Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The Seattle Times Business & Technology MSN feeling some butterflies.html

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 23:34:09 -0500

Craig's Swiss miss: Craig McCaw's losing streak has now extended to the Louis Vuitton Cup
in New Zealand. Last week, the wireless mogul took the place of the 17th man on his yacht,
OneWorld, in the race against Alinghi of Switzerland, only to suffer its first loss.

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MSN feeling some butterflies

Compiled by The Seattle Times technology staff

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Reviewers think Microsoft has done a great job with MSN 8, but the company may have made a few missteps with its launch Thursday.

Web users eager to read about the D.C. sniper's arrest had to watch MSN's enormous pop-ads before they could get the news from some newspaper Web sites. Then several sailboats sporting MSN butterfly logos on Lake Washington slowed traffic on Highway 520. And Friday the city of New York fined the company $50 for putting butterfly decals all over the place.

Brace yourself New York: Microsofties will be back tomorrow to launch the Media Center PC and on Nov. 7 to launch the Tablet PC. But they'll leave the decals in Redmond.

Hooked to the Net

At the end of last year, more than 58 percent of U.S. households had Internet access. Source: In-Stat/MDR

"I think we've learned our lesson," said Jodie Cadieux, marketing manager for the division that produced the Media Center. "I don't think we're going to go there.''

Consolation prize: RealNetworks may be losing sales and giving up market share to Microsoft, but it can at least take satisfaction in an award it received last week from Pocket PC Magazine. RealOne Player was named the best audio player for the Windows-based personal digital assistants.

Beer search engine: Authorities in Augusta, Ga., are investigating a scurrilous trend called "Yahooing,'' which sounds like Googling, but it's completely different. Googling is the act of using Google to look something up, such as a person's background. Yahooing is the act of stealing beer from a convenience store and screaming "Yahoo!" as you run out the door, The Associated Press reported.

"It's a pity someone isn't there to snatch them up when they yell Yahoo,'' said a local sheriff.

This reminds us of a phenomenon reported in early 2000 when Yahoo! stock was around $200, but the perpetrators were grabbing bottles of Dom Perignon and Petrus and throwing C-notes at the clerks. Times have sure changed.

Craig's Swiss miss: Craig McCaw's losing streak has now extended to the Louis Vuitton Cup in New Zealand. Last week, the wireless mogul took the place of the 17th man on his yacht, OneWorld, in the race against Alinghi of Switzerland, only to suffer its first loss.

Until then, OneWorld, co-sponsored by McCaw and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, had a perfect record.

McCaw has recently suffered a string of bad luck. His satellite venture Teledesic is on its last legs; XO Communications filed for bankruptcy protection; and the international subsidiary of Nextel Communications is reorganizing its finances.

Classy, very classy: To promote new video game "Metroid Prime," Nintendo is holding a Metroid Prime Talent and Adventure Contest for college students to win $1,000 and GameCube consoles. An excerpt from the press release: "Nintendo redefines 'T and A.' "

Web of confusion: Many Fortune 100 companies don't take their Internet presence seriously, says a study released last week by Boston's CustomerRespect.com.

The study, which assigned a "customer respect" index to each company, found that 37 percent of the largest public companies offered no reply to general inquiries submitted to their Web sites.

Some other findings: 45 percent of sites make customers "opt out" if they don't want to receive unsolicited e-mail; 15 percent sell customer data without seeking permission first; and 83 percent offer no "auto-response" function to notify customers that an e-mail has been received.

On the record

Licenses: Action Engine, a wireless-technology developer in Redmond, announced that U.K. wireless carrier Orange has signed a licensing agreement.

Customers: ViAir, a wireless-technology company in Seattle, announced Manitoba Telecom Services and Saskatel Mobility Partner as customers for its wireless e-mail software.

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