Front-End Devices Link To Net

<H1> Front-End Devices Link To Net</H1>By Cheryl Rosen

Think your travelers aren't ready for travel technology because they don't even have access to a computer? Think your company will never spend the money to outfit the whole crew with Web access and support?

Think about this: The ever-widening technology pipeline is making room for front-end devices that will allow travelers to access e-mail and the Internet with no installation, no downloading, no upgrading, ever. For $500 or less.

Oracle Corp., the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based computer maker, late last month demonstrated a prototype of its much-heralded "network computer," which offers e-mail and Web access and simple word processing. Chairman Larry Ellison has promised to bring the product to market before the end of the year for under $500. IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. have announced plans to offer similar "network-centric" devices; their price quotes are slightly higher, but are still in the three-digit range.

In February, Sun unveiled a prototype of an inexpensive desktop computer that gives users access to the Internet and corporate networks using Sun's Java programming language. Said spokeswoman Lisa Ganier, "What we did was demo a device that proves the ability to create a corporate network terminal that doesn't need an operating system. It's still only a research prototype, but it proves that a fully functional, low-cost network computer is doable."

Philips Home Services, meanwhile, has already shipped 20,000 Screen Phones, mostly in New York, and is rolling out 30,000 more to Southern California customers this month. The $400 phones offer pop-up computer screens and pull-out keyboards, and access to e-mail and the Web. By the end of the year, Philips says, the price should drop to $300.

Philips marketing manager Paul Chapple said that some Screen Phones have been distributed by Citibank, which is encouraging customers to use them to bank from home. But "travel and ticketing are two of the areas we're very interested in looking into," Chapple said.

The phones will begin offering general e-mail capability on May 1, and access to the World Wide Web is being tested. Like all new technologies, Chapple said, the Screen Phones will attract attention and generate applications as their installed base reaches critical mass-and that time is quickly growing near as the consumer market increasingly grows interested in e-mail and Web access.

Travel technology consultant Jeff Hoffman of the Virtual Shopping Network noted that to some extent, the movement toward cheap front-end devices that hook into the Internet is a reversal of the trend ushered in by the personal computer, which moved computing power from a huge mainframe to the individual user's desktop.

Now, he said, the computer industry is lining up in two camps-Microsoft, which rules the PC market, on one side, and a growing opposition party of Internet believers on the other.

"There's a whole group in the Internet world whose philosophy is that the Internet will become independent of the computer," Hoffman said. "Now we go out and buy software and load as much as fits on a hard disk-and these guys are saying, 'Why not use the Internet as one giant hard drive, and pay a usage fee for whatever software you need as you go?' That way you would never have to buy or install an application, never have to worry about disk space, and every piece of software you could possibly need would be out there. Tapping that cheaply would be the true value of an Internet computer."

In the short term, travel managers say, corporate travelers will not readily give up their PCs for a network computer that offers only communication software and word processing, but no spreadsheets or other software. But Hoffman maintained that one day, all applications will reside on the Net.

"I like the model, and I happen to believe that a Network Computer is preferable because now I am limited to what I can cram onto my hard drive," he said. "But there are issues-access speed issues and performance issues-that still need to be solved. And in the transition period, nobody wants two computers on their desk, and people will not want to convert."

Others remain skeptical. Said Tom Panas, marketing vice president at independent software company InnoSys Inc., "The idea of a $500 network computer is a good solution from a technical sense, but the best technology does not always succeed in the market. Just look at the Betamax, which was technically better than VHS, and Macintosh computers. I don't think the concept of using a TV or something else instead of a standard computer monitor will go over well with people who are used to the quality they get on a PC monitor. And corporate MIS managers, as well as travel managers, are generally not pioneers."

Still, Panas conceded that the concept has benefits; any computer that can run a Web Browser-Windows, OS/2, Mac, Unix, etc.-can access the Internet without having to run custom software. "This is very different than most current systems, where a special program is written for each specific end-user environment. "This allows the travel management software to be centralized so the travel manager always has complete control over what version users are running.