Experimental Network Uses Macs, PCs to Link Educom Conference
 
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
ANN ARBOR, MI (Microbytes Daily News Service) --- The 3000
attendees at the Educom'89 conference here this week can keep in
touch with each other, with colleagues back at the home campus,
and with conference staff through an innovative communications
system based on Apple Macintoshes and IBM PCs.
 
While the InfoNet system, which acts as an interface to the
University of Michigan's IBM mainframes, is only experimental for
now, it will be used by the university in the future, and, with
changes, might be distributed to other universities, said Laurie
Kirchmeier, a UM staffer who worked on the project.
 
The Macs and PCs act as front ends for accessing a database of
conference events and other details, located on an IBM mainframe.
A database of conference attendees is on a Sun workstation.
Connecting this conglomeration, which is spread across several
blocks of this college town, is a combination of Ethernet
networks and microwave links, said Cole Whiteman, InfoNet project
manager for the University of Michigan's Center for Information
Technology Integration.  Attendees can share a total of 130
stations, split evenly between Macintosh and IBM PC.
 
The two types of computers have different functions and are aimed
at different audiences. The Mac-based systems are being used for
electronic mail and conferencing with show attendees and staff;
the e-mail system also offers a gateway to networks such as
Internet, which many people here can use to communicate with
colleagues back home.
 
The IBM systems, based on PS/2 Model 50s, combine a PC with a
videodisc player and an InfoWindow Touch-Display in a kiosk.
Designed for the naive computer user, they require neither mouse
nor keyboard -- in fact, they are accessed purely through the
touchscreen. The interface features a mouse character with a
squeaky voice that is supposed to help lead users through the
system; it tends to put off some more-sophisticated users.
"Obnoxious," commented one attendee.  "It gives me diabetes,"
said another.
 
Whiteman, however, said that of all the people who've seen the
two systems, preference is split half-and-half. "By having two
solutions, we've covered all audiences -- those who haven't been
using computers for a long time, and those who are expecting
sophisticated communication services."
 
Educom is an annual gathering of academic professionals
interested in the use of computers in higher education.
 
                              --- Sharon Fisher
 
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