eWEEK EDITORS

Times are Tough All Over What do Larry Ellison and out-of-work dot-commers have in common? Housing problems. A report released last week by the Rosen Consulting Group and Cushman & Wakefield, a New York real-estate services firm, predicts about 80 percent of the remaining dot-com companies in the Bay Area will implode in the next […]

The upstart voice application companies gunning for the enterprise and the service provider market have had one unified mantra: Become the Microsoft of voice. So what happens when Microsoft decides its going to be the Microsoft of voice-over-Internet Protocol as well? Its a concept that had not been widely considered — at least not until […]

The past year has been one of significant change for Microsoft Corp. A federal judge ordered the company split in two, the case was heard on appeal and a decision is pending. Microsoft also announced a new focus: its software-as-a-service .Net strategy. Through it all, the company remains positive about its future. In an interview […]

XML, a misleadingly simple idea, is quickly becoming convincing proof of a notion weve often championed: Multivendor standards are the right way to do IT. The most novel feature of Extensible Markup Language is, paradoxically, its oldest: namely, its ability to express complex data structures, and even distributed actions, in terms of a simple, punctuated […]

I preached a “stick-to-basics” survival strategy in my March 19 column. It struck a chord with several readers, including one who wrote: “It is refreshing to see an industry print article that is not preaching the latest spin-shot on how to survive in the New Economy.” (Thanks, Bruce.) He adds, “Do one thing, do it […]

At a time when the New Economy is looking a lot like the old one, veteran computer reseller Pomeroy Computer Resources is trying to bridge the gap between the two. The Hebron, Ky., company is expanding its Internet services offerings to boost margins, while it continues to serve up its traditional hardware and software products. […]

After IBM, Microsoft and drug giant Pfizer finish their foray into the health-care technology business, they may end up wanting a doctor of their own. Last week, the three companies said they will join forces to provide billing, record management and wireless services to doctors. But the health-care information technology (IT) sector has numerous money-losing […]

Some of the industrys top consulting execs are on double-secret probation, and several are about to flunk their way out of the market. As we went to press, Breakaway Solutions founder and CEO Gordon Brooks stepped down, Viant CEO Robert Gett was under fire from his board of directors, and several consulting firms continued to […]

While smaller niche companies have been providing 3-D technology to Web developers for years, the design giants began to enter the space last week. Adobe Systems Inc. released a beta version of its Atmosphere software, designed to help developers build and deploy virtual worlds. Meanwhile, chief rival Macromedia Inc. is getting ready to debut its […]

Micron Electronics Inc.s decision late last month to quit the PC business and focus on its application hosting division is, depending on whos asked, either a great strategic decision or a bow to the inevitable. Either way, the Nampa, Idaho, companys move may presage other near-term strategy shifts among second-tier PC makers. Specifically, Micron said […]

In an era when customers can order books without speaking to a human, they are expecting — at least some of the time — the same level of automation from their communications service providers. Do-it-yourself Web customer service has begun to arrive in the traditional telecom world. Carriers are increasingly offering their customers the ability […]

The future of Level 3 communications is at stake this year, as its business vision — building a next-generation network to reap high wholesale revenue — undergoes trial by fire. After spending more than $10 billion, the company is coming under increasing pressure to cut a large deal with at least one “anchor tenant” on […]