The Gazette 1988

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1988

machine for printing later or for use as a basic document. There were huge problems of compatibility and no standards have been set in the Un i t ed K i ngdom wh i ch w i ll guarantee that the text can be pro- perly understood by the receiving computer. This often results in all sorts of gibberish wi th words be- ing lost and consequent lack of understanding by the recipient. He we l c omed the f act t hat t he Technology Committee in Ireland were attempting to pre-empt such chaos by devising their own standards. Frank Lanigan, explained that each of the members of the Technology Committee had joined the Eirmail (Irish Electronic Mail) service and were experimenting with its use. They had used a com- mon supplier of modems and because each member had com- puter equipment supplied by dif- ferent manufacturers, he felt they represented a relatively good cross section of the profession as a whole from the point of view of diversity of types of computers. At Ansbacher you will always receive not only the best exchange rate, but also the personal, efficient and prompt service your business deserves. We quote all major currencies both spot and forward, and offer infor- mation and advice on interest rates and foreign currency risk. Ring our dealers direct, at 760165, 766313, 766168, 766267. U. 4 f .

The Committee was attempting to set standards amongst themselves which if adopted should result in the avoidance of the sort of diffi- culties which had been outlined by Mr. Bellord. He explained that the Commi t t ee had only recently started the experiment and still had an open mind on the usefulness of electronic mail. A representative of ITELIS the Irish Times legal data base service, which is the Irish component of the international legal database Lexis then demonstrated their service. He explained that if one had the equipment necessary for electronic mail, it was simply a matter of paying an annual subscription and usage charges in order to have the benefit of ITELIS. A representative of t he supplier, f r om w h om members of the Technology Com- mi t t ee had pu r chased their modems t hen exp l a i ned t he practical difficulties which had been met and the requirements for equipment needed to utilise these aspects of technology. Mr. Bradley Brown, t he Chairman of the

Apparently, all English solicitors' offices now have telephones! He warned us that electronic mail had been available in the UK for some time and had not caught on. He felt that it was relatively expensive and inconvenient. He explained that the concept of electronic mail was that one purchased a relatively inexpen- sive modem which one attached to an existing computer or word- processor. One then joined the electronic mail system by paying an annual subscription. This entitl- ed the subscriber to the use of a mail box, which is in reality, a small segment of memory in a central computer maintained in Britain. Other subscribers could, using their computers, send messages of whatever length to the mail box. One had to have the discipline of calling up one's mail box on the computer to see if there was anything in it. Assuming one did this, one could see a list of messages and from whence they had come. One could either read the message on the screen or copy it into the memory of one's own

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