Show 4F Standard-Examine- Sunday Aug 5 1990 r BusinessConsumer Home computers Warming up cold vehicle is rude unnecessary DEAR TOM AND RAY: I haven’t become big business yet but the old By RON WOLF KnigMRidder Newspapers Despite all the references to the “untapped" market for computers in the home manufacturers and retailers are having a tough time cashing in on this potential bonanza Market researchers can't agree on the right mix of computer hardware software features and price to attract buyers to machines for home use To be sure personal computers have begun to find their way into the household About 20 million homes now include some type of personal computer according to Dataquest Inc a market research firm based in San Jose Calif Most of those computers were purchased however to serve as extensions of the workplace and really are intended for business applications The number also includes many “computers” that e maare actually chines for playing video games Industry analysts often winder whether there even is a market apart from those two categories Although 20 million horncs now contain personal computers ' more than 90 million American homes still do not As the country's offices plants shops and schools have become increasingly saturated by personal computers manufacturers have been eyeing those virgin households as an Important source of their future growth Toward that end two large makers of personal computers recently launched campaigns aimed at the elusive home market International Business Machines Corp put forth its latest vision of 'the ideal computer for the home ‘with the introduction in three cities last month of the Personal line Tandy Corp System-- 1 which operates 7000 Radio Shack stores unveiled its competing vision the 1000 RL series special-purpos- home-comput- er ‘ last week 'Both companies are promoting their home computers as “easy to Use" This phrase gets slapped on hardware and software these days in the same indiscriminate wayt’hat “new” and ’'improved” are applied to laundry detergent In this case IBM and Tandy are trying to say that their machines can be set up in a matter of minutes by people who don’t know much about personal computers They also are trying to say that their machines include software for performing simple household tasks almost-meaningle- ss It's not clear however that such an approach addresses the fundamental obstacles that have kept personal computers from becoming as common in the home as televisions stereos and VCRs Tens of millions of people have become adept in the use of personal computers through their experience on the job Many of these people are perfectly comfortable with the complexity of computers For them the machines already are easy to use ' Yet they do not choose to use computers at home for performing such tasks as balancing the checkbook filing or recalculating recipes maintaining an inventory of possessions or keeping a Christmas card list — ail functions touted by Tandy in its announcement A computer writer who wrote a book of advice on a popular money-manageme- program nt used the software briefly to keep track of his own finances but gave up on it in a matter of' weeks For him the hardware and software were easy to use ed methods were easier Most people — even very accomplished computer users — e deskconsider a be for overkill machine to top maintaining a checkbook or performing similar tasks The new “home computers” are unlikely to change the situation Compared with the check registers that banks provide to their account holders a personal computer is a Rube Goldberg contraption — a classic example of inappropriate technology Try to put the computer instead of the checkbook in your pocket and take it to the supermarket to pay for groceries At the same time computeriza- tion in the business world has had the effect of undercutting some of the potential applications for home computers Financial institutions for example have tried to simplify the process of balancing the checkbook by using computers to provide customers with better organized and much more detailed statements Similarly’ other potential uses for home computers targeted by the manufacturers may not be problems in need of a $1000 or $1500 solution general-purpos- live in a place where the temperature occasionally drops below freezing My problem is my neighbor owner of a Ford 4X4 with standard exhadst’He has to go to work at 6 am and hunts ducks on the weekends in the winter (early to rise) My schedule is to wake up at 6:30 am At any rate he insists on firing up his truck between 5:30 and 5:45 to warm it up It often sits right outside my window on high idle for 15 minutes before he leaves I am unable to go back to sleep my bedroom smells of exhaust and he will not listen to my pleas to stop I do not believe it is necessary to warm up a car or truck in this manner and that driving slowly for a few miles will do the job It would also save gas reduce air pollution and let me and my Auto Talk and Tow Ray Maghozzi King Features Syndicate family sleep Your comments will be appreciated — Robert RAY: Geez Robert we may be encroaching on the turf of Dear Abby or Miss Manners by getting into a neighborly dispute But since you asked our opinion is that this guy is a real knuckle- head TOM: You’re absolutely right Robert It’s not necessary to warm up a car under most conditions If your neighbor just started his truck and drove away slowly he’d save gas reduce air pollution and have neighbors who didn't wish on him a rash in a place he couldn't scratch RAY: But since he's obviously too much of a jerk to care about the environment or his neighbors perhaps hsTl respondt Jo the argument that Tie’s doing more damage to his catalytic converter than he can possibly imagine TOM: When he runs his truck on high idle with the choke closed raw unburned gas pours into the converter If he hasn’t ruined it already he’ll certainly ruin it soon and that will cost him big bucks minutes before each ridend the best place to do it is oProurse right under this knucklehead's window RAY: When logic doesn’t work Robert you’ll have to resort to Plan B Since this guy is an early riser we’ll assume he goes to bed early too Plan B calls fqr you to borrow an old Harley Davidson motorcycle remove the muffler and start taking midnight rides Of course you’ll have to warm up the bike for about 20 to 30 that happens go right' to the phone and call the realtor Not TOM: 'When he comes$ut in his bathrobe screaming at rou to turn off the bike offer to sit down and negotiate a pqace treaty At that point you’lj be negotiating from a position of strength RAY: Of course thtsplan could backfire He coulcPbecome enchanted with the Harley and go out and get one himself If even Miss Manners can help you then Your only hope is to’ get revenge by selling your house to a local college fraternity Got a question about cars? Write to Click and Clack Talk Cars in care of this newspaper: W& iitolitkaSy OS Ql&MMIIS Supposedly programs bundled with the new home computers will help people handle their correspondence But g most Americans gave up decades ago in favor of the greater speed and conve- -' nience of the telephone In their efforts to market desktop computers for home use IBM and Tandy have emphasized their potential as communications tools When attached to a phone line such machines can provide access to shopping services computerized bulletin word-processi- letter-writin- boards airline reservation stock quotation systems and electronic data bases But do American families really want to confront airline schedules on their own get stock quotes more frequently than they appear in the newspaper or pay $1 a minute to search electronically through back issues of mag- systems azines? In their present form computer shopping services might appeal to the Soviet Union’s merchandise-starve- d consumers but it’s hard to see how they’ll lure Americans away from the marketing glitz of the malls and supermarkets Also computer graphics generated by the underpowered and inexpensive machines aimed at the home market are still exceptionally primitive Such rudimentary graphics may be particularly disappointing to a generation that has come to expect the slick video production values of Hollywood Madison Avenue and network television While the computer makers wrestle with such problems many of the potential uses for home computers are being filled by “smart appliances” with embedded microprocessors — computer chips incorporated in products to perform specific tasks e These computers control the power levels of microwave ovens and unscramble cable television signals They remember frequently used phone numbers and operate heating and cooling equipment They keep time and run home security special-purpos- systems Every time another microproe cessor finds its way into a device or a talking toy it nibbles away at the potential uses desk-to- p for generai-purpos- e in the home computers video-gam- Home computers get more useful smaller priate tool of storing recipes but Several developments in commight be welcome in the kitchen puter technology may help create as a device for illustrating commore of a market for home units plicated cooking techniques in video on command Portability almost certainly will The development of more effec-li- e help The advent of inexpensive notebook or “palm-top- ” educational software also computers will save space in the home' could alter the picture Most educational software available today and increase their convenience vidThe marriage of provides an electronic substitute eo disks and home computers of drill and rote exercises When will greatly improve graphics and—U-arrivethat can expand poterrtlaT usCs'- - A hdme"''atittiattyMcacfra child td read will computer may not be an appro- - sell a lot of computers Knight Ridder Newspapers full-moti- CD-RO- M s ( 6 h i |