Comment - Reaching people

The network computer bandwagon is rolling nicely and, as usual in this business, no-one has actually used one yet. The proof of the pudding, in IT, is generally in how good the pudding smells before it reaches the table. Anticipation is everything. If corporations can be said to salivate, their mouths should be watering profusely by now.

Sales to corporations, however, may be less than half the story in the case of the NC. Larry Ellison, whose brainchild the NC is, suggests a much wider target market. He claims to be in discussion with telecommunications companies that are considering giving NCs away to householders, along the lines of the Minitel system in France. Wisely, Ellison has so far declined to identify these companies.

There are reasons to doubt whether other suppliers share his enthusiasm for a home market. Take the first big-league manufacturer to come out with an NC - IBM. Three points to note: first, IBM based its success until recently precisely on not being first with anything; second, its occasional forays into the home market have been embarrassing failures; third, it describes its Network Station bizarrely as "smaller than an algebra textbook".

An algebra textbook? What on earth is that supposed to convey, and to whom? If the expression is deliberately chosen, it can only mean that IBM sees its market primarily in education. If so it is an odd choice.

Education has neither the resources of business nor the tendency towards impulse purchasing of the household. It may be the haunt of the Internet's staunchest supporters, but their delightful vision of the Net is about to crumble in the face of commercial and regulatory reality. It is not, on the face of it, a market with much potential.

Another prominent NC promoter, Acorn, is also steeped in the education market. This may be a coincidence, or it may point to a strange misunderstanding of what is likely to sell to whom. No doubt other interpretations will emerge as other companies present their offerings. But until someone starts referring to 'set-top boxes' instead of algebra text-books, you should not expect the home market to catch fire.