Sales and profits are down. Compaq of Houston and Dell of Round Rock have both canceled this year's big trade shows for customers as cost-saving measures. But the main problem is few of us really need new computers right now. For example, I've got a vastly obsolete personal computer at home running at 200 megahertz.
New ones run at least six times as fast.
I'm not unique. What the computer makers need is the next big thing. Well, it's on the way. The big pipe bringing huge amounts of information we really didn't know we needed right into our homes. Companies that want to sell products through it, primarily entertainment ones, say the customer base isn't big enough to spend the kind of money necessary to gear up for it.