It's called a television. These new technologies, in all likelihood, will breathe life back into a concept pundits, both in and out of the industry, have been trying to bury with heaps of scorn this past year. It's called interactive television. The cable modem fever that's swept the industry for the past year or so has infected many, but not all. While he's certainly no high-tech Luddite, Dougherty has very definite views on the limitations of PC penetration.
Market research shows only a third of U.S. homes have PCs.
And that's actually any PCs, including old XTs, Commodore 64s and Apple IIs. In fact, market research on the number of home PCs that are connected to any kind of on-line service is actually only around 10 percent. Dougherty continues his lesson in PC math. Ten percent of 33 percent, that translates to roughly 3 percent of the total home market. Then, if you overlay cable's approximate 60 to 65 percent penetration of U.S. homes, the number goes even lower.