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T A B L E_T A L K
Microsoft vs. the feds -- who'll come out on top in this clash of the
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R E C E N T L Y 21st Challenge Let's Get This Straight Silicon Valley's power cults The empire clicks back Upgraded memories - - - - - - - - - -
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 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BY ANDREW LEONARD AND SCOTT ROSENBERG | "If the Digital Revolution is accompanied by ways to ensure that everyone has the chance to participate, then it could spark an unprecedented millennial boom, global in scope but empowering to each individual, marked not only by economic growth but also by a spread of knowledge and freedom and true community." Quick -- which Net-crazed periodical spouted this starry-eyed optimism in its year-end issue: Wired, right? Nope -- that's Time magazine, which, like much of the media this year, started out techno-paranoid ("Computers will burn porn into your kids' retinas while they rip off your credit-card numbers!") and finished off as techno-Pollyanna. Why take a middle road when the extremes are so much more dramatic? For most of us, though, 1997 was the year in which the Web, the new institution at the heart of the digital revolution, slowed down and settled down. (For more on this counter-intuitive argument, see the accompanying essay.) We finally stopped worrying that the whole thing, with its shaky economics and rickety technology, might just evaporate one morning. We accepted that its promises of deep economic and cultural transformation were not going to happen at T1 speed. We settled in for the more mundane long haul. Fantasies of boom and bust are both flip sides of the desire to escape the slog through everyday ups and downs. But 1997 reminded us that the logic of history is different from the logic of circuitry: It's not binary. More often than not, reality takes a meandering middle road. These, then, were some of 1997's more memorable twists and turns: Microsoft über alles Two years ago, Microsoft bashers exulted in criticizing the Redmond, Wash., behemoth for missing the Internet boat. Today, the conventional wisdom is that Microsoft is on the verge of taking over the Internet. Well, maybe not quite -- the Department of Justice may have other plans. But there's no question that 1997 was a big year for Microsoft on the Net: Its free browser, Internet Explorer, continued to chip away at Netscape Navigator's market share, and its Windows NT operating system began making serious inroads in the Web server market. Microsoft also extended its tentacles into cable television with huge investments in leading cable companies, and bought high-flying Internet companies like WebTV. Arrogant, cruising for an antitrust bruising and widely feared, Microsoft demonstrated in 1997 that it still has plenty of world-dominating gusto. (A.L.) The humbling of MSN
Microsoft did experience one crushing defeat. Heading into 1997, the folks at the Microsoft Network crowed that they were spearheading the transformation of the Web into something more like TV, with lots of "channels," original "programming," tons of on-screen animation and a bunch of Hollywood people calling the shots. Unfortunately, most of this stuff barely worked -- and when it did, it was boring, pointless or stupid. By the end of the year, nearly all of the "programs" had been canceled, and a chastened Microsoft was repositioning its network in the direction of services and transactions. Meanwhile, AOL grew to the vicinity of 10 million members -- most of whom still seemed to be either hanging out in chat rooms, sending e-mail or complaining about the service. (S.R.) Push fizzles
1997 was supposed to be the year "push" broke big. A grab-bag term grouping together a disparate array of Net-broadcasting techniques, "push" referred specifically to the idea that Net-based content providers would target packages of data at Net users in an active fashion, rather than wait passively to be discovered by roaming surfers. But the concept of push has yet to take off with the general Net public. Perhaps the idea was too "pushy" -- or even more likely, too vaguely defined for anyone to grasp. Even as the hype fades, though, behind the scenes there's plenty of pushiness going on. Targeted advertising based on demographic information (you're 27, female and live in Dubuque? This ad's for you!) is the essence of push -- and it's growing like crazy. Net entrepreneurs will keep pushing as they strive to figure out ever more polite, and effective, ways to shove messages in your face. (A.L.) Waiting for bandwidth
For all the hoopla about ISDN (great if you can afford it and make it work), cable modems (great if you can persuade your cable company to provide them in your neighborhood) and 56K modems (great if you can actually get 56K bps speed and if your modem talks the same kind of 56K as the one at the other end of the line), the sad fact is that most of us ended 1997 cruising the Net at the same speed as when the year started. 28.8K and 33.6K modems are OK for many things, but not for the kind of multimedia-heavy Web experience the industry keeps promising the public. As it stands today, the only location where most people can access Web content on really fast lines is at work -- which is precisely the wrong place to listen to music, watch video and generally entertain oneself. The Web will never become an entertainment medium until it remedies this disjunction. (S.R.) WorldCom über alles
It would be hard to imagine a better fictional name for an evil cyberpunk transnational conglomerate hell-bent on world domination than WorldCom. Well, 1997 gave us the real thing. For years, this small telecom services provider has been gobbling up bigger companies and establishing a stranglehold over the Internet's infrastructure. WorldCom topped off its rise this year by offering to buy MCI, the second largest long-distance phone company in the world and a leading supplier of basic Internet connectivity. So far there's been no squawking from antitrust officials -- but there should be. Earlier this year, execs at one of WorldCom's companies, UUNet, made no secret of their desire to end the consumer-friendly structure of flat-rate Internet-access fees that is currently the industry norm. WorldCom is one of an ever-concentrating number of corporations capable of dictating changes to the Net industry. Remember that name: Cyberpunk-style corporate overlordship may yet become a reality. (A.L.) N E X T_P A G E | Lunatics and liars |
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