INTERVIEW:
Question 1
Some executives in the IDC Forum think that the decade of the personal computer is almost
finished, and that there will be new devices and new markets coming. Do you agree with
this?
Answer
We think the personal computer is far from a dead market or a dead product category. We
see that the computer has changed its personality over the years, and as we look forward
we think that the PC will continue to evolve and develop and be a very powerful tool for
communications as well as for traditional office applications. So we don't think the PC is
dying. We think it's still very young and has plenty of life and opportunity ahead.
Question 2
Now the PC is 20 years old. It's not so young...
Answer
It's not the same PC; it has changed a great deal from its early stages, and today's PC
technology includes a rich opportunity in terms of Internet access, new communication
capability, new imaging opportunities. So I think to suggest that it's a 20-year-old
device is really a mistake. In fact it has been reborn and has changed its personality
many times.
Question 3
So you don't think that the browser or the Internet-based software will replace the
operating system?
Answer
The Internet will be extremely important to PC technology and Internet access through
browsers and other tools will be extremely important to create new life and new
opportunities within the PC industry. But again, I don't see it as a replacement for the
PC. I see it more as a change, a new personality and this concept of network computers
will take many, many years to develop, and I think there are still many questions about
whether the technological infrastructure exists to really create a viable network computer
product category - at least over the next several years.
Question 4
The IDC forecast in its last report that in the home market for the PC there will be a
great variety of devices. How do you imagine the next wave of computers at home?
Answer
We are excited about the concept of an information utility, which speaks for the fact that
there will be very wide pervasive networks that will be as ubiquitous or as available as
electricity is in homes. Because of that we do believe that in the home there will be many
different forms of computers. There will probably be general purpose PCs for quite some
time, but there's likely to be PC technology included in TVs and included in other
entertainment communication appliances within the home. So there will be many different
forms of computers in the home, just as today there are many different electric motors in
the home that service the needs of many different appliances.
Question 5
For Hewlett Packard, what will be the most interesting business on the consumer market?
Answer
Well, we have been active in the consumer market for PC-type products for some time, with
our printer devices and also with PCs. We're excited about a couple of areas. Very soon we
are hoping to make a major impact in the photography market. We think the combination of
PCs, powerful software, the Internet and high quality inkjet printers will create new
opportunities to provide customised photography that can be done within the home. That's
something we'll see in the next year or two. Beyond that we also have the concept that we
call the "information furnace", which is a device that will really concentrate
much of the network access that exists in the home and really be used as a control point
to manage information within the home environment. The information furnace is a device
that's very simple and easy to use and that can bring in the sources of broadband video,
voice, other forms of network content into the home and then that device will be used to
distribute that information or that capability to the various parts of the home where it's
needed. So the broadband capability would go into the room were people watch television,
the voice where phones exist, other information to the PCs and so on.
There will be various sources: phone companies, suppliers, it will come from cable
companies; it may come from wireless satellite, a whole range of sources that need to be
integrated and distributed throughout the home. We don't know when; this is something
we're still working on. There's quite a bit of work that has to be done, and yet we
believe it's an important vision of what can happen in the home over the next several
years.
Question 6
So it's a vision of networking. And what kind of other social applications can you
imagine?
Answer
We can think of a lot of opportunities that this new information utility will create. I
can give you one example in health care. As you know, health care is too expensive
everywhere in the world, and the opportunity to provide more home-based health care
through better information access, the ability to transmit information from individuals in
the home regarding their health and to be able to communicate it and treat people for
illnesses within the home is one example, a very radical change that could exist in the
future. But it's also the case in entertainment, in a whole range of different
applications, I think, that will grow out of this new information utility. And for
education. People don't want to leave their homes; it's expensive, it's difficult to leave
homes, and so I think that there will be new opportunities to reach people, to enrich
people's lives and to be able to communicate more effectively through this new information
utility.
Question 7
And how much is HP focused on the Intranet business?
Answer
We think intranets are extremely important. In fact, we are really integrating the concept
and the technologies around intranets into our business around computing for commercial
customers. We believe that the Internet and, therefore, intranets, really represent the
next step in open systems, which is something we've been committed to for quite some time,
and so, therefore, we are putting our arms around the Intranet and developing products and
services to be able to allow businesses to use the Intranet to improve their productivity
and to be able do serious computing on the Intranet, transaction processing, with security
with good management, good performance - all the solutions that makes intranets a very
powerful part of operating a business information technology system.
Question 8
Do you think that also in Europe companies and industry are coming onto the Web or is it
more an American phenomenon?
Answer
Oh no, I think the Web is a world-wide phenomenon. I think it has different circumstances
in different parts of the world. But I as we've seen in global technology like this, all
parts of the world will adapt, but there are different issues in different parts of the
world with telecommunications and regulations and access to technology. I think that will
all become very compatible over the next several years.
Question 9
What do you think of electronic commerce? Will it be a real market over the coming years?
Answer
Electronic commerce will be an increasingly important application. The Internet provides
so much capability today to link people together to conduct commerce. All of the security,
smart cards, authentication, all of these technologies are developing very rapidly, and so
we have a very active program in helping companies develop commercial solutions on the
Internet. In fact, we were involved with setting up the first Internet bank in the US
using a lot of HP technology.
Question 10
So has HP already started in electronic commerce and offering its products on the Web?
Answer
We have a very active Web page; we do not sell products that I'm aware of over the
Internet. We put a lot of information and content and use our Web page and our Web
environment for reaching customers in a number of ways. We download software and drivers
and provide information to them very, very actively. We have not been very active in
commerce because we tend to want to work with our partners, our channel partners who, in
fact, have Web pages to reach their customers, so we've not really approached that
business until now, but that may change over time. I'm not really sure but that's been our
focus up until this point.
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