COMPUSERVE
H&R Block has agreed to sell its 80% share of CompuServe to WorldCom which in turn sold CompuServe's interactive service, comprised of three million customers in 105 countries, to America On-line (AOL) while retaining CompuServe's network service. As part of the transaction with AOL, WorldCom purchased AOL's networking division. With the addition of the network services from CompuServe and AOL, WorldCOM will have the country's largest public Internet network. WorldCom, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, also owns Uunet a large Internet provider for businesses. The transactions are expected to take four to six months to complete and may be reviewed by the government. CompuServe was started in 1969, and will be operated as a separate unit of AOL. (Sources: InternetWeek, 9/15/1997 and CompuServe Member E-mail, 9/22/1997)

APPLE
The search for a new chief executive officer has been narrowed down to Samuel Palmisano (IBM), Ed Zander (Sun Microsystems), David Dorman (SBC Communications) and Joe Costello (Cadence Design Systems). While the search for a new CEO continues, Steve Jobs is busy as interim CEO. Look for a new media campaign designed to restore Apple's tarnished image as well as the introduction of a number of new Macintosh models in the next three to four months. One of the new high-end models will feature the PowerPC 750 processor developed with IBM and Motorola. (Source: Wall Street Journal, 9/26/1997)

WINDOWS98
Microsoft has announced that the release of Windows98, the long awaited upgrade to its Windows95 operating system has been delayed again. Microsoft is delaying the release so that it can incorporate the ability to upgrade from Windows95 and the older Windows 3.1 operating system. This is second time that the release has been delayed. Originally expected in time for this year's Christmas buying season, it was postponed to February and now we are to expect it by June of next year. (Source: Wall Street Week, 9/16/1997)

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH
Where do old computers go? One place is the Obsolete Computer Museum. The Obsolete Computer Museum has an amazing collection of old personal computers. Each PC features at least one photograph and its vital statistics such as memory, storage devices and display type. Some items even have a brief narrative written by the original owner on their personal history with the computer. The Museum's URL is: http://www.ncsc.dni.us/fun/tcc/cmuseum/cmuseum.htm. (Source: PC Computing, August, 1997)
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Technology Tidbits is published monthly by Jerry Price, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
© 1997 Jerry W. Price

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