E-MAIL
The number of e-mail users and messages continues to grow. It is estimated that the number of e-mail users in the US will increase to 50 million, up from 37 million in 1996. The number of messages moving through US based servers is expected to total 2.6 trillion, up from 1.65 trillion last year. Each day, it is estimated that the average worker will send 18 messages while receiving 39. About 20% of the messages will have attachments. This dramatic increase has pushed various networks to their limits. Last November, AT&T's 50,000 WorldNet mail customers were without e-mail for two days after their e-mail server failed. Earlier this month, Microsoft and America On-line had their own problems. Microsoft temporary shut down the Microsoft Network (MSN) e-mail service to double the number of e-mail servers. Users of America On-line (AOL) experienced problems while AOL added servers to deal with a 35 million e-mail message "bottleneck". (Source: Computerworld, 4/21/1997).

NEW STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
A new technology recently patented by Terastor, promises a 10 fold increase in the amount of data that can be stored at a lower cost than present hard drive technology. Known as "Near Field Recording" this method of storing data combines elements of the traditional Winchester drives with that of the magneto-optical drives. Laser light is directed through a solid immersion lens (SIL) creating a small magnetic field. Terastor will begin marketing 20GB 3.5 inch hard drives for use in personal computers and servers in 1998. They are also working on 40GB drives. (Source: Infoworld, 3/3/1997).

LOOKING BACK IN TIME
It was a mere 10 years ago when IBM introduced the IBM PS/2 line of computers which featured the 386 CPU and 3.5 inch floppy diskette. Operating systems were on everyone's mind as Microsoft announces Windows 2.0 and in partnership with IBM a new operating system called OS/2. The first West Coast Computer Fair was held twenty years ago in San Francisco where the Apple II was first introduced. The Apple II had 4k bytes of RAM and was the first PC to have a color graphics. List price for the Apple II was US$1,300. (Source: Computerworld, 4/7/1997).

WEB SITES OF THE MONTH
Looking for current weather information? Intellicast www.intellicast.com and the Weather Channel www.weather.com are two sites you may want to use. Intellicast offers four day forecasts as well as color radar images for US and foreign cities. The Weather Channel, best known for its cable show, has recently upgraded their site. One new feature is the ability to customize your own page based on the cities you want forecasts for. (Source: Wall Street Journal, 4/24/1997).
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Technology Tidbits is published monthly by Jerry Price, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
© 1997 Jerry W. Price

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