European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Pago 10 the stars and stripes computers tuesday december 21 >1993 yellow pages ready to join electronic age by Joshua Quittner new Day new York Rynex and Prodigy services co. Announced f>1ans to create what experts be Ieve will be the nation s first full fledged electronic yellow pages. By the end of 1994, the companies say Prodigy subscribers will be Able to browse through the business listings of More than 300 phone books covering new York and new England Catling up entries and sorting information by business name category and locate. The service will carry the same business listings As paper yellow pages at no extra Cost to Advertis cars but businesses would pay for electronic display ads. Prodigy customers would pay nothing extra for the service which would of included in their Basic monthly fee. The companies Hope eventually to be Able to add As Many of the Bells and whistles As an interactive service can offer including digitized photographs and space for Complete listings of products if an advertiser desires As Well As the ability to conduct transactions. As outlined by officials the system ultimately would improve on paper phone books by helping subscribers More quickly pinpoint in formation. For instance a Home computer user in Boston browsing Tor restaurants in new York City could specify brazilian Barbecue Chicken joints and get a listing throughout the five boroughs. The user could narrow the search to Manhattan supper West Side and even Call up a digitized photograph of the dining room examine the menu and make a reservation. A i like to think if we build it they will come a if we build it the right Way Quot said Donald Macken Zic president of by next a information resources co., which has experimented with a version of yellow pages on Frances screen based miniter system. 1 but some analysts say creating such an elaborate system is a monumental task wildly expensive and Many years away. Ads Nave to be sold computer programs have to be written and the information has to be packaged Quot if they do this in a year ill eat my hat Quot said Joshua Harris president of Jupiter communications a consulting firm that tracks and advises information service businesses and phone companies. Harris said it will be hard to improve on the paper based phone Book which already has Eye catching display ads and is easy to use. To make a computer based system work Prodigy and Rynex must add graphics and images to Prodigy s text a costly and time consuming task. Nevertheless the potential payoff on a successful system is immense Harris said. He noted that the paper yellow pages Market is Worth my billion annually. Ross Glatzer president of Prodigy said the announcement is in line with Many deals Prodigy has unveiled of late moving it closer to its vision of an a interactive electronic the Sears and ism owned company has announced alliances with a number of newspapers to make them available to Home computer users. Ism moves to top again by Evan Ramstad the associated press new York a with a couple weeks remaining in 1993, International business machines corp. Is set to reclaim the title of top seller of personal computers in the United states according to a new report. Preliminary year end figures from research firm International data corp. Also show a dramatic surge in sates this year by the biggest pc makers. The 10 largest companies will account for 9,5 Mih lion of the 14.8 million pcs sold in the United states this year a or about 64 percent of the Market compared to 52 percent a year ago. Quot that is a big big change Quot said Richard Zwetchkenbau chief of pc Market research at id Quot a Brand name has become important for a number of reasons. These vendors have More marketing muscle More ramp a capability the ability to have multiple brands and an array of distribution the ranks of personal computer firms began shrinking in the summer of 1992, when Compaq computer corp. Started a Price War that largely erased the differences Between name brands and offerings from hundreds of smaller firms. Customers turned in droves to Well known names on the premise that they will always be around to provide service and support. The growth of All but one of the top 10 . Makers far outpaced the in Dusty As a whole id reports. While such growth is important it does not necessarily translate into higher profits. Margins on personal computers continued to be thin but Price cutting slowed this year leading to More stable performance for most companies Zwetchkenbau noted id cd a Protection of 14.8 million units shipped in the United states would mean a 26 percent increase from 11.8 million units in 1992. The research firm projects worldwide shipments of 36.1 million units up 19 percent from 30.4 million in 1992. . Market growth is expected to Stow to 10 percent next year partly because fewer major advances in technology Are expected Zwetchkenbau said. This year ism should Edge out Apple computer inc. By 25,000 units in the United states which represents 40 percent of world Market. Last year Apple bested ism which was shifting its business Structure and product line. In my a . Sales Rose 51 percent to 2.08 million units from 1.37 million in 1992, do said. Worldwide sales in which ism perennially outdistanced its rivals climbed 37 percent to 4.4 million units from 3.2 million a year ago. Apple showed 32 percent growth in the United states with 2.05 million units compared to 1.55 million a year ago. Its worldwide sales were 3.6 million up 30 percent from 2.8 million in 1992, id said. A Compaq posted the biggest growth this year More than doubling . Sales to 1.4million units from nearly 676,000 in 1992. Worldwide sales were up 96 percent to 3.05 million units from 1.56 million a year ago. Top Selling personal computers ism will overtake Apple As the . Pc shipments top Selling top 10 vendors in the United states this year Accord ing to e Stim a is f to m International data corp., a Market research company a look at where the top 10 pc makers stand. . Market share in ism Apple 13.2% Compaq 5.7% Packard Belt 5.3% Deli 3.7% Gateway 2000 3.6% ast 2.7% Tandy 2.8% Toshiba 2.1% 1993 ism 14% Apple 13.9% a Compaq 9.6% ads 2.1% Toshiba 2.1% Tandy 2.4% Packard Bell 6.7% j Dell 5.4% Gateway 2000 4.4% projected Quot Asj research Zenith data systems 1092 m 1993 ism 1,374,600 a,075,000 com 675,020 1,550,000 v in i it a i. Vow. Via i i 011 1,410,000 Packard Ball 024,000 997,000 Dell my 440,000 795.000 a Gateway 2000 429,100 p 644,000 ast research 320.000 sip 530,000 Tandy 329,870 350.000 Toshiba m242,950 316.000 Zenith data systems Eil too 307.000 source International data corp. Packard Bell remained no a 4, followed by Dell computer corp., Gateway 2000 inc., ast research inc., Tandy corp., Toshiba corp. And Zenith data systems inc., which Rose to no 10 from no 16. Zwetchkenbau said the figures underestimate astr a importance since Tandy s sales arc recorded separately despite astr a Purchase of Tandy a pc operations last summer. Ast benefited financially but not in the id ranking from the Sale of Tandy labelled machines it produced. Comp Dyne computer corp. Fell out of id cd Stop 10 in . Sales. Its top 10 list for worldwide sales includes Nec corp., which Sells half the computers in Japan As the no. 4 company behind ism Apple and Compaq. Internet connections to be eased by John Enders the associated press san Jose Calif. A two companies announced new software that allows personal computer users to connect directly to the internet the worlds largest Public computer network. Originally funded by the National science foundation to connect universities and government agencies the internet is now used by an estimated 20 million peo pie. Many go through commercial online computer services such As Compuserve America online and a Thor Quot Gateway Quot providers. Most people hav Flonly limited Access to much of the information available on the internet such As databases and libraries. The network is most widely used for electronic mail and to Access computer bulletin boards. 1 the new software a internet in a Box Quot is being developed by of Reilly amp associates of Sebastopol Calif., a publisher of books to help internet users and software maker Spry inc. Of Seattle. It will include a program that can be loaded onto a personal computer hard drive. The software allows users with High Speed modems to link directly to the internet company officials said. A the traditional services being offered now Are kind of archaic and not for the common person Quot said Dave Pool president of Spry. Internet was developed with a computer operating system known As unix which is difficult to manage and uses complicated textual commands internet in a Box which is expected to be on Sale for under $100 by next Spring the traditional services being offered now Are kind of archaic and not for the common person. A Dave Pool. Spry president uses a Point and Click graphical system similar to the Apple macintosh or Microsoft windows operating system. It includes a version of of Reilly a popular Book the whole internet users guide and Catalon and a free subscription to of Reilly a global network navigator an internet guide. But there Are other charges. Spry subsidiary nov Inte serv will be the Access provider via a . Sprint toll free line. Nov Inte serv will Nill users for time spent on the internet. Jeff Payne director of the nov inter serv project said the Cost of full service support would be 524,95 a month with an additional charge of $10.95 to $12.50 per hour for internet time of Reilly and Spry announced the product in new York at the internet world conference. Analysts say they expect to see a glut of competing services in coming months. Quot this is like the Early Days of mail order. There Are going to be Success stories making millions from their Kitchen tables Quot said Kevin Kelly executive editor of wired Magazine Richard a. Baker director of corporate communications for Columbus Ohio based Compuserve said Home pc users who want to Access the internet will still value the Security of working through an established Access Point one that checks for computer viruses and has a Friendly user graphics. A the internet is kind of like the wild West of information services Quot he said. A if you re not technically proficient i think you would find navigating the internet a a
