Word: msn
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Gone are the days of Solitaire. Hearts and Minesweeper are all but obsolete. Classic computer procrastination techniques of yore have been usurped by flashy new Internet games on countless media-related sites. By putting up with a few MSN ads, the joy of online Jeopardy and "Las Vegas Casino" can be yours. Contestants beware: game chat rooms can suck hours (and e-mail addresses) away...
...computer call waiting. This summer Actiontec became the first company to sell a call-waiting modem. And this fall software-only services are popping up everywhere. Callwave, Pagoo and Prodigy all offer programs you can download from their websites and use for up to $5 a month. In October MSN launched a $5-a-month, members-only service in Atlanta, Seattle and San Diego and plans to go nationwide by March. Research firm IDC predicts that more than a quarter of U.S. households will use an Internet call-waiting service by the end of next year...
...MICROSOFT, ALL THE TIME What, me a monopoly? Judge Jackson's findings don't seem to have discouraged the rebels from Redmond. The two compact MSN Web Companions that made their first live appearance at Comdex may have been built by the European TV maker Vestel, but everything else about them is pure Microsoft. The Web-only terminals run Microsoft's slimmed-down Windows CE, connect with MSN Internet access and feature MSN Web services like Hotmail. Due out next year, they'll retail...
...road to this impasse is as full of mutual distrust as any of the software giants' previous disputes. Microsoft launched MSN Messenger in mid-July. Besides providing a free hotmail account, it allowed AOL buddy-list users to sign in too--if they entered their password. That set off alarm bells at AOL, which promptly blocked Microsoft's access to its server. Microsoft came up with a fix, which AOL also jammed. A terse exchange of snail mail followed. Late last week AOL customers were greeted at login by an ominous new start-up screen warning of the dangers...
Which means neutral Netizens ought to get used to living on both sides of the Berlin Wall at once: using MSN Messenger to talk to hotmailers, and IM for their AOL comrades. Until the wall comes down, Gates and Case are unlikely to win any popularity contests. Perhaps it's time they set up their own private buddy list...