UK Nation goes nuts over Net

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Dave:


The attached article is one of two that I have had scanned in from
yesterday's Independent - one of the UK's "quality" national papers.


Cheers






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Nation goes nuts over Net


By Susan Watts (Technology Correspondent) The Independent 13.11.94


BRITAIN is on the verge of an explosion of interest in the Internet, the
worldwide computer network offering free information to virtually anybody
about virtually anything.


In the past month, three national Internet magazines have been launched,
with more to follow, and the hi-tech kit needed for access, the unglamorous
modem, may this year - for the first time - enter the electronic stores'
Christmas top 10.


The high street retailers Dixons are opening a new group of shops called
The Link, dedicated to data communications, with an entire section given
over to the Internet, while last week Her Majesty's Government itself
announced plans to distribute some of its documents over the Net, initially
coming from the Stationery Office and the Citizen's Charter Unit. Soon
there will be Treasury material that may include Kenneth Clarke's
forthcoming Budget statement.


Newspapers are getting in on the act, following the lead from the US, where
this month striking journalists from San Francisco's two principal
newspapers, the Chronicle and the Examiner, are putting out their own
Internet newspaper, the Free Press, finding to their astonishment that
37,000 readers have the software to tap into it. The managements of the two
strike-bound papers are producing a joint Internet paper of their own, the
Gate, complete with advertisements.


Here, the Daily Telegraph has announced it is to load all of each of its
editions on to the Internet; the Guardian is to produce an Internet
magazine; and last week two journals went on to the network, BBC Top Gear,
the motoring magazine that the corporation says is the country's
top-selling car title, and the Web Journal of Current Legal Issues from
Newcastle University.


Claiming the latter as the UK's first electronic law journal, the editor,
Mike Allen, said: "We can publish something in Newcastle which lawyers all
over the world can read on their computer screens a split second later."


The Internet habit is a worldwide phenomenon - up to 40 million people are
already logged on to this chaotic web of interlinked computers with at
least a million new users estimated to be joining each month. Beginning
life as a US defence network, the Net grew largely through the academic
community. Now anyone with a computer, a telephone line and a modem can use
it to send electronic mail across the globe, or hook into one of thousands
of news groups to gain free information on almost any subject. It is home
to an anarchic community of enthusiasts, many of whom regard the Net as the
last bastion of free speech.


The modem, the device which translates computer data into a signal that can
be carried along telephone wires, is the essential key for access to the
Net, but has long been the poor relation of the electronic hardware world,
often an unattractive, plain metal box.


Hayes, one of the world's leading modem producers, now plans to change all
that with demand suddenly soaring. "At the moment they come in a steel or
aluminium case," said Mark Cook, marketing manager for Hayes Europe. "But
the latest model is silver and black and smaller than its predecessors." In
the US, the company sells rounded versions designed by a "stylist". These
should be available in the UK next year.


Hayes anticipates a Christmas boom in modem sales expecting to double sales
in December compared with November. "The explosion of the Internet has
really happened in the past six to nine months here. I can tell you there
has been a tremendous interest," Mr Cook said.


"We are expecting a real upswing at Christmas... We are only at the
beginning of the explosion of use of modems. Some of the services available
in the US, like dial-up educational services for children, home banking and
shopping are not over here yet, but they will be soon.


"In the meantime, the Internet will pull everyone in behind it, with
conference sessions for everyone from gardeners, to ham radio or steam
train enthusiasts."


Kevin Armstrong, sales director for the computer retailers PC World, said
modem sales have risen noticeably over the past month. "There has been a
great deal of interest from customers in the stores, and we will certainly
be promoting the Internet as a gift idea for Christmas." The shop's
best-selling book is an Internet version of the Yellow Pages, listing
e-mail addresses of those on the Net.


People who find the whole business mystifying should not despair, as a wide
range of magazines is on the way to explain what the Net is, what it offers
and how to get on it. In the past month EMAP has launched Internet; Paragon
Publishing has brought out Internet and Comms Today, and, Future Publishing
has launched the first issue of .net.. At the end of the month, W V
Publishing is due to launch What Net. These early editions include
step-by-step guides for Net beginners features on Net cults, and companies
that use the Net as a business tool.


Peter Morgan, product information manager for W H Smith & Son, said
interest in the Internet has become very lively, and is growing. The shop
may consider plans for an Internet section on its shelves next year, he
said.


Some people might think this is turkeys voting for Christmas.
"As people go on to the Internet, their requirements for information may be
satisfied through the Net itself," he said.