Coop: Clark's big score, Case's big bore
Intel is expected to offer more details on its IA-64 architecture. Will management also use the occasion to spring news of another Merced delay? Hope not.
Yours truly plans to drop by Macromedia's users conference for a sneak peek at upcoming products -- I hear management plans to make a BIG Web-related announcement. @Home CEO Tom Jermoluk and AOL's Marc Andreessen are also going to be on hand to do the vision thing.
Meantime, our friends from Down Under plan to grapple with the invasion of American-made cybersmut when Australia's Senate takes up a bill regulating Internet content. Local free-speech activists like it not. Throw another url on the barbie ... and get ready to rumble, mate.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- whoever thought up that name should be sentenced to watch nonstop reruns of The Zabriskie Point for 24 hours -- is holding a set of open meetings in Berlin to solicit feedback on various and sundry cyber-related issues. Out of sight, out of mind, perhaps, but decisions taken by these folks are going to affect the future of cyberspace.
And if Mondays have you down, don't fret -- at least you can start the new week knowing you won't need to hear anymore about the imminent arrival of "Phantom Menace" at a theatre near you.
For a complete look at the week ahead, go to our programming guide and editorial calendar.
And in the week that was ...
It's rare enough to start one multimillion-dollar company -- let alone two. With Healtheon, Jim Clark has hit his third home run in as many tries. But judging from his take-the- money-and-run track record, don't expect him to stick around the office very much longer. (See: Healtheon's Jim Clark: Third time the charm?)
Talk about grasping at straws, Microsoft should have known it wouldn't get squat from AOL chief Steve Case. I've heard the Redmondian spiel ad infinitum -- that the AOL-Netscape merger renders the antitrust case irrelevant -- but that deal had precious little to do with Web browsers. (See: MS-DOJ special report)
Gotta like the decision by SGI to release the source code for its 64-bit Unix file system to the Linux community. The move remedies a big deficiency that prevented wider acceptance of Linux. It also answers questions about SGI's commitment to the open-source movement following its decision to adopt Windows NT for its Intel-based workstations. (See: SGI opens source code)
When Michael Dell began selling computers through the mail in the '80s, the conventional wisdom was he had no chance. Some folks are making a similar mistake about his latest gig selling cars online. They're wrong. He's right. You can take that one to the bank. (See: Site to sell cars direct online )
What to make of the mad bloodletting by online bookseller Amazon.com? The company's not made a thin dime selling books, and now that it's going into the online grocery biz, it's going to go even deeper into the red. No matter: The idea is to build a database of customer info and habits, and then sell it for big bucks. Believe me, Jeff Bezos isn't an idiot. See: It's war: Net booksellers chop prices)
Unfortunately for Bezos, some of his flunkies aren't quite so swift. When I spoke with Amazon's PR director, who explained how "grateful" he was for the way the company's customers helped convince Amazon's brass to revisit its ban on selling a book critical of Scientology, I had to wonder whether the powers that be had been watching reruns of "Cool Hand Luke." (See: Amazon reverses decision on book ban)
Microsoft's reported level of concern with the Linux challenge is on the level: My pen pals at Gates Central are sending me the same sort of agitprop e-mail about Linus' Legions that they used to send me about Java and Netscape. (See: Linux draws Microsoft's interest)
Speaking about his decision to resign from Compaq, John Rando stuck to the script, saying the departure was based on "personal" reasons. But insiders say acting CEO Ben Rosen is dead serious about reinvigorating the moldy culture that's taken root in the executive ranks and reconnect with front-line employees. (See: Rando details reasons for departure)
Judging from the newest revelations of backbiting and cronyism -- not to mention allegations of sexual harassment by a senior manager -- it's a wonder Gentle Ben didn't move in earlier. (See: How palace intrigue felled Compaq)
Online fund raising could turn out to be the sleeper hit of the 2000 presidential race now if credit card collections over the Net qualify -- as seems increasingly likely -- for campaign matching funds. (See: Web gears up for political e-commerce)
Finally, is the bloom finally coming off the cyber rose? Au contraire, Beaudelaire. Web surfers are just getting more savvy, more choosy and more in the mood -- hey, it's spring -- to go outside and smell the flowers. (See: Are Web surfers fleeing portal sites?)
And in other news:
HP looks to take Internet lead
About.com mining for portal gold
CVS sees online as RX for success
AMD slashes prices on processors
Microsoft, Xerox unveil tech plans
Battle for portal prominence heats up
Staples expands into cyberspace
Intel spends billion on Net services
Amazon buys stake in Homegrocer.com
FTC goes after spammers