IBM and Sears Roebuck & Co are so determined to make their Trintex US viewdata joint venture a success that they have struck a deal with Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc under which a specially designed external modem that plugs into the RS232 of IBM and Apple machines will be bundled with cables for the RS232 and a phone jack, and the Prodigy software from the White Plains, New York-based venture, and those who buy it – pricing is not yet set – will get six months’ free access to the viewdata system, and thereafter will pay only a monthly charge of $10 to $15, with no other charges apart from the cost of a local phone call; the partners are estimated to have invested between $300m and $400m developing Trintex.
