‘Future’ Products Already Here
A few weeks ago, I shared some ideas for the 1990s and invited readers to do the same. I got a lot of mail that week, including information on companies already working on one of “my” ideas.
That idea called for a “data vault” that would allow users to back up computer data by phone instead of using floppy disks, tape or other media. As it turns out, there already are at least two companies doing just that.
Frank Reed, executive vice president of Los Angeles-based Secure Data Network, called to say that his company had recently announced “the first on-line data backup and retrieval service for personal computers and PC-based local area networks.” It requires a modem to connect your PC with the phone, but you won’t be able to use an off-the-shelf modem. Instead, the service fee includes use of a modem especially designed for Secure Data Network. The modem is also Hayes compatible, so it can be used for communicating with other services.
The software, which is included with the fee, can backup or restore your data at any time. It can also be programmed to perform an automatic backup at a specified time for all files that have changed since the last backup. When it’s time for a backup, the software on your PC compresses and encrypts your data.
Compression triples the effective transmission speed by reducing the size of your data by as much as 70%. During the compression process, that data is also encrypted for security reasons. Because data is compressed and encrypted before it leaves your PC, it would be extremely difficult for an unauthorized person to view your files even if they were able to steal the backup tapes from the network’s facilities, according to Reed.
Data is initially backed up at the company’s “substation” closest to your area, Reed said. It is then backed up again at a central location to protect against a local disaster, such as an earthquake. The company is in the process of establishing a central underground storage area at a retired missile site.
Secure Data Network is at 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 1600, Los Angeles, Calif. 90045. Phone: (213) 641-1300. Fax: (213) 641-1033.
Coetta Lampe of Tulsa, Okla., wrote me about OmniVault, a similar service that is about to become available. As with Secure Data Network, you start the process by sending the company a complete backup of your disk on floppy disks, tape or other media. Subsequently the service updates the backup with data that has been changed or added.
OmniVault can support large database files efficiently by handling only changes in a file rather then transmitting the file itself. If someone has a 10-megabyte database file and adds 50 records in a day, the software can scan through the file and send only the changes, saving a tremendous amount in phone charges.
OmniVault is at 22 Adams St., Kingston, N.Y. 12401. Phone: (800) 648-5496 or (914) 339-1017.
Marc H. Mehlman of Woodland Hills has another solution to backing up data. He wants a portable external tape backup system that connects to a computer via a standard serial port. Such a device would allow backing up data from just about any computer. Virtually all computers already have serial ports.
The system, admits Mehlman, would be slower than current tape backup systems but would have some advantages. One tape drive could back up data from several personal computers. It would be portable and easy to connect because it wouldn’t require an adapter card. That way, a company could buy one backup system for all its computers, or an entrepreneur could offer customers an on-site backup service.
Not all of the letters focused on backing up data.
Phil Shapiro of Washington wants to see computer technology employed to develop an “electronic book no larger or heavier than today’s average hard-cover book.” In place of a page, there would be a flat-screen computer monitor. Reading material would be distributed on cartridges that could be inserted into the machine. After reading the book, you can store the cartridge in your library or sell it as a “second-hand cartridge.”
Good idea. But I want my book to be water resistant so that I can read it in the tub.
My recent suggestion for a computer-controlled personalized TV schedule prompted a letter from Mitchell Semel, president of UBU Productions (which produced “Family Ties”). He wants to use similar technology to enable personal computer users to design their own “books, magazines, newspapers and press-clipping services.” The user could then print them out or read them on the screen.
Semel also wants magazine publishers to create personalized editions based on a reader’s “previously stated interests, tastes and skills.”
His ideas are on the mark and on the verge of coming into being. CompuServe Information Service, for example, allows you to create your own clipping service based on information from the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters and the Washington Post.
I would like to take Semel’s ideas a step further: a service that would provide users with a personalized daily paper consisting of articles from newspapers and news services around the world. It could include comic strips, weather maps and news about selected companies, political figures and teams.
The system could automatically print the “paper” on a laser printer.
Computer File welcomes readers’ comments but regrets that the authors cannot respond individually to letters. Write to Lawrence J. Magid, P.O. Box 620477, Woodside, Calif. 94062, or contact the L. Magid account on the MCI electronic mail system.
