Hype List –
| On the Rise/ In Decline| Ranking| Life Expectancy (Months)
| up| 1| 6| Unified Messaging
Recently, Lucent Technologies, MCI, and a host of other companies announced new unified-messaging products, services that aggregate email, voicemail, fax, and paging on a single platform, such as a Web browser or an email account. Unified messaging is a nice idea, but a tough sell: The reason you bought a cell phone, a pager, and a fax/modem is because each does its job well. No one wants to download voicemail as a series of RealAudio messages or sit through a voicemail bot spelling out email, complete with "semicolon dash end-parenthesis" for ;-).
<p> <strststrtstrststrl's Processor Dominance</stF
years ago, Intel persuaded computer owners to dump 486s for Pentiums, and now it has begun touting IA-64, codenamed Merced, as the next great processor. According to the company line, Merced's 64-bit instruction set and explicit parallel instruction computing architecture deliver blindingly fast performance – perfect for servers and high-end workstations. But the lion's share of future processor profits will come from low-end PCs. Instead of capitalizing on the ubiquity it has worked so hard to build, Intel seems to be pursuing a shrinking high-end market.<br>
| <ong>rongng>gng>gng>ltipoint Distribution Service</strongy
talks about needing more bandwidth, and every other company offers some solution that will deliver broadband interactivity. Take the latest example, LMDS, a wireless microwave technology that transmits data at more than 1 Gbps. Advocates claim that LMDS is the ultimate last-mile solution. This statement contains a shred of truth: Since LMDS has line-of-sight limitations, it isn't practical for use over greater distances. It requires that you install (and negotiate licenses for) scads of rooftop antennas. And even then, LMDS often won't work in rain or fog.<br></p>
<stroup</| </s </s riving</strong> <pf
ion with MAEs, public metropolitan area exchanges where ISPs trade packets, has led to private peering points. Backbone operators like Sprint and MCI have long enjoyed exclusive network agreements. Now mid-size ISPs represented by the Brokered Private-Peering Group are building new private exchanges this year – creating a B-list in-crowd among service providers. The losers in this latest round of deal cutting are the mom-and-pop ISPs who built tight-knit communities but can't afford the cost of entry to the old boys' new networks.<br></p> <p
rong>ustrotrronrronron </strong> <p>Wheo
pan released Pokemon, networkable pocket monsters that are reared to fight each other, the formerly benign world of virtual pets changed from a playground to a pit-bull ring. Next thing you know, a cartoon based on Pokemon caused life-threatening conniptions in hundreds of Japanese children. Now, Playmates Toys has released an English-speaking digipet called Nano Fighter, and Nintendo plans to bring a videogame version of Pokemon to the US. Senator Joseph Lieberman and his anti-videogame brigade have never had it so good.</p> <p> <a hr
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