBeat and one account for regular mail?
New account, new account, new account.
Don't get me wrong -- I LIKE the concept of free e-mail and even think
the services, on the whole, are pretty good. They can provide universal
access to e-mail, and if you're like many who work in places where
there's a heavy-duty firewall, it's nice to have an option like HotMail to
pull your mail. I suspect that HotMail has hundreds of thousands of real
subscribers. Perhaps even a million. But not 9 million. But even if
it's only million relationships, that's worth something for Microsoft.
On the other hand, Microsoft is rumored to have paid $300 million to $500
million for HotMail. I think that's way high. For example, paying $425
million for WebTV made sense inasmuch as Microsoft could not have easily
or cheaply launched a competing service. I think Microsoft could've built
a competitor to HotMail, spent $100 million in marketing and blown all the
competition away for a lot less than $300 million. Of course, with all
the antitrust stuff going on, perhaps Microsoft viewed buying HotMail as
less painful. Then again, maybe they paid a lot less than the rumored
$300 million. On the other hand, if there are 1 million real subscribers
that Microsoft doesnt have existing relationships with it might not be
such a bad deal, but paying $300-500 per subscriber in acquisition costs
for a subscriber that doesnt even yield any subscription revenue seems
like way too much money.
See you next week!
Stock Watch for the Week Ending January 4, 1998
===============================================
Courtesy of InfoBeat's CLOSING BELL < http://www.infobeat.com >.
52 Wk 52 Wk P/E Week
SECURITY CLOSE HIGH LOW Ratio CHNG
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AT&T Corp................ 58 13/16 64 30 3/4 19 -6.7%
Amazon Com Inc........... 59 1/2 66 15 3/4 +9.6%
America Online Inc....... 89 5/8 91 3/8 31 3/4 +3.0%
Apple Computer Inc....... 16 1/4 29 3/4 12 3/4 +22.0%
At Home Corporation Ser A 24 30 5/8 16 5/8 -6.5%
C/Net.................... 27 46 1/2 15 3/4 +2.8%
CMG Info Svcs. Inc....... 30 5/8 32 1/4 10 7/16 +6.0%
Cendent Corporation...... 33 15/16 34 3/8 19 1/4 41 +8.3%
Cmp Media Inc Cl A....... 17 1/4 29 3/8 13 3/4 25 -2.1%
CompuServe Corp.......... 12 1/16 14 9/16 8 7/8 -2.0%
Concentric Network Corp.. 10 7/16 16 7 7/8 +30.4%
Cybercash Inc............ 12 3/4 24 1/4 10 1/2 -2.3%
Earthlink Network Inc.... 25 1/4 26 8 5/8 +5.2%
Excite Inc............... 31 15/16 35 7 1/2 +16.9%
FTP Software Inc......... 2 15/32 8 3/8 1 1/2 +27.3%
GTE Corporation.......... 50 13/16 52 1/4 40 1/2 17 +1.8%
H & R Block Inc.......... 44 1/4 45 3/4 28 49 +0.1%
Hewlett Packard Company.. 64 9/16 72 15/16 48 1/8 22 +6.9%
IBM...................... 105 5/8 113 1/2 63 9/16 18 +3.8%
Individual Incorporated.. 4 1/4 11 7/8 2 5/8 +25.9%
Infoseek Corporation..... 10 25/64 14 1/2 4 3/8 +30.0%
Lycos Inc................ 39 15/16 42 10 3/8 +5.7%
MCI Communications Corpor 42 11/16 45 27 5/16 43 -0.1%
Mecklermedia Corp........ 23 3/4 30 16 1/2 55 +2.7%
Microsoft Corporation.... 131 1/8 150 3/4 80 3/4 49 +8.5%
Mindspring Enterprises In 31 3/8 34 5/8 5 3/4 -0.3%
Netcom On Line Communicat 23 3/4 24 1/4 7 7/8 +9.8%
Netmanage Inc............ 3 3/16 6 3/4 2 3/32 +27.5%
Netscape Communications C 23 3/8 59 1/4 23 1/8 -1.3%
Network Solutions Inc. Cl 12 15/16 26 3/4 11 3/4 65 -4.1%
Onsale Inc............... 17 1/4 35 1/4 4 5/8 +22.1%
Open Market Inc.......... 10 1/2 17 3/8 6 1/2 +1.2%
Oracle Corporation....... 23 42 1/8 20 15/16 32 +7.2%
Psinet Inc............... 5 3/8 13 3/8 4 1/4 +7.5%
Quarterdeck Corp......... 1 57/64 6 5/16 1 3/16 +41.9%
Realnetworks Inc......... 14 1/4 19 3/8 13 5/8 +1.7%
Security First Network Ba 7 1/2 14 1/4 5 1/4 +15.3%
Silicon Graphics Inc..... 12 13/16 30 5/16 11 9/16 51 +5.6%
Sprint Corporation....... 58 60 5/8 38 3/8 25 +5.3%
Spyglass Inc............. 5 1/16 14 1/8 4 1/16 +15.7%
Sun Microsystems Inc..... 41 1/2 53 5/16 25 7/8 22 +7.2%
Vocaltec Communications L 19 7/8 33 1/4 5 1/4 +1.9%
Worldcom Inc............. 29 15/16 39 7/8 21 1/4 -2.0%
Yahoo Corporation........ 66 1/4 71 11 9/64 +0.1%
Dow Jones 30 Industrials. 7,965.04 +3.7%
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