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.net (French) 1996 November
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.net Magazine (FR) - Issue 01 - Nov 1996.iso
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P82CC0.CNM
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1996-05-15
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143 lines
Status: R
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Date: 2 May 1996 17:37:45 U
From: "Clive Parker" <cparker@futurenet.co.uk>
Subject: Jim Clark thingy...
To: " Clive on Pipex" <clive.parker@dial.pipex.com>
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<<<<<< Attached TEXT file named "Jim Clark" follows >>>>>>
On a hot, sunny Friday afternoon in March, I arrived at the impressively
large headquarters of Netscape Communication Corp. at Mountian View,
California. After checking in at reception and getting my stick-on visitors
pass, I sat down to await my allotted 30 minutes with half of the brains
behind the young company, Jim Clark.
The first thing you notice about the reception area is that it's busy. Very
busy, in fact. There were at least half-a-dozen other visitors waiting for
meetings with various departments within the company, and Netscape-badged
staff rushing about like an upturned ant nest. Impressive stuff.
The meeting with Jim Clark is delayed slightly, and he has to dash off at
three o'clock for a meeting at the San Francisco Yacht Club. He's part of the
team organising the fight to recover the America's Cup from New Zealand in
1999. This gives me around 20 minutes to discover more about the man behind
Netscape Navigator, the most popular Web browser in use on the Web.
I'm whisked upstairs to a conference room and Jim Clark is ushered in to
give the interview, with a PR girl hovering in close attendance. Clark has a
commanding presence, but quickly puts everyone at ease with a few friendly
comments. After introductions, handshakes, a diet Coke and some fiddling with
my (faulty) tape recorder, we get finally down to business.
I ask Jim about his backround. "I was born a girl," he jokes, "one of the
first sex changes in history. I did the usual things, grew up in a nice
neighbourhood, went to high school and on to university. While I was working
at Stanford we developed the basic technology used to found Silicon Graphics,
the Geometry Engine and the Graphics Library. We decided to form a company to
develop hardware to create realistic 3D images interactively in real time. I
went out and organised the capital required to start up the company, and a
bunch of guys from the university came along with me to set up the company."
Why did you leave Silicon Graphics? Was it for personal reasons, business
differences?
"It was getting to the stage where I had no control over the way the company
was working, and I had no real enthusiasm about the way things were
develoing. For about the last four years I was out of the loop when it came
to major decisions about policy and development."
Why did you put Netscape together? Was it your idea or did Marc - or anyone
else - approach you with a proposal? Were there any underlying motivations?
What's your brief within Netscape? As chairman, what do you actually do
(besides give interviews).
Okay, you've got Netscape Navigator as your flagship product. It seems that
you essentially giving Navigator away over the Web outside the US. Can you
generate enough income in this way?
"Well, we're not actually giving Navigator away, there is a registration
process and we do sell Navigator Gold and our servers. We've earned over $80
million dollars in sales, that's not bad for a company that's not even two
years old yet."
What are the main sources of income for Netscape? And are you doing well?
There have been mutterings in the computer press that Netscape is highly
overvalued compared to its income. What's your reaction to that?
Netscape as a company is very high profile. How do you see the company
developing over the next year, or even the next five years? Do you have plans
for more high profile products?
"We're going to continue to develop the range of products we already supply,
our servers, browsers and so on. It's very difficult to say what the future
may bring. but we're always looking for new fields of development."
How about the future of the Net itself? Do you see Netscape as a leading
light in the on-going development of the Web as a whole? Is Netscape the
major influence?
What about Microsoft, do you see it as a threat to Netscape in the light of
its intent to make the Internet its top priority?
"Obviously Microsoft has changed its plans dramaticallly with regard to the
Internet, and that's not something is normally does. Its changed its outlook
completely, the kind of changes that have teken place in the last few months
would have taken years to occur
Are you frightened of Microsoft?
"No, not at all. I think that Microsoft is frightened of us because we have
grown so dramatically over the last few years. Microsoft obviously see us a a
threat to its domination of the software market. There's this huge area where
Microsoft has no control, and it's obviously shaken up the company. It's
reaction to the growth of the Internet
How does the working relationship between you and Marc work? Does Marc come
up with ideas and then you implement them?
"Marc's a great guy, he's a genuine visionary. He comes up with these
wonderful ideas"
How do you relax, what are your main ways to unwind at the weekend? Are you
involved with any other organisations?
Is there any other information you feel would be interesting to our readers?
Thanks for your time.
Biography
http://www.netscape.com/people/jim/
Why Jim Clark loves Mosaic
http://www.hotwired.com/wired/2.10/features/jim.clark.html
Wired 2.10, Spring 1994