Microsoft will launch a non-windows platform, the Web population will reach 100 million, and online commerce will grow to $20 billion. These are just a sampling of some of the 1998 predictions from International Data Corp., an information-technology ...
Microsoft will launch a non-windows platform, the Web population will reach 100 million, and online commerce will grow to $20 billion. These are just a sampling of some of the 1998 predictions from International Data Corp., an information-technology market research and consulting company based in Framingham, Mass. Other note-worthy prognostications include:
Intel Corp. will come out with a non-Pentium line of chips aimed at Internet appliances.
Digital subscriber lines (DSLs) will join cable to launch an era of megabit consumer Internet access.
One in four households will be online.
In order to drive household penetration, PC prices will drop into the $500 to $700 range within the next 18 months.
Low-cost information appliances will explode onto the market including Web-enabled TV, screen phones, and personal digital assistants, and Microsoft Windows will struggle to maintain its leadership as the de facto operating platform as more appliance-centric operating systems compete in this space.
Web sound, automatic language translation, and digital certificates will become a big part of Web communications.
