Martin Veitch's Diary

Against a slick marketing organisation like Iomega, the SuperDisk folks have had cause to be sharp - they haven't. Proof in the computing chestnut that consortiums tend not to run as well as nimble individual companies. Still, it's a great product.

IBM meanwhile is attempting to make its AS/400 more appealing by calling it the AS/200e. Sheesh, as they say over there.

Tuesday

Much misunderstanding over Corel which has flipped its software development strategy. Many newspapers report that it is pulling out of Java; the truth is that it is almost doubling its investment. Almost nobody understands the Canadians' new plans. Presentation courses all around, please. Me, I'm betting big on them coming out smelling of roses.

Wednesday

Surprised to learn that that nice Mr Murdoch's much-hyped LineOne service has pulled in just 15,000 punters. Who can make come in and money in this business if he can't? Still, several companies pour in the money and wait for the inevitable bloodbath.

Thursday

Evesham prices up the first PC I've seen with the 440LX chipset. But what on earth has happened to Intel's famed gift for positioning. Nobody sans anorak knows what AGP is or what it will do for them. There are more chips on the market than ever before and the market is crying out for guidance. If Intel isn't going to paint the roadsign, who will?

Friday

The standalone Navigator is off the map, out of the picture, gone, hated, loathed. Netscape's day as Mr Nice Guy seems over; now it's seen as a distant feuding relative of Bill Gates's satanic army. Apple is part owned by Microsoft and even Sun is getting flak over Java standard development. Who will the programmers love now?