European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 7, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday june 7,1994 computers the stars and stripes Page 19compaq computer  All other . Manufacturers in personal a computer shipments during the first Quarter of this year an Industry tracking organization said. Dat quest inc of san Jose calif., said its figures showed that Compaq shipped 487,948 personal computers to Market Apple ranked second shipping 409,885 ism third with 398,131 Quot Packard Bell fourth at 353, 062 and Gateway 2000 fifth with 221,951. Overall the tracking firm found that just fewer than 600,000 More. Computers were shipped in the first Quarter of 1994 compared with 1993. A Compaq took advantage of apples Power pc transition and in my a traditionally slow first Quarter to jump out to nearly shipment Lead but we expect it to be a close three Way race by year end a said Philippe de Marcillac director and principal analyst of Dat quest s personal computers worldwide research group. Quot Apple was encouraged by shipping More than 90,000 Power macintoshes in the last 18 Days of the first Quarter proving there is pent up demand among Apple users for More computing Power a de Marcillac said. Compaq captured the first Quarter Lead by shipping nearly 55 percent More personal computers in the United states than Over the same period last year. Despite Compaq a Large increase ism also managed to increase its first Quarter shipments by 10 percent. The strongest performers in data quest Stop 10 list were ads Groupe Bull and Hewlett Packard co., each of which More than doubled first Quarter shipments Over last year. Turner Home entertainment entered the personal computer business with the announcement of several software products including interactive games with scenes from Turners movie Library. Interactive games and screen savers unveiled at the Codex windows world computer Trade show in Atlanta will be offered on the windows and macintosh platforms under the name Turner interactive. Digital equipment corp. Announced its new representative to Vietnam saying the company sees important opportunities in asians latest fledgling computer Market. At a news conference in Hong Kong the .-based computer manufacturer unveiled its strategy to take advantage of Vietnam a burgeoning technology marketplace. The potential information technology Market in Vietnam has been estimated at about $50 million to $100 million As the communist government scrambles to modernize its financial system administration and banking sector. Vietnam is currently shifting its traditional centrally planned Economy into a free Market system a Pakistan has an information technology Market of around $70 million and i believe Vietnam a potential is not quite of that size yet a digital a new Vietnam representative Norris Hickerson said. Although the state run enterprises account for the vast majority of Vietnam a computer needs Hickerson said the private sector will become the main information technology consumer in two to five years. Hickerson who will be based in Hanoi must first face the task of rebuilding his company a Vietnam client base. His predecessor fled the company in february to join rival Uniss taking with her Many important clients and contacts. From wire reports keyboard contacts mail services help to restore lost Art of letter writing by Mitchell Diggs Scripps Howard news service Rocky Rawlins figures he Hasni to mailed a letter other than greeting cards to anyone in More than live years. But the Birmingham ala., Man spends a couple of hours a Day Reading and answering correspondence from friends and associates. When he finishes Rawlins simply touches a few keys on his computer keyboard and a Days Worth of Trail zips along an electronic network to its destinations. Soon his messages Are delivered to electronic mailboxes across the country waiting for the recipients to retrieve them. Technology particularly the ready availability of Telephone communications has been blamed for the steady decline in letter writing throughout much of the world. But with the Advent of inexpensive personal computers millions of people like Rawlins Are sending written correspondence via electronic networks. A in a lot of ways its brought Back a Jet of that lost Art a says Rawlins who operates the matrix one of the largest computer bulletin Board systems in the Southeast. A people arc taking time to sit Down and write letters to people again a and i think it has enhanced the Art because previously you sat Down with a pen and paper and if you did no to like something you wrote the Best you could do was scratch it out and try again. But with a keyboard you can write a paragraph and read it and if you done to like it you can delete it and Start Over until you get it the Way you want  to Send electronic mail or email As it is commonly known All you need is a computer equipped with a Modem and a Telephone line. Users Call up a local computer bulletin Board or one of the big National services such As Prodigy America online or Compuserve and Start writing. The matrix handles More than 1,000 private messages a Day and Many times that volume in Public messages on the various bulletin Board topics. National services May route hundreds of thousands of messages daily. Local bulletin boards usually charge an hourly fee for their services and the National networks have monthly subscription charges. Long distance phone charges Are rare. Local messages often Are delivered in a matter of seconds and email going Cross country or to another part of the world generally takes Only a few hours. Email messages can be Long documents or simply a few words. And there a no need to Hunt for stationery envelopes and Stamps. That convenience is a big Factor in the soaring popularity of email says James Raymond head of the freshman English program at the University of Alabama. A a it a a lot quicker that s for sure a he says. �?o1 use it every Day. 1 can communicate with friends and colleagues around the world without having to get organized enough to sit Down and write a letter. It s made me a lot More efficient in Reading and answering my  with email users can explore a Varic i can communicate with friends and colleagues around the world without having to get organized enough to sit Down and write a letter.1�? James Raymond University of Alabama to of topics getting opinions and ideas from people across the country. Randy Smith an account representative for command data inc. In Homewood ala., often uses the Prodigy network to plan business trips. A i have to travel a lot and when in a going somewhere 1 try to Contact people in those cities and find out what i can about the place a he says. �?�1 like to find out about where to eat and what there is to do there. That Way it s not All just  Smith also signs on three or four times a amps Susan Harris a week to correspond with fellow University of Alabama fans about football basketball and other sports a i find it very relaxing and unwinding after a Long Day to get on there and see what people have to say. Its a lot of  although some email messages arc written in a sort of computer shorthand most Are typed put in Plain English and that Means that users arc practising Basic communication skills says Raymond. A writing is one of those skills that the More you do it the better you get no matter what you re writing. It helps develop fluency not Only for the language but also for using a keyboard and All the technology that goes with it. That a great for kids As Well As adults. A my is year old is addicted to America online instead of using Long distance to keep in touch with All her pals around the country she can sign on and Send them All messages with  and email makes it easy to meet people with whom you share interests says Rawlins who last year spent several weeks discussing military aircraft with a russian fighter Pilot and a British Tornado Pilot both via email. A before Yon would write a letter to someone you knew and whose address you knew someone with whom you had a personal relationship Quot he said. A but. Electronic communications offers you the Opportunity to meet someone you can to see and to correspond with them to form some sort of relationship with  radio Shack to sell ism units fort Worth Texas a radio Shack the country a biggest consumer electronics retailer said it will Start Selling ism personal computers As it tests carrying name Brand pcs. Radio Shack will still carry its private Label Tandy computers but will also test ast research corp. Computers and possibly others in the future. Ast has made Tandy pcs since buying the manufacturing operation of Tandy corp., radio shacks Parent conf any last year. In the test program about 500 of radio shacks 6,500 stores will sell ism notebook computers. A smaller number will sell in my a ps-1 desktop models. Tandy chairman John Roach said the move was driven by the need a to add select name Brand product to meet the rapid changes in technology and increase inventory turn to avoid  a in order to achieve this flexibility we will rely to a much larger extent on Nam Brand products a Roach said in a statement. The company has a tradition of Selling Only House brands of electronics. The development is important for ism which is trying to keep up with rivals Compaq computer Apple computer inc. And Packard Bell electronics in pc sales to Consumers. Compaq scored a coup in March when it formed a Deal to sell pcs through Wal Mart stores inc., the nation s largest retailer