Internet makes good on cash promise
In May of 1998, the Internet was seen as a “”mountain of cool cash””</a. for companies staking a claim with a Web presence. ""Certainly, making money on the Web
was not easy at first. ActivMedia Inc. found only three in 10 Web executives reported making profits three years ago (in 1995). But times have changed. Now, ActivMedia finds that 58 per cent of Web executives with an Internet presence of three or more years were reporting profits.””
Of course, times would change again and the online gold rush would grind to a halt. By 2002 defunct dot-coms had to resort to auctioning off relics of their heyday including pinball machines and Fibre Channel arrays.
Network computing on Sun horizon
Michael Walsh, director of marketing for Sun Microsystems of Canada in May 1998, shared his vision of network computing and business economics after the turn of the century. Walsh described the “”network age”” as promoting trends such as commoditization, the rise of real-time information and the market of one, which permits companies to aim their products at smaller, more defined groups of people.
“”Our vision of network computing is not for a computer in every home, because in five years a computer will not look like it does,”” he said. “”If, in five years, we are still concerned about the operating system, then the computer industry has let you down.””
Flat panels climb the sales curve
May 1998 had analysts looking at the future of flat screen monitors. While they were more of a novelty than anything back then — under 1,000 were sold in Canada in 1997 — Evans Research predicted that by 2000 LCD flat monitors would amount to about 10 per cent of the monitor market.
In a report released earlier this year by Evans Research, LCDs now represent 20 per cent of total shipments, and are eating away at the CRT market in the 15-, 17- and 18-inch product categories.
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