Well noted
The column inches of Ask Jack's "Backchat" seems to be growing at an exponential rate. By my calculations it'll only be two months until readers' corrections occupy more space than Jack's answers. Wouldn't it be better if Jack accepted defeat and adopted more of a "Notes and Queries" approach to things? And thank you for clarifying: "Windows XP is the first computer operating system to combine ease of use with industrial-strength stability, and to work with a wide range of products." Good job Apple didn't get there first, eh? Next you'll be telling us that IBM invented the personal computer. Oh, wait a minute... Graham Hibbert
graham@eyefood.co.uk
Not a direct hit
I think Neil McIntosh is getting carried away by the supposed efficacy of Google's advertising scheme. I run a small website called www.eflworksheets.com which offers online English language materials under subscription. I get about 200 to 300 visitors per week from all over the world and directly targeted advertising might increase this. I took out an account with Google using key words like ESL and EFL. For 48 hours I was the only English language teaching website advertising with them, and I got 300 visitors in that time.
However, it cost me $150, as ESL had a relatively high search rate of 9,000. However, the click-through rate was only 2% on average from all the key words and I got no new subscriptions in that time. It was an interesting if expensive test of the service, and not one which I will repeat in a hurry. The main problem for small businesses is precisely the fact that your expenditure rises sharply with the higher click-through rate, though it does not necessarily lead to higher sales. Compare this with a targeted advert in the English teaching section of the Guardian Weekly costing £50. I, for one, remain to be convinced.
Marc Loewenthal
marcolo@supanet.com
1900 in 1970?
Further to earlier letters, in the late 1960s I programmed an ICL 1901a with 8K words of memory - half of that of John Percy's "beast". Using the overlaying technique he outlines (on disk in this case) we ran systems for payroll, housing advances, rates, rents and various ledgers using Cobol (compact version). By the way, I am sure that it was not an ICL 1900 at Exeter University in the 1970s as Dr Vines stated but an ICL System 4-50 with 256K memory, the same as I was using at Bath. Cardiff also had the same machine while Bristol University had a larger 4-70. John Rathbone
johnlewrath@yahoo.com
Online 24/7
David Cawley simply needs to sign up to Blueyonder broadband and use the net as it was intended to be used: as a 24/7 high-speed service with download speeds so fast you wonder whether you clicked on Download properly. Being permanently connected to the net also allows you to use it much more effectively. For £25 per month plus £9.50 for separate telephone line and digital TV (Telewest), you wonder why people even think of using BT. Sorry, do I sound like I'm gloating? Get on board! (I have no connection with either Blueyonder or Telewest other than as a satisfied customer.) Colin Hall
c.r.hall@blueyonder.co.uk
