My Two Oral Reports:

Chapter 1: How I got the story and learned to love markets.

The Y2K Problem: How bad, How long, How likely

Release 2.0 was written by Esther Dyson (Broadway Books,1997). This summary is about chapter 1 which is titled, "How I got the story and learned to love markets". Chapter 1 basically gives some backround into the life of the author. Dyson majored in economics at Harvard and upon graduating, she landed a job on Wall Street as a securities analyst. While on Wall Street, Dyson developed an interest in hi-tech companies and soon after left her job to devote her time to writing a computer industry newsletter. Later, Dyson was invited to serve on several internet advisory commitees, one private and started by the government.
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A: I think commercial value can be determined by the number of hits a site receives. The more hits a site receives the more a site can charge for advertising space and so forth. Of course in order for a site to get a lot of hits the site has to have somthing to offer whether that be a search engine or somthing else.

A: In the software business, Release 1.0 is the first commercial version of a new product, this is the version that is supposed to be free of bugs. So I think Dyson was comparing her newsletter to a perfect version of a computer newsletter.

A: Her purpose for going to Russia was to study the internet market in some place other than the U.S. At that time there weren't any computer newsletters that were doing stories about Russia, plus Dyson learned to speak Russian in college.

Q:What do you think the most important thing I should know in this chapter? Jay Donlin

A: I feel the whole chapter is important but if I had to pick one thing I would probably site the importance of knowing how and why the internet developed.

A: The author's specific interest in technology changed over the course of the chapter. First she was interested in the PC market, then when that was established Dyson got interested in the software market. In the end the internet became her true passion.

Q: The internet is growing every year, at what point do you think the government should come in and regulate the market? Valerie Iinuma

A: I personally don't think the internet should be regulated by the government but rather internally regulated by users.

Q: What kinds of solutions did she propose to solve the problems in Russia? Corey Egami

A: The main problem in Russia was the lack of individuality amongst the software companies. Most of the companies in Russia were all putting out basically the same product. What Dyson proposed was that the companies specialize in something different, find a niche then the market would grow.

Q: As Microsoft is surpassed by rising companies such as Yahoo and Amazon, do you think there will be other companies coming along to dethrone these newcomers? Leon Mosher

A: I don't think that you can compare Microsoft which is basically a software company with Yahoo and Amazon which are internet companies. I think a better comparison would be comparing Microsoft with IBM as IBM was once the cutting edge computer company but is now overshadowed by Microsoft. I do however think that Yahoo and Amazon will eventually be dethroned as the online leaders as it is almost impossible to be on top indefinetly.

A: I think that most libraries will become accessible from the internet if not already.

Q: Why do you think Russia was so under developed technologically and how have they advanced over time?

A: I think Russia was underdeveloped was due in part to the dissolve of the USSR. I feel without strong government research, technology will not advance at a fast rate. I believe the internet was initially started by the US government for their own purposes. I think that Russia is slowly catching up in technology but will never be as advanced as the US.

Q: What is the broader function of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)? Kyle Michibata

A: The main function of the EFF is as an online civil liberties union. The purpose is to monitor and help detur government interference and regulation of the internet.

A: The NIIAC or National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council was started by Al Gore and staffed by private citizens. Its purpose was to gather different opinions to make sure the internet will be useful to all Americans.

A: My view of markets is that a market will be developed when someone developes something that will be useful to a number of people that hasn't been thought of yet. Therefore a niche is found and a market developes. A good example would be Amazon, a few years ago there was no place on the internet to buy books and records but Amazon was started and now is one of the most popular sites on the net.

Q: Explain the section "How I met Juan and Alice" and its significance to the subject and the rest of the book? Sean Marrs

A: The phrase "how I met Juan and Alice" refers to Dyson's time spent at the Harvard Lampoon. The people there would leave notes that said "Juan and Alice please don't leave your lunch in the refrigerator". This was a Spanish-German pun meaning One and Alles. Dyson found this humorous and uses this phrase throughout the book to make a point.

Note: Some questions were excluded because they were identical to ones already answered. Back to Top

My reactions to my presentation are mixed. I enjoyed giving the report even though I was rather nervous beforehand. The part of the oral that sort of bothered me was that I was the only person who gave a report on that day and therefore had to fill the whole hour and fifteen minutes by myself. I noticed that most people in the class were a little hesitant about asking questions and had to be called on by Dr. James to ask a question. I am the same way, when someone else gave a report I didn't want to ask my question because I didn't want to come off looking stupid as my question may have been thought of as dumb.
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My suggestions to future generations are first to get started early and don't procrastinate. Second, the student should read the instructions on giving the oral report as there are certain guidelines that are listed. Third, I think the student should perhaps read the chapter twice as there may be some topics that are hard to understand.

The Y2K Problem Pt. 2: How Bad, How Long, How Likely?

The site that I reviewed was called "Year2000.com" This site is operated by a man named Peter de Jager. Mr. de Jager has been active in bringing the Y2K problem to the attention of the information systems community and the business world for over eight years. The sites main purpose is to serve as a discussion forum for the Y2K problem. Each month de Jager posts a new article which he has written to use as a discussion topic. This month's article was called "How Bad, How Long, How Likely?" The article discusses what level of preparation is reasonable. De Jager states that preparations for a two to three week disruption of services is reasonable. Although de Jager points out that preparations for two to three weeks is sufficiant he vehemently states that Y2K will not guarantee a 2-3 week disruption but if one were to prepare 2-3 weeks worth of supplies would suffice. The 2-3 week level of preparation was determined using the following logic; the Y2K problem cannot be persuasive and hidden at the same time meaning if its everywhere, we can't avoid it. Also the Y2K bug is a scheduled event and most industries will be prepared. The article opened my eyes to some of the problems Y2K may cause however, I still doubt I will do anything out of the ordinary to prepare for Y2K. The site also seems to be quite popular, de Jager stated the site received over 600,000 hits in March alone.
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Q: What are the supplies besides basic food and water that are recommended to stockpiled for Y2K? Leon Mosher

A: Although it the specifics weren't stated in the article I would assume the same items for any disaster which would be water, canned goods, candles, matches, flashlight and batteries. If one had prescription perhaps a two or three week supply of medicine.

A: I truly believe that most of the serious problems will not occur do in part to the advanced warning that most industries received. Also as de Jager points out the industries are sharing information with each other concerning Y2K which is resulting in quicker repairs.

Q: Now that your informed about Y2K, do you think you'll prepare? Carolyn Agmata

A: I don't think I will do anything special unless of course if told to do so by authorities. But as I stated in the above answer, I really believe the most serious problems will not occur.

Q: Is the website owned by him? Is de Jager putting up a website that is self-serving? I'm concerned he is posting his warnings just to scare everyone. Wilfred Lee

A: Yes the website is owned by Peter de Jager. I don't feel that the site is self-serving, de Jager's purpose is to inform anyone who is interested in Y2K. I don't feel the article I reviewed was meant to scare everyone, the article merely stated that if one were to prepare for Y2K, then 2-3 weeks would be a sufficient level of preparedness. Furthermore, this article was written in response to the many letters de Jager receives concerning preparedness.

A: In a worse case scenario we could suffer total blackouts, shortages of oil, complete loss of banking records, nothing major.

Q:Was this site informative and helpful? What advice would you give to others after viewing this site? Sheri Lieberman

A: I felt the site was indeed insightful and helpful. The site really made me think whether or not I should prepare for the Y2K bug. The advice I would give to others after viewing this site would be to make sure you look at everything the site has to offer then make up your own mind.

Q: How do you know who to believe concerning the Y2K problem if everyone says different things? Russ Muramatsu

A: I believe you should review many different views concerning Y2K, then after careful review of the author's credentials, etc. make up your own mind. From what I've read, de Jager was one of the first people to sound the warning of Y2K some eight years ago. I think de Jager seems to be a good source of information concerning the Y2K bug. Back to top

My reactions to my oral report are very good. I feel that I was much more prepared for the second oral report. When I gave my first report I was one of the first students to do so and I really didn't know what Dr. James was looking for. However, on my second report, I reviewed the site several times and tried to stick with the criteria for giving an oral presentation as stated in our outline. As far as student questions in class, I still received very few, however I did receive more than my first oral. Back to Top

I have a few suggestions to offer future generations. First I would say view the website in several sessions. Usually the sites are rather large and a person could easily miss many links etc. associated with the site. Other than that, not to much that wasn't already stated in the first suggestions.

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Home Page	Icons:
Report 1:	Dr. James Home Page
Report 2:	G11 Home Page
Report 3:	My other Home Page

My Two Oral Reports:

Chapter 1: "How I got the story and learned to love markets".