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TIME Europe, Nov. 11, 1996
Europe Watch
SCOTLAND: Only The Best
Compaq and IBM are vying for more than market share in the European PC business. The top two PC makers are also competing for workers in their Scottish production plants, located just 20 km apart. Favorable tax laws and minimal regulations make Scotland a choice manufacturing center for many companies.
FRANCE: Virtual Golf
By year's end, golfers will be able to play virtual-reality golf courses lifelike enough to include blades of grass blowing in the wind. A French-manufactured simulator lets hackers tee off on AstroTurf and follow their ball across a large video screen. Infrared detectors calculate ball speed, angle and spin.
ENGLAND: Hidden Cameras
What started in 1987 as a police experiment in the small town of King's Lynn has grown into an Orwellian network of thousands of cameras that monitor crime in more than 400 city centers throughout Britain. The cameras have helped reduce crime as much as 60%, according to a 1995 police study.
ENGLAND: McLibel Trial
Two years into a civil suit against two eco-activists, McDonald's may wish it hadn't picked this fight. The defendants, who distributed leaflets in the 1980s criticizing the chain's environmental ethics and nutritional claims, have set up a Website (www.mcspotlight.org) detailing their beefs with the burger chain.
ITALY: Say Goodbye To Olivetti PCs
The troubled Italian technology company Olivetti has finally called it quits in the PC business. A leader in the European market until last year, the company hasn't turned a profit since 1990. It plans to focus on its telecommunications business and be back in the black by 1998.
GERMANY: Stress Buster
Often blamed for causing stress, computers will soon be used to help people chill out. A new "stress manager," developed by Medical Computer Applications in Germany, combines body sensors that transmit data back to a PC, with music and pictures onscreen to help people recognize and reduce tension.
GERMANY: MegaMarts
Gas-station minimarts will never be the same if a project by British Petroleum's German division takes off. In a pilot program, 10 Munich gas stations are testing computerized virtual grocery stores stocked with thousands of food items, clothing, electronics and appliances. Customers pay with debit cards.
FINLAND: Karpov Against The World
Can the collective mind beat a world chess champion? Apparently not, as Anatoli Karpov handily defeated a computer that selected its moves based on Internet-relayed votes from players across the world. The "world" resigned after 32 moves, played during four hours last August.
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