VIEW FROM THE VALLEY

After too many trips there, Networld+Interop held few surprises for me; Las Vegas was an over-hyped place and voiceover IP was an over-hyped technology. But one idea that made sense was asynchronous digital subscriber line (ADSL).

Dell and Cisco Systems have got together to put the technology into PCs for the small business and home markets. ADSL fulfils all the requirements for a mass-market internet technology - fast download speed, low price and simple installation using existing infrastructure. Compaq, Microsoft and a whole oligopoly of other industry giants are obviously convinced too, because they are working on standards for the technology.

ADSL is already available in many areas, but ADSL modems cost hundreds of dollars and service providers charge similar amounts for connection per month, so ISDN seems a better bet for many customers. Analysts and pundits predicted that it would be years until the mass market has a chance to ditch the World Wide Wait and join the fastest lane of the information superhighway. Dell and Cisco's move seems to have moved the goal closer.

What would you give for 7Mbps downloads? Probably more than the $250 modem cost and $40 per month that Dell and Cisco say they will charge. And if you would pay that, so would businesses.

Brand of hope and glory

So Apple launched the iMac, a computer that looks nice, costs more than its competitors' machines and is incompatible with the vast majority of the opposition. And that's new?

OK, it is comparable with Wintel PCs and it is bound to be more reliable.

But I can whinge about Steve Jobs, the interim CEO, who has decided that the Apple logo has gone mouldy.

Just a few months ago he was saying Apple's brand is its strongest asset and no less than Oracle CEO Larry Ellison was agreeing with him. Then Jobs spearheaded a multimillion dollar advertising campaign to promote it with the grammatically flawed and annoying slogan 'Think Different'.

All this was not enough to redeem Jobs' love-hate affair with the Apple logo, and now he wants to change it. Claiming the entire Apple board is behind him, he says the shape is the important thing and he wants to get shot of the colours because they are 'too 70s'.

I can see his argument but I vehemently disagree with it. The Apple logo is the most recognisable in the industry, and arguably the most recognisable in the business world.

Why change a winning formula? Doesn't Jobs know disco music is also much too 70s and it just keeps growing more popular?

Liberating the surf

The US authorities may have enough on their hands ensuring that Microsoft doesn't take over the country and the internet is left to others, but they are also working on rules for internet resellers.

Ira Magaziner, president Clinton's special adviser, has been working on ways to stop unscrupulous resellers ripping off unsuspecting surfers.

After months of work, Magaziner's team concluded that protecting the consumer cannot be done by regulating the internet-based reseller. They also realise that adding tax at the reseller's end is difficult.

Does that mean setting up shop and selling what you like over the internet will be a free-for-all? No. The Clinton administration will concentrate on making sure the buyer is protected in future legislation. It will also add tax at the consumer's end, which may make life difficult because US states add sales tax after advertising prices and the UK adds VAT to the selling price.

Revenge of the reseller

I have always sympathised with Digital resellers. They have been through the good times and the bad times with their vendor and are often annoyed by the company's executives, who in contrast seem very happy. But now the tables have turned. Imagine working at Digital Equipment in the last few years. A lot of people suffered as the company suffered. Then Digital laid off thousands of staff. If the employees survived that round of cuts, they felt lucky.

Then Compaq, the biggest company in the PC business, bought Digital.

Great. That means more bonuses and more success, then? No. Compaq has just announced it will lay off another 15,000 staff. That's the population of a town. For once, Digital's staff deserve more sympathy than its resellers.

The bottom line

Peter Buick, a VFTV reader and managing director of ADO Distribution, has given me a few interesting insights into some of my recent columns.

Some of them are even printable.

He reckons that Apple tattoos are old hat and that Microsoft underpants with slogans mocking Bill Gates are the latest thing, so he plans to launch some. Apparently, the software giant wanted to bundle a browser inside the underwear but he will resist.

Stand-up and be counted

By the time you read this, the last episode of Seinfeld will have been shown in the US. The build-up to the secret finale has only been bearable because the programme is so enjoyable.

But the worst part, strangely, has been the overkill about the last Seinfeld on the internet. That's where you get all the weirdos who are so obsessed with Seinfeld that they must tell you how many times Kramer has walked into Jerry's apartment or discuss the linguistic significance of 'yada, yada, yada'.

The problem is that discussing something that' s funny is fine; but dissecting it begins to destroy all the comedy. That is why, no matter what, you must promise never to dissect this column.