REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK / TECHNOLOGY : Bill Gates Paints a Perfect World
When Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates talks, the personal computer industry listens--even if the message is a little bit vague. That was certainly the case Monday, at least, as Gates gave the keynote address at the huge Comdex trade show here to an overflow crowd of computer dealers, equipment vendors and journalists.
The vision he presented was certainly an appealing one--a computing world where a standard desktop machine will give access to a broad range of text, voice and video information at the simple touch of a mouse. The barriers between different software programs--word processing and spreadsheets, for example--would disappear, allowing people to move seamlessly from one type of computer application to another.
Thus it would be possible to search a central database for, say, a chart that someone else at the company had created, attach that to an electronic mail message, stick a video picture into that same message, make a few voice annotations, and then send it off--all with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Gates calls his concept “Information at Your Fingertips” and considers it the key to dramatically expanding the base of personal computer customers at a time when PC industry growth has all but stopped.
Gates, however, specifically avoided discussing what products might make his concept a reality.
However Gates’ vision is ultimately implemented, Microsoft is well positioned to maintain its monopoly on the software that controls the basic functions of a personal computer. It’s certainly more secure than the other big PC monopoly: Intel Corp.’s chokehold on the supply of the microprocessors that provide the basic brains of a PC.
Advanced Micro Devices on Monday gave the first public demonstration of its long-awaited “clone” of Intel’s hot-selling 386 microprocessor. The AMD chip--called the AM386 since last Friday, when a court denied an Intel request to bar AMD from using that name--was shown running on off-the-shelf computers from Compaq Computer and International Business Machines. Mike Webb, head of marketing for the product, said AMD’s own tests and those of the 20 PC makers who have samples showed it to be completely compatible with Intel’s version.
By all appearances, AMD is ready to begin selling its three versions of the 386, including a low-power model aimed at portable PCs. But Intel has been fighting tooth and nail in the courts, and AMD’s efforts could still be at least partially thwarted by several pending lawsuits.
Though AMD officials deny it, the continuing shadow of the Intel lawsuits might explain why the company won’t discuss when the product will be released, or how much it will cost.
What are customers supposed to do with old equipment when they invest in fancy new stuff? The unceremonious answer has long been “throw it away.”
But Alex Randall, co-founder of the Boston Computer Exchange, has been bucking this reality for a while. He announced at Comdex what is believed to be the first national dealer program for used PC trade-ins. About 275 Valcom computer stores nationwide will now accept trade-ins from customers buying new machines, with prices based on the Boston Computer Exchanges’ widely used valuations.
An IBM AT that might have cost $2,000 new in 1988 is now worth $650 on a trade-in, for example. The Boston Computer Exchange then sells the machines, many in overseas markets such as Eastern Europe that are technology-hungry but cash-poor. A lot of computer dealers don’t like the trade-in concept--lots of trouble, not much profit--but Randall says more dealers will be signing on soon.
