Escient Digital Storage Group Announces COMDEX '99 Debut Of Groundbreaking 200-Disc CD/DVD Management Solution

Exhibiting in Comdex's ""Start-Up City,"" Escient(R) Digital Storage Group presents PowerFileô C200, the world's first IEEE-1394 based CD/DVD changer, running on Windows 98 Second Edition and a beta version of Windows 2000. This unique IEEE-1394 peripheral includes two DVD-ROM drives and provides more than one terabyte of digital storage space for a suggested retail price of $1,499. PowerFile C200 gives users the ability to store and manage a wide variety of productivity and entertainment media, including CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, DVD movies, and music CDs. Chris Stevens, Chief Executive Officer of Escient Digital Storage Group, based in Los Gatos, made the announcement today.PowerFileô C200 was developed with the Small Office/Home Office and workgroup environment in mind. The C200's powerful capabilities and low price point make it a very compelling and affordable alternative to the existing, higher-priced products currently being used in the enterprise market. Scheduled to ship in Q4 of 1999, pre-orders are now being accepted at Escient Digital Storage Group's Web site, www.dvdchanger.com.""Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows 2000 include powerful broad support of IEEE-1394 for applications including audio visual interfaces and storage. Escient has worked with Microsoft Windows' 1394 support to create a powerful, easy to use 1394 storage solution,"" said Carl Stork, Group Manager for Hardware Strategy and Evangelism at Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). ""Escient's PowerFile C200 takes advantage of the plug and play capabilities and 1394 support in Windows 98 SE and Windows 2000 to deliver to customers very easy, convenient access to powerful storage.""Until now, hardware systems with similar media storage capabilities typically cost thousands of dollars and usually required extra software costing thousands more. PowerFileô C200's $1,499 price includes client and server software for Windows and Macintosh platforms.PowerFile C200 can distribute media to numerous shared clients over a network. The browser provides each client with a combined list of all media in every changer. Up to sixty-three changers can be daisy-chained together in a tree configuration for media distribution to other workstations throughout a network.According to Mr. Stevens, ""The PowerFile C200 will revolutionize digital storage and productivity for the Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) user. The release of this groundbreaking product offers members of this and other markets the ability to store, control, and manage huge amounts of digital media with great ease and rapid accessibility at an affordable price point. Like all Escient products, the PowerFile C200 simplifies otherwise complex technology and makes it easy to use for everyday applications.""

Escient Digital Storage Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of, Carmel, Indiana based, Escient, Inc. (www.escient.com).