MERGER
Regulators Are Seeking Big Concessions For Approval Of Aol-Time
Warner Deal (WSJ)
EDTECH
Internet at School Is Changing Work of Students--and Teachers (WSJ)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Technology's Gender Gap (NYT)
Online Deliveries Lighten Burden for the Disabled (USA)
TELEVISION
Microsoft Plans to Take Windows Into the Digital-Television Market
(WSJ)
MERGER
REGULATORS ARE SEEKING BIG CONCESSIONS FOR APPROVAL OF AOL-TIME WARNER DEAL
Issue: Merger
Federal antitrust officials have expressed a willingness to block America
Online's $129 billion acquisition of Time Warner unless the two companies
accept far-reaching restrictions on their combined market power. Federal
Trade Commission staff have raised serious antitrust concerns based on the
companies' potential power over Internet access in cities where Time Warner
controls cable systems n those cities. As a result, AOL-Time Warner could be
forced to open its cable lines in those markets to provide high-speed or
"broadband" Internet access to competitors. Many critics fear that a
combined AOL-Time Warner will have too much control of media content and
distribution. While AOL and Time Warner have pledged publicly to provide
cable access to their competitors, the FTC appears convinced the promises go
far enough.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: John R. Wilke]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB968095243675126827.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
F.T.C. LAWYERS PRESSING FOR CONCESSIONS FROM AOL AND TIME WARNER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/09/biztech/articles/05aol-timewarner
.html)
(requires registration)
EDTECH
INTERNET AT SCHOOL IS CHANGING WORK OF STUDENTS--AND TEACHERS
Issue: Education
About 95 percent of the nation's public schools are now connected to the
Internet. By comparison, less than half the nation's households are. The
wiring of America's schools is also changing the way teachers teach and
students learn. Quite possibly, it may be increasing how much students
learn, particularly average and shy ones, educational technology experts
say. While there are no published studies to verify those preliminary
conclusions, and most schools suffer from shortages of tech-trained teachers
and classroom computers, specialists are pleased with the initial results.
"There is nothing that says technology will improve student achievement, but
we believe that it does because it meets so many different learning styles,"
says Cindy Bowman, an education professor at Florida State University.
Two-thirds of public school teachers say they now employ computer
applications in lessons, and at least 30 percent use the Internet, according
to an Education Department survey. And students at every grade level this
school year will exchange e-mails with "keypals" in foreign countries, take
"virtual field trips" to museums and historic sites or research the range of
academic subjects on the Internet.
SOURCE: Washington Post (A02), AUTHOR: Kenneth J. Cooper ]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11928-2000Sep4.html)
(requires subscription)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
TECHNOLOGY'S GENDER GAP
Issue: Digital Divide
Studies show that women are active users of the new technology and that
female Internet users slightly outnumber male users. However, fewer women
are entering today's booming technology fields. The most recent National
Science Foundation statistics show that between 1984 and 1997, the
proportion of women receiving bachelor's degrees in computer science dropped
from 37 percent to 27 percent. Currently, women make up only 20 percent of
the information technology work force. The technology industry badly needs
more workers. Women represent a major untapped source of talent that could
solve the shortage. One reason is that girls receive little encouragement to
explore computers early in their schooling. Most computer games are
male-oriented, and there are few female role models in technical industries.
Women who perform well in high school math and science are often put off by
male-dominated lecture halls in college. Women who do end up joining the
technology work force have complained about a lack of opportunity for
advancement and an absence of support and mentoring.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A30), AUTHOR: New York Times Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/05tue3.html)
ONLINE DELIVERIES LIGHTEN BURDEN FOR THE DISABLED
Issue: Digital Divide
Online companies with real-world delivery services are a boon for the
disabled. The delivery service of online grocer, YourGrocer.com, works well
with Mary West's need, for example. "I was looking for a place to do a lot
of my shopping," said Ms. West, 35, "because I am visually impaired and I
can't read labels and things on the grocery shelves." Ms. West found
shopping so difficult she had taken to ordering out more than was healthy.
Now she uses special voice recognition software to surf the Web for
everything from dishwashing detergent to vegetables. The growth of online
services such as YourGrocer.com is a winning situation all around. The
customers are empowered and the businesses are finding new markets. The
first page of Kozmo's employee training manual includes a letter from a
disabled customer, a single mother in Seattle who suffers from Epstein-Barr
syndrome and has severe nerve damage from surgeries. "I find myself at the
mercy of my own limitations," Ms. Massey wrote. "Your service has helped
make my life filled with more quality time. By being able to order books,
magazines, movies, games and food from Kozmo, I find that I am able to feel
more in touch and up to date with... people." A recent poll conducted for
the National Organization on Disability found that adults with disabilities
were twice as likely as the nondisabled to report that the Internet had
significantly improved their lives. But the poll also found that only 43
percent of the disabled respondents had access to the Internet, compared
with 57 percent of the nondisabled respondents.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A28), AUTHOR: Jayson Blair]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/09/biztech/articles/05hand.html)
(requires registration)
TELEVISION
MICROSOFT PLANS TO TAKE WINDOWS INTO THE DIGITAL-TELEVISION MARKET
Issue: Television
Microsoft, looking to recapture lost ground in the digital-television
market, has plans to announce later this week a new version of its Windows
operating system that will also power digital TV sets. "Set-top boxes are
growing to be more like PCs," Ed Graczyk, director of Microsoft's TV
Platform Group, said in an interview Monday.Due to be released in the second
half of next year, the company's embedding of existing television software
into PC operating system is its latest attempt to become a leading force in
digital entertainment. Therese Torris, director of European Internet
commerce at Forrester Research in still doesn't think Microsoft is likely to
catch up soon with the digital-TV market leaders. "They don't have ties with
the [major television] networks. They are not part of the TV industry," she
said.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B12), AUTHOR: David Pringle]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB96810193724627324.htm)
(requires subscription)
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