 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Carol Daniels cad@melbpc.org.au |
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Here I am, just a few weeks into 1998 and I've already broken several New
Year's Resolutions, some of them mine.
What's New
What an obvious theme for February, since this is the time of year when Melb PC representatives are not long
back from COMDEX, and their heads are still full to bursting with information about the latest and greatest
in the world of computing. Of course we can't get everything into a single issue, so we'll be dribbling in
new stuff every month as our indefatigable reviewers work their way through the new products on offer, and
the articles we've planned to write take shape.
But I do want to use this issue's editorial to share some general impressions from 1997 Fall COMDEX.
In 1996, COMDEX was the epicentre of Internet Mania. In 1997, things were more down to earth. Many companies
focused on productivity and did their best to dazzle journalists with demonstrations of how their application
would make us all bigger, better, faster, stronger.
The Internet is still a high priority for most companies, but in the intervening 12 months they've come up
with solid answers to the question: "Yeah, but what can I do with it?"
Despite the excitement of the Web, the primary business use of the Internet is for e-mail. So there were many
programs that aim to help you manage your e-mail. For example, automate repetitive processes, mine queries
and replies to build a knowledge base, integrate e-mail and telephony for customer service centres or link
e-mail services with project management programs. There were even programs that turned e-mail into voice mail
and voice mail into e-mail. My least favourites were those that emphasised e-mail's marketing potential and
the ones designed to "tart up" e-mail with pictures, charts, animated characters, string quartets, brass
bands, smells and a knock on the head if you aren't paying attention to the message.
I'm not an ultra purist
I like getting up-dated information on products and services I'm interested in, without having to go out
looking for it. But only when I've expressed an interest. E-mail marketing programs that harvest e-mail
addresses and send a customised letter to 16 million, "carefully selected individuals" are an abomination.
Although I appreciate e-brochures, e-catalogues etc, and I recognise their place in marketing campaigns -
that place is not my e-mail inbox, thank you very much.
On the Web side of things, there are still more people talking about selling on the Web than there are
actually doing it or making money from it. Online commerce is still a hot topic, but the focus has switched
from what you can do, to how you can do it. Databases and Java-based applications to deliver dynamic or
customised information are gathering steam.
On the mechanics of COMDEX, I noticed strategic alliances between hardware and software vendors on the
showroom floor. Some major software vendors didn't have a booth. Instead they supplied challenging
demonstrations for appropriate hardware vendors to use to demonstrate the power/speed/reliability of their
products. One of the most notable in this category was Adobe, which combined efforts with printer, scanner
and memory makers (and probably more).
One sign that the computer industry is smack-dab in the middle of the mainstream these days is the growing
number of gifts, gadgets and whatnots tied in with computers and computing.
Recognising the legion of computer users with chronic eyestrain, Bausch & Lomb have developed special
Computer Eye Drops and a magnifying device that enables you to use a smaller screen font, get more text on
the page, without squinting or leaning in and hitting your head on the screen. In the battle against RSI,
there were gel-filled wristpads, and ultra-smooth gliding wrist pads to use with your mouse. Then there was
the MouseTrapper, a wristpad and adapter that enables you to control your mouse without moving your hands
from your keyboard. The wildest looking keyboards would have been at home in a science fiction movie, in fact
they were used by Jody Foster in the movie Contact. Designed for people with limited mobility, the dual hand
pads (one for each hand), don't really have any keys to speak of, and require the slightest flick of a
fingertip in the right direction to activate.
I was also pleased to see a sizeable Australian presence under the Austrade banner. I'm going to write more
about that in a future issue.
Just for fun
Some of us are lucky. We enjoy our work (including working with computers). Even when we're working we can
still have fun. But that's not what I was thinking of in terms of this month's theme. I was thinking about
regular fun, from playing computerised versions of classic board or card games, to the latest video games.
Not just games either. We use our computers to add to the enjoyment of our hobbies, from genealogy and
history to photography, music, needle craft, puzzles, drawing, writing, cartooning, even joke collecting. I
think it would be fun to have more articles about that sort of computing in PC Update. What do you
think?
Reprinted from the February 1998 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
