The computer industry isn't wild about President Clinton's performance in office, but still chooses him over Bob Dole, say respondents in a new survey of high-tech executives. Some 60 percent of those responding to the poll rated the administration's performance "fair" or "poor."

Still, 37 percent favored the President for reelection, compared to 26 percent who favored his Republican challenger. Clinton's supporters, however, were equaled by those who found the two candidates "both about the same."

Asked about another chief executive, 52 percent of respondents said they "like" Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates, compared to only 15 percent who don't. The results are a significant contrast to Silicon Valley wisdom that Gates has earned the animosity of competitors.

The results are part of the new "Coursey Survey of High-Tech Executives," a twice-monthly poll of computer, Internet, and personal communications executives conducted by industry analyst David Coursey and sponsored by Decisive Technology Corp., whose software is used to conduct the survey over the Internet.

Other results of the first two surveys, conducted during late June and early July, included:

* 54 percent believe CEO Gil Amelio will be able to turn Apple Computer around.

* 34 percent believe Netscape will dominate the Internet in one year, compared to Microsoft's 29 percent.

* Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) predicted Oracle's new "NC" standard for home Internet devices won't become a standard in the next three years.

* America Online was the choice of 62 percent as "dominant online service" two years from now, with the Microsoft Network (nine percent) in second place.

Developed and conducted using Decisive Survey, the leading surveying software for the Internet, the electronic questionnaires were distributed via e-mail to 350 senior executives and opinion leaders, with responses ranging from over 30 to nearly 50 percent. Respondents included senior executives from Microsoft, Novell, Apple, Netscape and Hewlett-Packard, as well as many smaller companies.

"Using Decisive Survey, Coursey was able to receive almost immediate responses from high-level executives who normally won't answer surveys," said John Chisholm, founder of Decisive Technology. "A traditional survey conducted by mail or telephone of these same executives might have only gotten a one or two percent response rate."

"This isn't intended to be a scientific survey," said Coursey, editor-in-chief of coursey.com, an electronic industry newsletter. "But it does give a rare glimpse into the mood of one of the world's most important industries.

"The Decisive Survey software makes it easy to create and conduct the survey," Coursey said. "I had the idea for this survey several years before software finally made it possible for one person to do such a large survey. Really, the software does almost all the work."

Results of the twice-monthly survey will be published as part of Coursey's newsletter and columns in Inter@ctive Week, Computerworld, Windows Sources, and Upside magazine. They will also be available on the Decisive Technology website. Although the results are copyrighted, individuals are welcome to quote the survey results so long as proper credit is given.

Survey Results

Which company will dominate the Internet in one year?

No one 35%
Netscape 32%
Microsoft 29%
Sun 2%
Other 2%

 

Will the NC be a widely adopted standard in three years?

No 74%
Yes 24%
No opinion 2%

 

Can Gil Amelio turn Apple around?

Long-term only 37%
Apple won't turn around 35%
Near-term only 16%
Both 12%

 

How well has Bill Clinton done for Silicon Valley?

Fair 40%
Good 23%
Poor 21%
Very Good 12%
Excellent 4%

 

Which candidate will do the most for Silicon Valley?

Both about the same 36%
Clinton 36%
Dole 28%

 

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