The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : Service Offers Info in Screen-Saver Format
SAN FRANCISCO — Carving out a novel niche in the delivery of information via the Internet, a Cupertino, Calif.-based start-up company has unveiled a service that displays news, sports scores, stock prices and other information on personal computer screen savers.
The service from PointCast Inc. is linked to the popular Netscape Communications Corp. Internet browser, gathering information and updating it throughout the day for display on idle PCs. It also allows some customization: Internet users can choose weather reports for certain cities or scores for particular sports teams.
The Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe will provide local news content for PointCast users in their regions with a headline service that lets users access complete articles with a click of the mouse. Other information providers for the service include Reuters, Standard & Poor’s, SportsTicker, AccuWeather and Variety.
Initially, the PointCast service will be free and the company will make its money from advertising. Commercials will be played continuously in a small box that will share space with the downloaded information.
Among those who have paid $40,000 to sponsor one of PointCast’s six “channels” through the end of the year are Electronic Data Systems, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Saturn, Prodigy, Fidelity Investments and Quarterdeck, a Santa Monica designer of computer software.
PointCast Chief Executive Christopher Hassett predicts there will be 1 million PointCast users by year’s end, most of whom will access the service at work.
“The kind of content that comes across the screen makes you a more valuable employee for your company,” Hassett says.
Information will be updated continuously on computers that are permanently connected to the Internet; machines that rely on dial-up connections can be programmed to call in for periodic updates. The service features six channels: Industries, Lifestyle, Companies, Sports, Weather and News.
PointCast, founded in 1992, has received more than $12 million in venture capital funding. The service received tepid reviews from some analysts, who criticized both the limited amount of information available and the fashion in which it is displayed. Some also say the Internet is a less-than-ideal medium for one-way information delivery.
“It’s going to be low-impact until they have more compelling content,” says John Robb, Internet analyst for Forrester Research. As with television, watching PointCast is largely passive, not the interactive experience that many Internet promoters have been promising.
And PointCast faces plenty of competition from content creators such as movie studios, magazines and newspapers whose online strategies are evolving rapidly.
“A lot of content providers want control over their assets, which is the information they create,” Robb says.
