At Comdex, 'The Future' is the Web.
What About Today?

Connected CD Technologies Help Companies Like FedEx Deliver the Promise of Tomorrow Today

CHICAGO, November 24, 1997 -- As the world's largest information technology showcase draws to a close, many of the 215,000 Comdex attendees leave Las Vegas for points across the globe with visions in their head of a totally connected world in which information of all shapes and sizes is shared freely via the World Wide Web. While there is little doubt that this vision will one day be realized, the reality today is that the Internet alone is not ready to meet these demands. Today's interim step toward the future lies in leveraging multiple technologies to provide the access to business and consumer information we desire and simplify the transition to tomorrow's network-centric information architecture.

"E-commerce is all the buzz today. There is a strong push to get critical, commerce-supporting information across the enterprise, whether users are connected or not," says David Wallinga, president and chief executive officer of DNA Visual Business Solutions. "At this point, the Web isn't ready to serve as the panacea to everyone's information delivery needs. Most companies lack the necessary bandwidth to support today's advanced information needs, especially in terms of rich media content, video, audio and multimedia. While the bandwidth issues will definitely resolve themselves in the future, we're just not there yet. That is why DNA has developed the InDX Visual Business Suite to provide an effective transition between the 'state of the art' and the 'state of the market.'"

InDX is a unique set of software tools that helps organizations assemble, organize, present and update visual information. InDX enables the development of customized "Connected CD" business software solutions that deliver via CD-ROM and the World Wide Web any information, including documents, spreadsheets, presentations, full-screen video, virtual reality environments, and high resolutions 2-D and 3-D images.

Several leading international companies already are benefiting from DNA's Connected CD content management technology, including Tricon Global Restaurants (parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell), FedEx and Tandem Computers. Intel Corporation has selected DNA Visual Business Solutions as both an International Web Agency Partner and as a participant in its Technology Access program. DNA is the first organization to be accepted into both Intel programs. Earlier this month, Craig Barrett, Intel president and chief operating officer, at Intel highlighted InDX technology as a leading example of the visually connected PC at a conference attended by 200 of the country's top CEOs and CIOs. InDX was also featured at Intel's Fall Analyst Conference as the leading example of business-to-business visual connected computing.

"The Web today is an incredibly powerful distribution channel for text information, simple graphics, time-critical information and transactions. It's only beginning to effectively deliver audio, video and multimedia. Until the industry solves the bandwidth problem - and it will be solved - you still need local media like a CD-ROM or DVD disk to deliver the powerful multimedia experiences that can persuade a customer to buy or teach an employee a new skill," Wallinga says.

For example, low resolution still images have become the standard in Web shopping, and browsing a retail site can be agonizingly slow and unsatisfying. Imagine how much more interesting the experience would be if you could browse quickly through a series of high quality product photos, watch a video or even explore a 3-D model of the product. A Connected CD offers this level of shopping experience via the CD-ROM and then uses the Web to do what it does well - complete the transaction.

"By merging the strengths of CD-ROM and the Web into a seamless, easy-to-use experience for the user, we are delivering the promise of tomorrow today." says Wallinga.

"The game industry is light years ahead of the business world when it comes to embracing the power of visual computing. Corporate America has tended to believe that business applications don't have to play by the same rules," says Wallinga. "But that's just not true. Users are people. By offering them intuitive, easy to use multimedia interfaces you engage them and make it easy for them to use the information more effectively, improve their productivity, and enhance their creativity," Wallinga adds.

"If you show users a better mousetrap they will use it. Look at the evolution of Microsoft's operating system. The visual differences between DOS, Windows 3.x and Windows 95 are astounding. As operating systems become more visual, more people use them and the faster they become productive," says Wallinga. "A connected world is clearly on the horizon. The web will effectively deliver information of any type text, voice, video, audio and multimedia. The critical question is can today's most competitive corporations afford to wait for the Web to deliver on its promise before they realize the benefits of the visual connected PC. InDX-based solutions deliver on that promise today with the Connected CD. And, when the Web is ready, the CDs will make nice coasters."

DNA Visual Business Solutions, Inc. is an Illinois corporation created in 1997 to capitalize upon the capabilities and market potential of the InDX Visual Business Suiteô. These customized Connected CD software solutions are used by corporations requiring technology-enabled selling (TES); brand management; and channel management. DNA Visual Business Solutions Inc. is a spin-off of DNA New Media Group. DNA New Media Group, one of the world's foremost communications integrators, was founded in 1994 in Chicago, Illinois.

For more information contact DNA Visual Business Solutions at 312 654 8383 or e-mail to info@visitdna.com.

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