European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes computers tuesday january 25, 1994 chips n bits worldwide sales of computer systems grew by $7.1 billion in 1993 to $120.7 billion paced by gains in personal computers Survey showed. Personal computer revenues were zip 16.2 percent to $66.3 billion and workstation Revenue grew by 8.6 percent to $10.1 billion Industry tracker Dat quest reported. The trend toward smaller systems is no Surprise As the world Ushers in distributed client server computing As the dominant computing Model said Brad Smith vice president of Dat quest s worldwide computer systems and peripherals group. The Dat quest Survey showed mainframe revenues fell by 9.5 percent to $21.2 billion and mid Range revenues were off 3.7 percent to $21 billion. Supercomputer revenues Rose 6 percent from $2.06 billion to $2.2 billion. Mainframes and proprietary systems will continue to suffer despite new opportunities in the worldwide Economy in areas such As China latin America and Eastern Europe said Nancy Stewart senior Industry analyst for Dat quest. Compaq computer corp. Announced a $10.5 million expansion of its manufacturing operations in Erskine Scotland to meet growing product demand throughout Europe the Middle East and Africa. The Houston based compute maker said the expansion to be completed in the third Quarter will include the opening of two manufacturing lines to build printed circuit boards. Greg Petsch senior vice president of manufacturing said the unprecedented demand for Compaq products in this Region dictates that we quickly expand the scope of our Scotland the Scotland facility opened in november 1987 and employs 800 people. The expansion is expected to add another 250 jobs. The 540,000-Square foot Erskine Plant currently builds the full Range of Compaq desktop and server products. Compaq noted that Dat quest a Market research firm ranked it second in the european Market in total units sold through the third Quarter of 1993. ". Apple computer inc., reflecting the Tough times in the personal computer Industry reported earnings of $40 million or 34 cents a share for its first Quarter ended dec. 31, off 75.2 percent from $161.3 million or $1.33 a share in the year ago Quarter. Apple s revenues for its first Quarter increased by 23 percent to $2.47 billion from $2 billion in the year ago unit shipments of the flagship macintosh personal computers were up 40 percent surpassing the 1 million Mark for the first time. Microsoft corp. Will Supply key software for an upcoming video Gam machine made by Sega enterprises ltd., making it less like a toy and More like a computer a Sega spokesman said. Microsoft the largest . Software company will Supply an operating system for a 32-bit Home video game machine called Saturn to be marketed by Sega late this year for less than $450, he said. The two companies also May work together on game software for the new machine said the spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity. From wire reports some words to the Wise voice activated unit is a wonder but it s not perfect yet by Linda Winer new Day the rain in stain space mainly in the claim. The rain in Strain space mainly on the Plain. The rain in Spain stays mainly on the Plain. By George i think he s not it. I mean he s got it. Some Days he really does. The lines you just stumbled Over were written by on with my voice activated computer. The software is called dragon dictate so i Call him my dragon. Speak. Very. Very. Slowly a. Into a Madonna microphone at the Side of my Mouth and words often the right ones appear on a screen. He is no Sci i android not yet but he is something of a Miracle and the sweetest thing i be met in years that does t have fur on it. I am his Henry Higgins and he is my salvation. I teach him culture. He saves my career. I have sri or repetitive stress injuries from the cumulative damage of typing on computers just another Ca nary in the mine alongside the information superhighway. So now i talk to my dragon. And he tries i swear he actually seems to try to read my mind. Dragon came to me with a vocabulary of 30,000 words but mostly he is programmed for science business and poli tics. I say i ago he writes Plo. I say melodrama he writes Melanoma. I say Tony Kushner he usually says Tony Khrushchev. Right now however he is insisting on giving me Tony mischief. You can see the danger Here. This is the first time i be written about him and it s hard not to think he s acting out. As you May have guessed by now one of the first words i tried was Anthropol he said impressed but hardly satisfied i repeated he came Back with Antelope. I laughed. Clearly i was not on deadline. Yes he s definitely a he dragon. I can not explain Why since a female might seem a More Likely Choice for such a sensitive journey. Maybe i do have a Henry Higgins com plex. Then again maybe All dragons Are testosterone cases. Whatever the people who put him to Gether have been shameless about trying to make him As user Cutie As possible. Since most customers for such machines have extremely Good reasons to be techno phobic this was obviously not a casual decision. I turn on my dragon by saying Wake up arid turn him off with go to he responds Only to my voice even with my Chicago accent but Only if i m polite and say yes please and no thank to Correct a mistake i say oops if i want a word dragon does t know i spell it using the military alphabet Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Etc. Then say most spelling symbols Are appropriately Macho you know Golf Victor whiskey. But dragon writes an a if i say Romeo a if i say Juliet to if i say tango. Slowly we Stop under estimating each other. Dragon learns my new word and drops one of the 30,000 i Haven t used so someday my 30,000 presumably will be his 30,000. He has had no problem with the montages but the caplets came out catholics. Desdemona was vegetable. I told you he s Clever. Foi reasons i hesitate to Analyse the dragon often hears fear when i say Thea Ter. What does he know angst has come out ants. Stravinsky was Springsteen. Sondheim was first cyanide then reconsidered As Sunshine. Cyrano started out As Cereal then serum then seamen then cervical. Epilogue was applesauce. I can t stay mad. Then there Are the noises that Bounce off his microphone in a Normal Day in the newsroom. Dragon thinks a sneeze is really saying fifth and most Sharp sounds should be recorded As but last week someone dropped a soft pack age near my desk and he said no kidding i coughed and he wrote and one Day when i had to speak firmly to him because he refused to go to sleep he actually typed perhaps he thought that s what i said. On the other hand he might want his own column. Cata logs come to cd rom format by Donna Larcen the Hartford courant there already Are billboards on the in formation Highway. In passant is a new computer Catalon service in cd rom format being tested by 30,000 Apple computer users. Twenty one Cata logs from Well known merchants such As . Bean lands end Williams Sonoma and Patagonia Are on the disk. This is definitely another option for shoppers and Sellers says Susan Mclntyre president of Mclntyre direct a cat Alog consulting firm in Portland Ore. Everyone is waiting to see what will happen with the big for the past decade on line services such As Compuserve have offered an electronic shopping mall. But Only cd rom disks with their vast storage capability can bring products to the screen with All of the color and Sharpness of a Slick Catalon not to mention stereophonic sound and moving images. While Industry observers doubt that disks will quickly make mail order obsolete Catalon firms see cd rom Market ing As yet another pipeline into affluent Homes. This new test disk was sent in Early de Cember to purchasers of Apple cd rom systems. It just showed up in the mail one Day says Denis Marcin of Maiden mass. I think it s great. I just finished writing a letter to Apple with my suggestions. I m really excited about the Poten tial of he has already subscribed for the first year of disks offered at $14.95 for four annual mailings. Marcin an Engineer who works at Home on his computer did some Christmas shopping using the in passant Valet service where the computer com piles a custom Catalon based on a product and Price Range. That was really useful in keeping Santa s list says Martin s wife Arlene. I really found it to be a in Valet Mode Type in clothes for kids at a maximum Price of $100 and in passant produces 71 Catalon pages of coveralls cardigans dresses and tops and knee bumpers for easier crawling. The custom Catalon can be saved for later reference or used to fill out a per Sonal order form. V the Valet is useful but the images of the goods Are pretty Static. Cd rom technology could show a movie showing kids wearing snowsuits while sledding or sneakers while playing. A toll free number connects you to in passant operators who will make Calls to the Catalon companies. Or the customer can Call the toll free numbers provided by each Catalon. Cd rom disks look like their musical cousins but the computer versions can contain an encyclopedia s Worth of color pictures movies sound and interactive features. With in passant you can change the color of a sweater Call up an information Box with product statistics see another View of the item or get sizing information. There is also a series of movies of Fering medical financial and fashion advice. Another feature is a gift Register where you can file birthdays and anniversaries and other important buying dates and the computer later reminds you to buy the gift. There is also some elementary person Al finance information supplied by Dow Jones. While the Martins Are satisfied customers not every in passant recipient is enthusiastic. I found it simplistic and frankly was not at All impressed by the product says Ron Newman of Somerville mass., who works in the Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of technology. Any one who has spent any time using cd rom technology knows there Are More sophisticated things you can Newman says he is not a Catalon shop per so the assemblage of top brands did t interest him. He says the Magazine s general topics should be More at the level of the new yorker or something More literate. I m going to write a letter to Apple telling them so he says. ,
