__ Just Outta Beta __
__ Cybervalley PTA __
Release: Spring
In the eyes of many, CompuServe's biggest problem is its interface. Or rather, its lack of interface. But, instead of re-engineering the information service, the company has decided to focus its efforts on creating Wow!, a new home-oriented online service.
It seems that in CompuServe's eyes the "content is king" colloquialism is little more than an oppressive capitalist scheme designed to placate the masses in a confusing sea of information and technobabble. Wow! was designed, says a press release, from the "ground up" (driven by consumer desires) rather than the "top down" (driven by content and technical forces) to meet the needs of the "next generation" of online users. None of this anti technobabble will make much sense to anyone who grew up around the Commodore 64 and saints preserve us! BBSes and telnet apps.
Wow! was made to serve consumer-lifestyle needs which means a focused (read: limited) pool of content, arranged so that users are only a few clicks away from an answer. The adult space accessible with a PIN includes email, chat, shopping, and Internet access, and (it is a family service, after all) parent control software for corralling the kiddies' prurient interests. The kids' space is tailored to younger minds and is moderated by an online advisory board.
Besides the fact that Wow! allows for word-based email handles (a quantum leap into the early '70s), the most interesting feature of the service probably comes from current CompuServe users' GUI complaints. Wow! lets users customize their own interfaces and the content that goes along with them: what you see is different from what your spouse, kids, and neighbors see.
In light of the Communications Decency Act, CompuServe's Wow! seems a pragmatic move toward a wholesome, family-oriented cyberville. It also flies in the face of everything great and liberating about the Net. Which begs the question: Are one's interests truly served in dumbing down the experience?
- Tim Barkow *
__ Wow!: US$17.95 per month. CompuServe: (800) 943 8969. __
__ PreVU __
Release: April
On the heels of VDOlive's video streaming product (Wired 4.04, page 36), InterVU Inc. is releasing PreVU, a freely available Netscape plug-in for streaming MPEG video through your Web page. Now, everybody's got the power but who's got the bandwidth?
InterVU Inc.: www.intervu.com.
__ Get off your lazy... __
Release: Late April
Get off your lazy ... Cory's got a CD-ROM for you! Cory Everson: Body, Mind, and Soul is gonna teach you how to get ahead through proper nutrition and total physical and mental fitness. The planned Web site companion will keep you ahead of the Joneses with the latest health information. This is one-stop body maintenance for the cybersavvy.
Philips Media Software: (800) 883 3767.
__ DTP for the Web? __
Release: April/May
DTP for the Web? FutureTense Texture is a Java-based Web authoring system that allows for full control over fonts, graphics, and interactivity. Texture's
free viewer applet is dynamically downloaded and allows for inline viewing in Navigator 2.0. When combined with the Custom Module, Texture will customize documents for individual users and you never have to write a line of Java.
Texture authoring tool: US$495. FutureTense Inc.: +1 (508) 263 5480, www.futuretense.com/.
__ Star Trek Klingon __
Releasee: April/May
Riker's been directing a CD-ROM, of all things. Star Trek Klingon promises a journey into the culture,lore, and ritual of those bump-headed bruisers from across the tracks. And watch out for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine episode guides on CD-ROM.
Simon & Schuster Interactive: (800) 223 2336.
__ Hope Now: The 1980 Interviews __
Release: May
Everything you know about Jean-Paul Sartre is wrong. Hope Now: The 1980 Interviews, a book full of conversations with Sartre's assistant Benny Lévy, conducted shortly before his death, reveals a philosopher who had abandoned leftism and his friends for messianic Judaism.
University of Chicago Press: (800) 621 2736.
__ Disney's Animated Story-Book, Toy Story __
Release: May
Disney's Animated StoryBook, Toy Story includes 15 story screens with clickables and four games. The CD-ROM was developed by Pixar Animation Studios. And if this isn't enough, wait for the October Toy Story video release, complete with a US$100 million marketing push.
Disney Interactive: (800) 900 9234.
__ Luanching vehicles into space __
Release: Horizon
Launching vehicles into space using laser power seems like a dream until enough money makes it a reality. If the powers so deem, a ground-based laser launch system could be built within five years the technology is out there. Check out www-phys.llnl.gov/clementine/ATP/Laser.html.
