Good-Bye 1998

Computer Life column for January 2, 1999
by
Richard Gordon

'Tis is the season to look back over the past year and to prepare for the new one.

Years from now, we'll look back on 1998 as the year that $1,000 could finally buy a complete computer: fast processor, memory, hard disk, printer, monitor, modem, software, even extras. Last week, I saw a Web ad for a close-out 266 MHz system including a monitor: $400.

The industry flirted with the $1,000 computer for several years, but prior to 1998, that $999.95 computer still required several hundred dollars worth of "extras"--like a monitor and printer--to become a complete system.

It really was a year of dramatic increases in speed and power, leading to incredible price cuts on systems in inventory for 3 to 15 months.

Then there was the resurgence of Apple Computer. In 1997, so many of us were expecting the company's implosion--my favorite sales rep even left Apple for a manufacturer of Windows computers. Yes, things looked bleak for Apple fans.

But somehow, Steve Jobs and Co. refuse to go away. With fanatic loyalist customers, clever advertising, and the introduction and brilliant marketing of the iMac, Apple suddenly re-appeared on the technology industry's radar screen.

There is more significance to this story than just a bunch of graphic designers, chemists, K-8 teachers, video producers, and musicians--Apple's traditional user base--breathing a collective sigh of relief. If indeed diversity and competition breed corporate creativity, Apple's resurgence, the beginning of corporate interest in LINUX--a freeware version of the UNIX operating system--and the AOL/Netscape merger, bode well for the market forcing Mr. Gates and company to stay on their MicroToes.

Last year also seemed to be the time when scanners, digital cameras, and digital image processing in general moved from "expensive specialty" to the mainstream. In 1998, prices on competent scanners dropped so much that some stores were adding them as "free" options to systems and others were selling them at prices well under $200.

Digital cameras remain a bit expensive, but they are now in the same price range as video cameras. It's still less expensive to take the snapshots with your existing camera, convert them into computer files with your $99 scanner, and then e-mail them to Aunt Martha in Milwaukee or to your son's soccer coach for the team Web site.

Actually, in my team's case, one of the players' dad gets his "developed" pictures as computer files direct from a film-processing company. That's what he forwards to me for the team Web site.

A cautionary tale

In 1998, a lot of us began to visit Mapquest (www.mapquest.com) or other on-line mapping services before going to an unfamiliar part of town. But not many of our cars have onboard navigational computers.

According to the Associated Press, a German couple were driving their new luxury car, using its onboard computer to assist them. They followed the computer's directions and drove straight into a river.

AP quoted the husband as saying his computer displayed the road on both sides of the river, so he assumed there was a bridge. The map company had forgotten to load in the data that one took a ferry to cross this river. (Entire AP story)

Next week, a look into my 15-inch (13.8-inch viewable) crystal ball to see what 1999 will bring.

Tip of the week

Y2K

The year 2000 and its possible computing problems are 362 days away. Is your computer ready? All through January, we'll include Y2K tips in this space.

This week, we point you to a US government site that acts as a gateway to Y2K information from many different federal agencies (www.consumer.gov/year2000.htm). From this site, you can find information designed to help consumers and businesses prepare and information about the progress different Federal agencies have made in their own preparations.

Copyright © 1999, The News Journal Company

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