Volume 1, Number 2 ---CONTENTS--- September 1, 1985

ENA UPDATE

by Lisa Kimball

We've been very busy in the month since the first issue of NETWEAVER was published. One of the most exciting developments is the extension of our intersystem network. This newsletter is now being published simultaneously on UNISON, Parti on The Source, Parti on NYIT, The Meta Network, EIES, Delphi, CompuServe, The WELL, CoSy (Guelph), COM (Sweden), and a number of local networks and bulletin boards. This is a wonderful opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of what is happening in the medium across a wide variety of applications and to share ideas about its current and potential value. We are recruiting authors and ideas for the NETWEAVER--this is a great chance for you to reach a large group of networkers!

Our current focus is on planning a dynamite conference for the fall. Our conference will take place November 7-10 at George Washington University in D.C. We are designing a program to include sessions on business, educational, and community applications based on case studies and reports of *experience* from many different organizations and networks. Additional sessions will cover some major network consumer issues and the current and future state-of-the art of conferencing technology. The schedule also includes a workshop on the legal and regulatory environment for telecommunications and a trip to the Hill to meet with key Congressional staffers. We have a special session planned to learn about networking in Japan and more! There will also be plenty of time to do some fun f-t-f networking with folks from many different networks and we will use this time together to plan the development of ENA and our priorities for the future. Registration materials and more information about the program are scheduled to be sent out soon after Labor Day. This conference will be limited to 200 people so that we can have good interactive discussions. Be on the look-out in the ENA conference on your network so you don't miss out!

One of the other activities I want to highlight now is our concern with issues related to TELELAW. There are important legislative proposals pending in Congress (the Trible bill) and in the State Legislature in California. We are in the process of gathering information about these initiatives and discussing their implications. Precedents set in the early stages of this which reflect ENA's broad scope of interest. You'll find an article to help you save money, tips to make your online communication more effective, information about the economics of computer conferencing, a view of networking in Japan, insights from an electronic journalist, an example of an effective community application, reflections on the first year of UNISON, and more!

Welcome to ENA! It's great to see you online!

THE EVOLUTION OF A COMPUTER CONFERENCING SYSTEM
from his "State of the Unison" address
by Fred Dudden

Unison. A name selected through collective contributions.

The name of the system I first used was RCONS (Remote Console Operated NorthStar), after the name of the software. We were ten users, each paying $20-$40 a month for the use of the system. Then we were 15 and then 25, and we were out of room. So in July '83 I started looking for a better machine. And found a used VAX 730 (which came almost a year later).

And we called the system Mile High Mail. Somehow, though, I wanted the name of the system to indicate the philosophy behind why I was in this business. I had been using Delphi and The Source heavily. I recognized that there was something happening that was as yet not fully understood. I could see that a "rapport" among people could be established that could not happen as easily in the "analog world."

The term analog world (somewhat equivalent to "face to face" and "real world") in itself refers in part to what I was reaching for. All terms used by the computer naively try to describe an occurrence that is really imaginary, illusionary. Think of the half-hidden snickers when you say, "I met the most interesting person last night on the computer."

Despite the snickers, an entirely new social group is forming. A group that is bounded not by streets and ethnic origins but by intellect and openness. The driving force behind what I wanted to do was to try to reflect this. And we needed a name. To me, the name would eventually be as important as the services, because it would serve as a reminder to us all of what it was we were trying to do.

So we ran a contest here and on The Source (the prize: a teeshirt with the selected name on it.) It was the HOT conference of the week on The Source. When ALEXIA entered the name UNISON, everyone immediately knew that was the image and the name we wanted.

--------

So we had a name. Then what? Unison grew. 50 users for a long time. Then 75. And suddenly almost 500. And we're still signing up users at the rate of one or two day. Not just users though. Friends. Green-screened companions. Some of the staff I have never met. Some I may never meet.

But we are in Unison. In unison about wanting to provide quality services to our friends. In unison in wanting not to be the biggest service but the most consistent and friendly. In unison in seeing this as the future of communication. In unison about building futures for all of us. Because that is what we are doing.

Unison is not providing electronic mail as such. Nor a place to escape reality. We are providing an electronic community center to gather and share our hopes and our fears and our loves and anguishes. We are building a family with its assorted cousins and old-maid aunts and brothers and sisters.

We are creating a new way to make it easier for us to react to a world that is changing almost faster than we can realize changes have happened. And we are doing it in the way that allows us to do it best--immediately. We are doing it in an arena where intensity rules. Where a day passing is an eternity. Because we are coming to accept that no matter where in the world an event happens, it can affect one or more of us and somehow, we know it almost as it happens.

We are coming to accept that if we can do things in unison, we are all much stronger. That is the concept and the magic. That is what I have seen happen in this medium. And that is why I am here.

August 2, 1985 was the anniversary of the first year of operation as well as the day we installed Parti 4.5. From the vantage point of this anniversary, I see Unison as a tool, one that will be replaced someday by another, better tool. A friend once told me that a toolmaker is doomed to forever seeing the flaws in his tools. That if it were otherwise, he would never strive to build better tools. We are still building the tool called Unison. But already my thoughts turn to the next version. And already anticipation builds at what could be done. But the tool exists. And in Unison the community is using the tool to build the reality of the future.
----------

Author's note: Fred Dudden is the founder of the UNISON networking
system based in Denver, Colorado. He is known to many networkers as FTF
("Fred The Fish"), his handle from the early days of electronic bulletin
boards and conferencing on the Source. This material is from a forthcoming
article by Harry Goodman.

INTERVIEW WITH MIKE GREENLY
Interactive Online Journalist Extraordinaire, Part II
by Stefanie Kott

Stefanie Kott: Please tell those of us who don't know the diversity of your online report topics about some of the areas you report on.

Mike Greenly: Well I've done a lot of trade shows and industry events--the major "Comdex" and "Computer Electronics Show" fairs for example. And specific product launches like Apple's Macintosh, Lotus's Jazz, and Commodore's Amiga.

I've covered related shows like the 1984 Toy Fair ("Toy Fair Impressions"). With Sherwin, I covered President Reagan's Inauguration earlier this year. In "Mike and Mac" and "Mike and IBM", I share the experiences of a non-tech confronting real- world hardware and software.

Lately, I've been branching out a bit. I'm proud, honestly, of the work I'm doing in "Chronicle" to cover AIDS--this mysterious epidemic is one of the under-reported but significant stories of the decade. And, in just a few weeks, I'll be starting "Southern Cop", the true-life perspective of a police captain who'll share intimate perspectives because of our relationship. I'll continue to cover technology--maybe even attend and report from a telecommunications show in Japan this fall. But I'm eager to demonstrate more of the high-TOUCH side of the medium. As long as my marketing consultancy lets me afford the time and expenses, I expect to enjoy pushing the limits of how technology can facilitate sharing among people--and the positive results that follow.

*****

SK: Do you have a favorite conference? If so, would you tell us a bit about it and why it is special to you?

MG: I'm very close to "Chronicle" right now. I think it's some of my best and most important work, and I only wish it were reaching more readers. I'm starting to submit printouts to publishers, and we'll see.

But a favorite of many readers, and one that is also quite special to me, is "Client", about the work I did for Xanaro in developing ABILITY, the business software for the IBM. I think I succeeded in sharing something about the wonder I personally find in marketing, and about the hopes and struggles "back stage" when ANYONE dares to launch a product based on ideals into a rough and competitive marketplace.

I feel most vulnerable in "Mike Magazine", a little corner where I give myself permission to write anything. I hope readers will stick with me as I explore whatever comes up there--it's my most personal public writing so far, even though it's been often light and frothy.

*****

SK: As the only online journalist to join the NYC Face-to-Facers in
April, please tell Netweaver readers your overall impressions of the group and your opinion about its role in the cc medium.

MG: I was very moved by the commonality these different people and networks have. An organization that can effectively represent the UNIVERSALITY of people using the technology, regardless of the particular "system" anyone uses: That could be very important in speeding the growth of the medium and its ability to make a difference to individuals and organizations.

My biggest fear for ENA, however, is that it will be crushed by the very weight of its aspirations as a volunteer organization. If it tries to accomplish too much too soon, the strain of pressure and disappointment could turn people off, from the tasks and from each other.

If I were a multi-millionaire, I'd happily give ENA a grant: It will ultimately require more $$$ than it's received so far to accomplish goals on a sustainable basis.

That's my opinion from afar, anyway. I think my own best service is to maintain a journalist's distance--I'm looking forward to covering the next Symposium in November.

*****

SK: Mike, to borrow one of the tricks that you yourself use in so many of your interviews--what would *you* like to say directly to Netweaver readers?

MG: Neat opportunity!! Hmmmm. OK.

Well, first, if you market a product you're proud of, and if you have a budget to make it better, let's talk. I ain't cheap, but if we agree to work together, you'll find me really conscientious about giving excellence, heart, and brain.

Second, if you are active in ENA in any work capacity, I urge you to take the long view of what's probably a very fragile organization and idea. The more you can take a first step, or even a second one, to build a bridge toward others who differ with you on the specifics--the more chance the organization has to survive and grow to robustness.

And third: I think we all need to be the most patient and sensitive of missionaries--helping people, one to one, discover how *they* can use the medium for whatever *their* own goals are. But it's so important to remember the vulnerability and fragility of the non-tech innocent. Enthusiasm that overwhelms can smother rather than nurture.

I'm honored to be interviewed here, and I appreciate your taking the time to get this far! In 1985, we are all still pioneers and homesteaders. Here's to helping each other traverse The Rockies. (Cheers.)

*****

Mike Greenly is a journalist who files his stories on Parti on The
Source. The first part of this interview appeared in NETWEAVER, Volume 1,
Number 1.

CC ECONOMICS Looking at the Cost and Value of Computer Conferencing
by Lisa Kimball

More and more business organizations are exploring applications of computer conferencing. One of the biggest issues facing these organizations is how to assess the real cost of this technology and how to evaluate its contribution to the bottom line.

This is a complex task. When compared to conference calls, express mail, other forms of teleconferencing, and face-to-face meetings, computer conferencing can be a good buy. For example, Bill Paul of Exxon estimates that he saved at least $50,000 in travel alone (in addition to benefiting from productivity increases) in the first year of the conference he runs internally. But are these comparisons fair? Although computer conferencing does perform some of the same functions as these other processes, it may also do other things beyond the scope of traditional technologies.

CC Economics is a major focus of the "Symposium" conferences which began last January on several systems. One of the participants, Gary Regensburg, suggests that the *process* of communication online may produce value above and beyond the *content* of the information itself. He defines information as "that which changes me," and thinks we should look at the intrinsic value of that changed state beyond the cost of obtaining it. "Looking at cost alone assumes nothing else has changed, an assumption I'm not so willing to make."

Stefanie Kott mentions a number of these "intrinsic" values, including "collaborative work that was never before possible in this way, communications without regard to time or location, and more that [would] offset the cost even if it were higher than doing business currently." Her view of conferencing is that it could be the vehicle which makes the incredible volume of available information meaningful to business. However, she warns that this can't happen until software is friendlier and some of the technical and legal issues facing the medium are solved.

"We are probably UNDERestimating the benefits to be derived from conferencing," says Art Bechhoefer, whose online investment service benefits from the FAST transmission of information via computer conferencing. He points out that information has a declining value relative to time. Therefore, the speed of this medium actually *increases* the value of the information it distributes.

In spite of these views, many businesses still seem reluctant to invest in computer conferencing technology. Joseph Zuckerman suggests that we may need to distinguish between COST and PRICE when analyzing the economics of the medium. "If enough potential customers are not willing to pay a high enough price to provide a sufficient profit margin to the supplier - there will be no enterprise - unless there is a subsidy from somewhere." Although the medium has been supported by subsidies to some extent up to now, systems can't survive in the long run without a solid customer base from the business community. This may be difficult until we find better ways to articulate the value of the "intrinsic" benefits described by those who are convinced that this technology is more than a fancy mail system.

Eliminating Toll Calls to Telenet
by Grant Ingle

Do you live in an area where dialing into Telenet is a toll call? Does the total of your Telenet calls approach your monthly bill for connect charges? Well, I've discovered a way around this nagging problem that doesn't involve taking out a mortgage for a 10,000 baud modem or moving your household closer to the Telenet node.

Very simply, all you need to do is *move* the Telenet node closer to
*you*!!!! In just a few weeks, I will have succeeded in getting a node moved to Amherst MA, and I want to tell you how.

First, get out your phone book and examine your toll-free dialing area. You need to identify the exchanges that are likely to have the highest number of *potential* Telenet users with the same problem as you. Think about where the local college is, where the businesses are, or where all the BMW's are parked.

Then, get the phone number of your local Telenet sales office by calling Telenet Customer Service at 800-336-0437. Call up the sales office and ask them when they're planning to put a local node in your area. Tell them that the current situation forces you to use Uninet although you really prefer Telenet's technical superiority and great customer support. These sales folks work on commission and are always looking for promising opportunities.

Tell all your friends to do the same. Have lunch with the directors of telecommunications at the local colleges and corporations and explain how supporting your plan will generate impressive cost savings for them.

Put an announcement on the local bulletin board and make repeat calls every week or so to the sales office.

Overwhelmed by good business sense, Telenet will probably put a node in your area and evaluate its level of usage for the first month or so, to make sure they've made a wise investment. So... make sure it gets used a *lot* during this period or it may suddenly evaporate.

When I first made this suggestion online, Roger Bunting responded with
another money-saving tip:

"Great advice, Grant! Now that's the way to circumvent the system! Another way to reduce the charges is to use what the Pacific Bell folks call Optional Calling Measured Service. My guess is that the other regional phone companies have similar services. You pay $2.50 per month for one hour's worth of calling during regular business hours to a city within your area code but which would otherwise be a toll call (and within which there just might already be a Telenet access node). The neat thing is that in the evening and on weekends, calls to that same city are FREE! Once I discovered this service, my phone bills went way down." The same strategy might also work for other packet-switching systems and regional phone services too!

So.....good luck....and let me know what happens, OK?

Author's Note: Grant Ingle is an internal consultant in the Office of
Human Relations at the University of Massachusetts. He specializes in
meeting management and using resource networking to solve problems
creatively. He likes living in the woods of Western Massachusetts but
doesn't intend to let that limit his computer conferencing!

Notes for ACTIVE Networkers
by Art Bechhoefer

Do you have something to say online? Do you want readers to understand and RESPOND to your ideas? Here are three suggestions for getting your ideas across:

But first, think of communicating online exactly as if you had just met a senator at a cocktail party. You realize this is a rare opportunity to explain some of your ideas, and you know you have less than three minutes to make your pitch. What will you say, and how will you say it?

1. Be brief. Don't try to make more than two or three
points. In hard copy or face-to-face conversation,
seven is the MAXIMUM number of ideas the average
person can recall. Online it's even less.

2. Structure your ideas and format them accordingly.
Don't just write paragraphs. Indent them on the LEFT
as well as the right side. Leave plenty of BLANK
SPACES around your thoughts (paragraphs)--top, bottom,
and sides (it's easier on the eyes). A little care in
formatting your ideas makes them easier to understand
and gives the impression that you've really got it all
together.

3. Be a little humble. Assume there's a lot more to say
on the subject -- and that your readers are smart
enough to say it, or ask questions about it. You can
do quite a few things to get YOUR ideas and feelings
across, not the least of which is to leave someone an
opportunity to chime in. Right... ?

Note for Conference *Organizers*:

Finally, for those who are reluctant to participate actively, don't overlook the effect of a personal message. Outline some of the articles or notes you think might be of particular interest. Ask what they would like to see, or what they think would improve the service. If you know someone with similar interests, arrange an online introduction using the messaging facility. If all this sounds like a cocktail party, well... it is, online!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Art Bechhoefer is director of Independent Investors Forum, an online
investment advisory service that uses computer conferencing for research
and discussion of long term growth stocks. IIF uses the Confer II
conferencing system. Bechhoefer notes that IIF, which has been online
since 1982, is the only investment service proud (or humble) enough to
admit its advice (like advice in general) is questionable. For more
information, send him a message.

CC MAKES NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES WORK!
by Stan Pokras

Computerized communication makes a lot of sense for an organization like the ENA. But the real test of its utility will come when people who can't be considered "computer types" begin using the technology to support projects which have nothing to do with computers.

In Philadelphia, a computer bulletin board system called the Philadelphia Energy Network (PEN) has been set up to handle the communication needs of six neighborhood energy centers (NEC's). Each center has been funded through a grant from the State to provide information to their community on the rapidly changing maze of public and private energy assistance programs.

Each energy program has guidelines which define eligibility for receiving various kinds of help. Many guidelines have to do with income levels, but in some cases age, family size, geographical location, or the season of the year also play a part.

The six neighborhood energy centers have all been given computers to help with the task of sorting out the guidelines. However, keeping track of dozens of programs, as guidelines for each changes (often without notification) or as new programs become available, is a job for a network of groups.

The PEN bulletin board system was developed as a place for all of the energy centers to post information that they discover about program changes. It also provides an events calendar to which all of the users can post notices-- and numerous other services.

As of this writing, six sections have been devoted to brainstorming. Called "topic forums," the brainstorming sections allow intensive, interactive discussion of specific issues which pertain to the provision of services. They help reduce the need for the whole network to meet face to face, and information the centers need to provide their services will only be available to them via PEN. And, hard to reach associates are quickly becoming easy to work with.

After less than one month of operation, the NEC people have begun to show a high degree of interest in the PEN system and have entered into the process of collaborative information collection with gusto. Future reports on PEN will appear here in NETWEAVER, stay tuned.

For further information about PEN contact Stan Pokras on Unison, STAN on Delphi, 265 on EIES - or by voice at 215-922-0227.
------------

Stan Pokras is the director of the Philadelphia based Public Interest
Media Project. He also works as an independent consultant creating
innovative solutions to network communication needs.

VCRs and Computer Conferencing:
Towards Intermedia Synergy
by George Por

Will VCR-supported telelearning create a mass market for computer-assisted group communications? Reading a story in CommunicationsWeek (8/5/85), I start believing so:

"Later this month 1,000 engineers and technicians at 45 corporate sites around the country are expected to begin taking graduate-level engineering courses over a satellite network sponsored by the National Technological University... Students attend classes at their jobs and can question instructors over the telephone or through AT&T's electronic mail system..."

It's true, this news has to do with neither VCRs nor Computer Conferencing, but after pondering a while about where to file the clip, I found a folder in my filing cabinet which had a "CC/TV Combo" label and a printout with some pink-highlighted ideas that Vic Carson put in a Parti conference in January...

Re-reading Vic's thoughts, I saw some important connections with today's
news of the NTU/AT&T tele-education system. Vic said:

"The student would either see the broadcast live or would tape the
program for later viewing. The student would receive assignments either during the lecture or via a message from Parti and would participate in class discussion
via a Parti conference set up just for that course. This system would allow
students and faculty to be fairly distant geographically.

"Coming back to the idea of a video cassette-based system however, think how much more lively a correspondence course could be if it consisted of a series of lectures that were followed by class participation via a Parti conferencing system!"

My main concern is: How long will computer-based messaging in education be used to do old things (one-to-one, "correspondence course"-type communications) in new ways (broadcast cum e-mail), before such truly new applications will be widely adopted as broadcasted lectures in a complete electronic "campus" environment with online *group* interactions?

In other words, will the National Technological University's $8 million contract with GTE Spacenet for using GTE's satellite do nothing but perpetuate the electronic imitation of correspondence schools, or speed the acceptance of a tele- education that allows students to work together, as Vic Carson suggested?

The answer doesn't depend on NTU, which is, in fact, a consortium of six schools: Colorado State U.; U. of Arizona; U. of South Carolina; U. of Minnesota; U. of Massachusetts at Amherst; and U. of Maryland. It depends also on the programs offered by, and marketing savvy of, the trailblazers of the "electronic campus" concept, which include: Connected Education at the New School for Social Research (see Netweaver #1); American Open University at the New York Institute of Technology; School of Strategic and Management Studies at the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute; and Continuing Education at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The more support these folks will get from electronic networkers around the country, the faster this medium will make a difference in our educational system. Stay tuned, ask your questions, tell what you think, and spread the word...

Last minute news: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has a 15-year long, $10 million per year grant program to finance the broadcasting of courses prepared by universities through the PBS network. One of their grantees, San Diego State University, has an electronic text demonstration program, and another one, the University of South Florida, has integrated computer feedback with its PBS broadcasted courses.

Talking with Mara Mayer, the director of this grant program at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, I had the impression that PBS is open to consider grants to universities that build computer conferencing in their tele-education projects. So, if you are associated with a higher-education institution and think that you can convince your administration about the benefits of tele-education to the school, why not give a call to Ms. Mayer and ask her to send you the brochure of her grant program. You can reach her at (202) 293-6160.

Report on Electronic Networking in Japan

by Izumi Aizu

Japan is a country known for its homogeneous nature, and that applies equally to the computer industry and its users. All of a sudden, almost everybody inside the industry is starting to talk about the use of computers for online services. Most of the computer magazines have written about 'database services' or 'telecomputing', mostly featuring The Source, Delphi, CompuServe and Dialog. Some talk about a number of tiny BBSes run by computer lovers. This is *the* hottest issue--it started last year and still going on and on.

One of the reasons behind this rapid growth of interest is the deregulation of NTT (Nippon Telephone and Telegraph), a counterpart to AT&T. As of April 1, 1985, this giant company (the biggest corporation in Japan with 300,000 employees) became 'private'. It had been tightly controlled by the Government. Thus, the use of telephone lines for data communications has been strictly limited to only those who have special needs and qualifications. 'Personal use' was out of the question.

But now, that's got to change. The industry--or the famous Japan, Inc. itself--demands that freedom of communication is essential for the coming information age, at least the freedom for their business. 'New Media' has been the term used to include any new type of communication business such as CATV, satellite broadcasting, videotex, high speed digital communication, digital facsimile, and many more. A national project called INS (Integrated Network System) has been started that connects every corner of this small country with fiber optical cables which accommodate all sorts of electronic data.

So the deregulation is under way. Very slowly. Now we can use acoustic
couplers without any prior permission from NTT. Yet, there are still absolutely no made-in-Japan modems available with auto-dial and auto-logon capability! Several telephone equipment companies have introduced the 'modem phone', which is a telephone system with built-in modem. But only one model has the capability to hook to KDD's VENUS-P data communication line because of non-matching standards of protocol!! (KDD is an international telephone service like ITT.) All these stupid things are happening because the technology is there, yet people do not know how to really use and manage such new technology.

Luckily, these frustrations have been channeled into curiosity, so awareness and interest has never been stronger. One book called "Personal Computer Communication Handbook" published by ASCII (the largest software publisher of its kind) sold 30,000 copies in its first two weeks in print. Other similar books are also selling very well. A magazine titled "Nikkei Communications" will be published by Nikkei-MacGraw-Hill, joint affiliates of US MacGraw-Hill and Nihon Keizai Shimbun, which is Japan's largest business and technology publisher. A number of companies are reported to have pilot projects already under way, and others are planning to start soon.

------

Among these pioneers is ASCII, which introduced a free trial use of online information service called "Ascii Net" in May this year. So far, it has attracted 4,000 members (in three months!) who bought the $10 handbook. Right now it's *free of charge* and in an experimental stage, but ASCII is planning to develop it into a full commercial service later this year. This is one of the first services of its kind where we can use the Japanese language online. They have whole bunch of menu choices including electronic bulletin boards, conference, electronic mail service, some information on computers, and, of course, the online game section. A number of 'special interest groups' are being formed.

Another brave company is Japan Airlines (JAL). JAL has been one of the most aggressive companies outside the computer/communication industry to enter the information service business. The director of this project said to me in February, "An airline company can no longer base its business on the air! We should live on information instead." Their current experiment involves about 1,000 users and provides JAL's flight schedule all over the world as well as Overseas Event News of the major cities (e.g. concerts, sports games, and special exhibitions) and some bulletin board services.

One of the biggest business magazine publishers is starting "Online Database Service", aimed at the individual 'Yuppie-type' businessman early next year. NTT is also planning to start its own computer communications service with E-mail and Bulletin Boards sometime next year. A big retail company, a major construction company, computer makers, and newspaper publishers--really a lot of diversified businesses--are now looking at the wide potential of the computer communication business.

But I want to emphasize an important aspect of these endeavors. They tend to consider these new trends as 'database' or 'service'--not communications in the way we think of it in connection with computer conferencing. They do not make a clear distinction between one-way service and two-way communications at all. So far, very few people in Japan have discovered the vast possibilities for electronic networking or computer conferencing. Of course, as one of the fortunate few, I'm planning to promote the trend in conjunction with ENA. It will certainly take quite an effort to evolve an original concept within the Japanese cultural context and implement it within our society.

There are good indications though. Most of the people I speak with--from all parts of society--become very much interested in the new direction. The existence of Meta:Net, Unison, The WELL, EIES, Parti, and many more 'networks' is of great interest to them. Business executives are looking for new kinds of business networking, including international ones. Educational and social workers are the same, as well as grass roots-level citizens' groups of various kinds. The book "NETWORKING" by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps was translated into Japanese and gained so much popularity that it has gone into a third printing. (The US version has not yet reached the 2nd Print as of this writing.)

People have been particularly interested when I tell them about getting a quick response from the networks for specific questions, new encounters with some unknown people across the Pacific that resulted in a concrete business relationship, and the like. Of course, there is a big interest in making a Universal network in Japan, too. I'm looking forward to continuing to exchange information and ideas about networking and sharing what's going on in Japan with ENA through the NETWEAVER. Things are happening fast--even in Japan.

Author's Note: Izumi Aizu is a Networking Design Consultant in Tokyo, Japan. He has published articles in both Japanese and U.S. publications about the computer industry, business, and networking and is a member of the Computer Press Association. Izumi will be sharing more of his knowledge about networking in Japan in a session at ENA's conference in November.

BOOK REVIEW
by Lisa Kimball

Paul A. Strassmann's INFORMATION PAYOFF: The Transformation of Work in The Electronic Age. The Free Press. 1985. $20.75.

This VERY important book about the individual, organizational, and societal implications of information technology was written by Paul Strassmann, until recently Vice President of the Information Products Group at the Xerox Corporation. Strassmann goes beyond the work of many other writers on the subject by suggesting *specific* techniques for assessing the value of computers and office automation systems in terms of productivity. He is particularly creative in illustrating the role of HUMAN capital in the information economy.

"Training, training, training: these are the top three priorities to changing work in the automated office." One of the refreshing ideas in this book is that superior technology cannot *by itself* improve productivity. Strassmann believes that substandard technology in the hands of well trained users can outperform superior equipment where people haven't been adequately trained. He also suggests that a superior information system should include training, retraining, and reinforcement which can be accessed by the user over time. "The electronic medium should not only convey messages but also help people to discover their powers."

Strassmann writes that information technology is a *business strategy* but
that potential productivity gains from computers are MUCH GREATER than those
industry is reaping now. The edge will go to enterprises where top management
attends to information design issues as a strategic factor rather than as undifferentiated overhead. However, he is quick to point out that:

1. Computers will not make a bad business good.
2. Automation is a great cure, but it is not a panacea.
3. A bad strategic situation cannot be corrected by automating it.
4. Automate success, not failure.

INFORMATION PAYOFF includes a lot of ideas based on Strassmann's
research on the influence of information technology on the economy. Much of the literature about the influence of advanced communication technologies is focused on how we will consume information in the future. Strassmann suggests that information is primarily a means of production rather than an item of consumption. He is less optimistic about the potential to reduce organizational layers (and thus management overhead) than many other writers. However, he points out that *significant* savings may come from eliminating costly intermediaries in the product distribution system. "It makes possible the reorganization of an entire industry to deliver improved value to customers."

Some of the most interesting comments in the book are about the dramatic
effect electronic workstations may have on workers and the nature of their jobs. "Effective work is enlarged in scope, variable in procedure, asynchronous in time, automated in execution, and subject to instant feedback." Strassmann points out the many ways information technology can influence the evolution of work in this direction. Although he does not single it out, computer conferencing is clearly an information technology with great potential to support this change.

Strassmann's book is full of ideas based on the real world of business organizations and management and how they really *use* information technology to produce products and services. This is one of the best books on the *dynamics* of the new business environment I've read. Put it on your summer reading list while there's still time!