Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411150086
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL ANDREWS SEATTLE TIMES
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS LENGTH: Medium
Paperless wallets. Art displayed on flat-paneled screens hanging on walls. Cars that can display documents and do face-to-face, on-the-go teleconferencing.
In 10 years, they'll all be commonplace, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates told an audience Monday at the 16th fall edition of the world's largest computer trade show, Comdex.
Anticipation at the convention has focused on Marvel, the code name for Microsoft's forthcoming online service to be named Microsoft Network. Speculation has centered on the Redmond, Wash., company's plans to use the service as an `on' ramp to the information superhighway.
The global networks and digital documents are an industry, Gates said, that will dwarf what the PC revolution has accomplished. Here are some samples of futuristic technologies and gadgets:
Wallet PCs, Gates said, will cost a few hundred dollars and offer ``digital cash'' instead of paper money. They also will replace credit cards, metal car and house keys, and paper photos of the kids.
A wall-panel unit, similar to a thermostat, will control a home's lights, appliances, entertainment, security and other devices.
A big-screen interactive TV that works like a computer to search 500 or more channels will bring customized news and entertainment to home users. A weather freak, for instance, might want to program the TV to keep reporting changing climatic conditions around the world.
``Personally, I find a lot of it [weather reporting] repetitious,'' Gates said to laughter. ``But it's there as an option.''
Digital displays of art on wall-mounted flat-panel screens. The displays will be instantly changeable, linked to data bases of art from around the world.
Gates also showed a personal computer tied to a supercharged global network that will be able to reproduce rare documents, search library databases throughout the world and put together homework to rival a PBS film production.
``Wherever you find a telephone today, you'll have these general-purpose devices'' capable of linking you instantly with databases and other people, Gates said. He also showed a digital device that records and converts speech to text.
Microsoft's competitors have expressed concern that Marvel could lead to Microsoft dominance in on-line settings similar to DOS' and Windows' hegemony over personal computers.
The service is expected to cost between $5 and $8 a month, about the same as existing services.
by CNB