At the recent 35th anniversary of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, its
leaders extolled the virtues of Project Oxygen - a vision of technology and
the Internet in which computers become omnipresent and essential, enveloping
us like the air we breathe.
In this concept of the not-too-distant future, "smart" devices are molded
seamlessly into our lifestyles as wearable, ultraportable communications
units connected to the Net. Talking, listening flat displays are stuck in
every nook and cranny. And the airwaves are in a perpetual digital tizzy as
devices and humans constantly converse.
While this may seem like science fiction, the rise of the Internet - the
fastest-growing communications medium in history - has already turned a
startling array of far-fetched dreams into modern-day realities.
Last year, the number of U.S. households equipped with computers edged just
past 50 percent, according to Dataquest research. Another research firm,
Infobeads, estimates that 60 percent of those machines - 67.5 million
computers - had Net access.
Computer capabilities have stretched access farther and faster than even the
most starry-eyed visionaries had imagined.
"There are microprocessors now in everything because it's cheap to make
them," said Greg Papadopoulos, chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems.
"Even hotel doorknobs have computer chips. Now, it will become cheap to hook
them to the network."
Even dishwashers and refrigerators may be hooked to the Internet, he said.
Why? Well, because we can. When a major appliance is about to malfunction,
it could signal a repair center, which could offer an accurate diagnosis and
potentially avert a failure, he said.
Technology has its limitations. But the Internet's instantaneous nature and
its ever-expanding applications have changed life for millions.
Relatives on opposite sides of the planet enjoy family reunions with desktop
video-conferencing equipment. Using a local Internet connection, the call is
free.
On college campuses and in high schools, young people are discovering
obscure bands by downloading music files from the Internet and playing them
back on their tiny portable stereos.
The Internet is growing into a shopper's paradise, eliminating barriers of
distance between buyers and sellers. Car shoppers now regularly compare
features online. Someday, analysts said, manufacturers may bypass dealers
altogether and sell custom-ordered cars directly to buyers.
And auction sites such as eBay are quickly becoming favorite online hangouts
for fans of collectible items. The online bidding wars may create a new
business model for distributing a variety of other products.
For all the attention consumer uses of the Internet have received, analysts
are becoming more focused on business-to-business commerce over the Web as
corporations realize efficiencies in their relationships with suppliers and
customers.
The business-to-business e-commerce market is expected to reach $109 billion
this year, compared with $18 billion for the consumer market, according to
Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.
By 2003, according to Forrester, business-to-business trade over the
Internet - largely from aerospace, energy, chemical and automotive
concerns - will reach $1.3 trillion, compared with $108 billion for the
consumer market.
Major manufacturers have been linked with their suppliers for years over
computer networks, but the Internet offers a standard appearance and
language for much broader use. It also helps big companies, such as
Dallas-based chip maker Texas Instruments, reach young start-ups that might
need only a few samples but could someday grow into major customers, said
Richard K. Templeton, executive vice president of TI.
And the implication for broader Internet use is causing even greater
upheaval elsewhere in the business world.
Although the dot-com investing craze has slowed in recent weeks, leading
Internet companies are still valued far higher than their traditional
counterparts, reflecting the belief that Web businesses are the future.
Consider: At its recent peak, a new Internet travel site, Priceline.com, had
a market capitalization of $23 billion, roughly equal to the values of
Marriott International, Delta Airlines and US Airways combined.
Such values are forcing companies in all businesses to look with envy at
their Net counterparts - and to fear that the companies might use their
high-flying stock as currency to buy corporations.
They have also served as a wake-up call to managers to take the competitive
threats from the Internet seriously.
Only two years ago, executives in the banking, travel, auto retailing and
publishing industries
began quaking over Microsoft Corp.'s online efforts. Now, the efficiencies
offered by the
Internet are spurring them into action.
"They say, 'Look, I'm losing customers to the Internet. I've got competition
I've never seen before,' " said Gary B. Moore, a senior vice president at
Electronic Data Systems Corp. who is charged with running the Plano-based
company's electronic commerce division.
It's everywhere
As quickly as Internet use has proliferated, newer and faster technologies,
such as cable modems and satellite dishes, promise to lure more people
online and keep them surfing the Net longer. Speedy broadband Internet
access "may be the killer app [application] of the first decade of the
upcoming century," said Mr. Templeton of TI.
As more people use a network, the value of all the connections increases
exponentially. This idea has been formalized in what is known as Metcalfe's
Law, named for Robert Metcalfe, founder of California network
equipment-maker 3Com Corp.
It states that the value of any network increases in proportion to the
square of the number of people using it, so a network with 500 people
attached to it is 100 times as useful as one with only 50 people connected.
And as the volume of computer sales increases, prices have been falling.
Some reasonably equipped models sell for around $300. The result: Families
with household incomes below $30,000 that previously couldn't afford a PC
now represent one of the hot growth segments, sales figures show.
The United Kingdom firm Datamonitor estimates that the number of people
using the Internet worldwide will double to 300 million by 2005, with the
greatest growth in Asia and South America. The online population will rise
61 percent to 95 million in the United States, more than double to 88
million in Europe and quadruple to 118 million in the rest of the world, the
market researcher predicts.
And while computers are becoming more popular, their capabilities are
increasing through the development of ever-faster chips that can run more
intuitive software programs. Experts believe computers will become "more
human" - interacting more and more by voice commands.
Embedded microchips and processors will transform - and sometimes take
over - much of the mundane daily workload. And on the Internet, consumers of
information and products will barter away notions of "absolute privacy" for
convenience and a new kind of personalized entertainment.
The impact of such rapid, profound change can be seen firsthand in Farmers
Branch, just south of Addison's restaurant row along Belt Line Road. There,
inside the ever-expanding campus of Dallas Semiconductor Corp., scientists
have labored for years to develop tiny transistorized wafers that store
data.
One division was putting them in nickel-sized containers called iButtons,
which clients used primarily for tracking business inventories and making
cellular phone accounts more secure.
In 1992, two Houston businessmen approached Dennis Jarrett and other company
representatives with an idea to use iButtons to store U.S. Postal Service
data downloaded onto personal computers.
Today, three shifts at Dallas Semi run around the clock in advance of a
summer announcement that iButtons will be used in a product called e-Stamp -
a new universal method of sending what has come to be known as "snail mail."
Users with iButtons will be able to buy postage from a U.S. Postal Internet
site, download the encrypted data to a button on their desktops, then print
out stamped and precisely metered envelopes, debiting their buttons with a
touch of an electronic wand.
"The iButtons were really a solution waiting for a product," said Mr.
Jarrett. "These guys wanted to use the Internet. It was perfect."
Downsizing technology
Many people swear they are addicted to 3Com's Palm Pilot, a hand-held
organizer. Still in the testing labs are full-function computers that are as
portable as a Walkman radio.
IBM is among several companies working on go-everywhere machine designs. The
IBM prototype unit is called Visionpad, a translucent device that clips on a
belt and has a tiny rectangular display that sits an inch or two in front of
the user's eye - similar to a mirror mounted on a bicycle helmet.
The screen appears to the eye to be about the size of a full notebook PC
screen floating in front of the user's face, said Phil Hester, chief
technology officer for IBM's personal systems group in Austin.
"How small can we make the computer? The idea of this kind of wearable
computer is it's for someone who doesn't want to give up anything," he said.
Keyboards are essential now, but many experts believe interaction with the
Internet will gradually become voice-driven.
Just this month, several new devices were introduced that retrieve e-mail
from Internet servers, then read it back on a standard telephone line.
Beyond that, consumers are quickly warming to "personal video recorders" and
other "intelligent buffers" that can customize entertainment options. TiVo
and Replay, new set-top boxes, scour channel listings for selections fitting
criteria set by the television's owner.
The devices - which are actually mini-computers storing video on hard
drives - allow users to bypass commercials, setting up their own channels
around selected content grabbed from the cable or traditional broadcasts.
Users can then watch programs whenever they want to, and advertising can be
skipped altogether.
Jim Griffin, former head of Geffen Records and now a Los Angeles-based new
media consultant, sees the Internet and new technology gradually and
dramatically transforming our expectations for service.
Rather than taking products "pushed" to them laden with unwanted features
and advertising, Mr. Griffin said, consumers are increasingly able to
dictate how and when they'll use products, especially those involving
information and entertainment.
"Consumers are becoming the controllers," he said.
For example, consumers will soon be able to use an "intelligent buffer" that
seeks out music, videos or films, then stores it - without advertising - to
be used whenever desired, Mr. Griffin said.
At first, it may take a clunky computer to understand what the consumer
wants. Later, Mr. Griffin said, car radios will have the ability, while
idle, to sift through a wireless Internet connection and grab particular
music or radio play for later listening.
"We are getting control of our digits in a way we never had before," Mr.
Griffin said.
Selective advertising
At the same time, this convenient digital sifting can wreak havoc on an
economy based on brand recognition and traditional advertising.
New methods will have to be developed to reach consumers who are content to
rush right by the television and radio ads they once sat through in easy
chairs. Advertisers will be challenged to use the personal data being
gathered by Internet Web sites and other methods to address only those
consumers who are truly potential buyers.
"We're moving from shooting a shotgun in the air to shooting a silver bullet
right through the forehead of targets," Mr. Griffin said. "Advertisers will
pay much higher rates to reach only the people they want to reach."
The old advertising models are still seen in e-mail "spam," which swamps the
Internet with commercial messages largely discarded by uninterested and
irritated Netizens. The new model is in a formative stage, featuring regular
skirmishes over privacy, data collection and just how much information
Internet users are willing to hand over in exchange for content.
In the latest twist, firms here and abroad have begun experimenting with
free or low-cost access to the Internet in exchange for the right to stream
specialized ads to users based on questionnaires.
"I think the next 36 months will tell us whether free Internet service in
the U.S. remains," said Steven B. Daum, chairman and CEO of the Smart
Network's FreeWWWeb service. FreeWWWeb charges a one-time software fee of up
to $119 for full access via dial-up connections in 93 metropolitan areas.
"We've seen three or four other folks [offering free access] come and go out
of business," Mr. Daum said. "I think one of the reasons is that, just by
nature, the American consumers are a very leery bunch. They just don't
believe it."
Privacy experts contend consumers are perhaps just being careful when
bartering away their privacy. However, when other corporations have offered
free computers in exchange for the same kind of ad-pushing rights, consumers
have flooded Web sites with orders.
As consumers have become more comfortable with making the Internet part of
their lives, they are increasingly willing to buy goods and services over
the Web. The security concerns of only a few years ago have largely been
eased by safety guarantees for credit-card transactions.
However, while some consumers are perfectly at ease buying a book or compact
disc online, they may remain edgy about purchasing an airline ticket costing
several hundred dollars, said Terrell B. Jones, president of
Travelocity.com, a unit of Sabre Inc. in Fort Worth. Many customers shop for
tickets online but still make the final purchase from a travel agent or the
airline.
"We sell a $260 average ticket, and if you buy an e-ticket, that's
essentially a nonrefundable bag of electrons," Mr. Jones said. "It comes
with rules. It's much more complicated for the consumer in how they feel
about it."
Still, Travelocity.com is growing at a rapid clip, booking $128 million in
ticket sales in the first quarter of this year, a 156 percent increase over
the same period last year.
New competition
For all the excitement about what it can offer consumers, the Internet also
is striking terror in many businesses.
One of the biggest threats to the most venerable U.S. corporations, analysts
say, is that on the Internet, customers tend to become loyal quickly to
those that have arrived in a market segment first. That advantage may be
more important than trusted brand names and corporate identities.
The reason the newcomers can displace the old brands is because habits are
formed quickly on the Internet, as with any medium, said Todd Wagner, chief
executive of Broadcast.com Inc. in Dallas, which sends audio and video
programs over the Internet.
Research shows that while newcomers to the Internet mostly surf and explore,
users quickly develop routines and revisit the same sites that they have
left bookmarked in their Web browser software.
Broadcast.com arrived early on the scene, first broadcasting over the
Internet in September 1995, and it consistently has been one of the most
visited sites. Broadcast.com is in the process of being acquired by Yahoo
Inc., one of the leading new media companies on the Internet.
"We're changing the rules," Mr. Wagner said. "We grew up with broadcasting
as three channels. Cable was a certain number more. What we say is unlimited
channels."
Passive viewing will become increasingly passe for people seeking
information from TV, he said.
"Do you really care about all the stock quotes running at the bottom of the
TV screen? Maybe a specific shareholder meeting is what you care about. You
become the broadcaster."
The Internet is considered the ultimate tool in what is called "one-to-one
marketing," through which companies can target and deliver directed messages
to an audience with specific interests and demographic characteristics.
Sellers can also collect, track, analyze and markettheir products based on
databases of customer buying habits. Another advantage to sellers is that an
advertisement can be converted into a transaction with the click of a mouse.
Home buyers are comparing mortgage rates on the Web to find their best deal
rather than visiting the loan officer at the local bank.
Many book shoppers don't bother with stores. They go to amazon.com, looking
for the convenience of online shopping and a virtually unlimited selection
that can be custom-tailored to their tastes.
Customers who want to book an airline ticket are shopping from
Travelocity.com or Microsoft's Expedia.com instead of visiting their
neighborhood travel agent.
Investors are flocking online, attracted by a robust stock market and
discount trading commissions from firms including E*TradeGroup Inc. and
Charles Schwab Corp.
The huge success of online trading has forced the nation's largest
brokerage, Merrill Lynch & Co., to change the way it competes. In May,
Merrill, a firm steeped in full-service tradition, announced it will offer
discount online trading.
The move - representing what is essentially a new business model for the
company - is fraught with risk for Merrill and its nearly 15,000
stockbrokers, on whom the firm is based.
But many say Merrill and virtually every other firm have little choice but
to make dramatic shifts when the Internet is so profoundly transforming the
U.S. economy.
"If you can't react quickly, you'll become extinct," said Mr. Moore of EDS.
Because the Web often offers better product selection and lower prices than
traditional stores,
many say retailers who don't add substantial service will increasingly have
trouble competing.
"Retailers who continue to operate under the old value cycle may fall victim
to e-commerce, while we plan to grow along with the Internet," said Leonard
Roberts, chairman, president and chief executive of Tandy Corp.
The Fort Worth-based parent of the Radio Shack chain has tried to carve a
niche for itself with sales people who "demystify" technology, he said, and
the stores have been experiencing brisk, double-digit sales growth.
Cutting the middleman
The Internet takes particular aim at the intermediaries who aid in
completing transactions, such as stock brokers and insurance agents, who can
be bypassed thanks to an abundance of online information.
Dell Computer Corp., the Round Rock, Texas-based company that builds
personal computers to order and sells them directly to its customers, often
over the Internet, is often held up as an example of where corporations are
headed.
By selling machines directly to customers, bypassing distributors and other
resellers, the company can undercut its rivals' prices, increase sales
volume and earn a consistently tidy profit.
Customers appreciate that Dell can configure each machine to their
specifications: the exact combination of processor speed, memory, hard-drive
space, software and other features.
And because PCs are built to order, Dell maintains a minimal inventory of
components and finished products. That's critical because the driving force
in the PC business is rapid obsolescence. A PC's shelf life is so short that
its value depreciates about 1 percent each week.
"Every CEO in the world is focused on this. We're at the beginning of a huge
wave of companies making their businesses Web-centric," said Michael Dell,
chairman and chief executive.
"Whether it's business to business or business to consumer, everyone is
going to drive hard in this direction. And we're at the center of it -
providing PCs, servers and services."
The Internet offers the opportunity to double the advantages realized by the
direct-sales model, according to Dell, and the company seeks to put its
entire business on the Web. In its last quarter, sales over the Internet
surpassed $18 million a day, accounting for 30 percent of overall revenue.
Evidence of the pain that the Dell model is causing companies that are part
of the so-called
indirect channel can be found throughout the industry, including at
Houston-based Compaq Computer Corp., the world's largest PC maker.
Compaq's board of directors ousted the company's chief executive, Eckhard
Pfeiffer, in April over dissatisfaction with the firm's performance.
Like Merrill Lynch, Compaq has been struggling with how to confront major
changes in its business model. Compaq increasingly is selling directly to
customers, too. But as it expands the business, it is alienating the
resellers who account for nearly all of its current revenue.
The same thing could happen in any business as customers become more
comfortable buying over the Web.
Mr. Moore of EDS said he recently met with a Silicon Valley executive who
got the Internet religion.
"He wanted EDS to help," Mr. Moore said. "I said, 'What changed your
strategy?'
"He said, 'Eckhard Pfeiffer getting fired.' "
More information
Health care
Patients and their families can find a wealth of information
search.yahoo.com/
bin/search?p=dallas+health+care) about virtually any medical condition with
just a few keystrokes. The World Wide Web has made it possible to easily
retrieve information from advocacy groups, government agencies and medical
journals.
While welcoming the better education of their patients, doctors are also
concerned that much of the information on the Internet comes from sources
that are inaccurate or incomplete. They recommend that before taking any
medical information to heart, patients consult with a doctor, nurse or other
medical professional.
- Laura Beil
E-mail
The Internet's dominant application has always been e-mail. And this simple,
cheap form of electronic interaction shows no signs of giving up its title.
E-Marketers Inc. recently estimated that in 1998, 3.4 trillion e-mail
messages were sent across the Internet, up from 107 billion the year before.
The research firm Infobeads says the reason is simple - "The network effect:
the more people on the Internet, the larger the attraction and value the
Internet has for each additional user," a recent study said. "Add to that
the ever-declining cost of PCs, and you begin to see why the Internet has
grown the way it has: Many people buy cheap PCs as glorified e-mail
stations."
New technologies are poised to build on e-mail's ubiquity, making it easier
to use and unbinding it from computer workstations.
- Doug Bedell
Political campaigns
Online voting may be a few years away, but presidential candidates are
exploring new ways to use the Internet in their 2000 campaigns
www.politics1.com) - beyond posting biographies and issuing positions. The
Web is becoming a multipurpose tool to raise funds, recruit volunteers,
announce schedules, distribute ads, show videos, have online chats and
exchange password-protected information among workers.
Republican Steve Forbes announced his candidacy on his Web site with an
audio address and is urging supporters to build electronic precincts. Gov.
George W. Bush's site can be read in Spanish. Republican Elizabeth Dole
allows viewers to create interactive postcards with her picture to send
friends. Democrat Al Gore's site has a Town Hall section that allows
citizens to ask the vice president questions. All major candidates have Web
sites, though they vary in sophistication.
- Carolyn Barta
Senior citizens
Go ahead. Discuss the Internet with your grandparents. Chances are, they
won't get lost in the lingo. They'll probably share their own favorite Web
site.
According to a 1998 Baruch College-Louis Harris Survey, almost one in five
Web surfers is 50 or older. Eleven years ago, SeniorNet membership numbered
22. Today, 30,000 folks 50 and older - from every state and several
countries - belong to the nonprofit organization. Its mission includes
enhancing seniors' lives through computer technology.
Senior computer users plan trips online. They e-mail family members. They
read newspapers and magazines to which they otherwise wouldn't subscribe.
They enhance their education. Being online helps them - as it helps us all -
ease loneliness and feel more a part of the changing world around them.
- Leslie Garcia
Buying books
Amazon.com pioneered Internet book buying, made tons of money as the
quintessential, rapid-rising digital stock and revolutionized the publishing
industry - or it will, as soon as we all change our nonwired shopping
habits.
Hardly.
Despite the waves that amazon, booksense and the other dot-coms have raised
in the industry, the super chains such as Borders and the discounters such
as Wal-Mart still rule the waves in book sales - although that is slowly
changing. Web book-buying is growing, but it's also true that many book
buyers will never give up the pleasant, social experience of browsing in
stores while heavily caffeinated.
What amazon.com really popularized was e-commerce in general. Selling
absolutely anything has been amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' real aim, as is evident
in amazon's move into video, audio, gifts and shopping referral, as well as
its competition with such "cyber malls" as buy.com. Books were Mr. Bezos'
entry wedge into retail, and he could easily drop them - but only after he's
made the surviving independent booksellers get smart, get service-oriented
and get logged on.
- Jerome Weeks
Gossip
In more quaint times, neighbors would lean across a picket fence and swap
rumors about the widow down the street and the latest on so-and-so's
delinquent son.
In our Internet age, strangers lean across a virtual fence and swap rumors
about the president of the United States and the latest on an international
plane crash. And somewhere between occasionally and frequently, those
stories find their way onto network broadcasts and into the pages of
newspapers and magazines.
While each successive generation of electronic media has steadily
transformed gossip into a national pastime and bankable commodity,
cyberspace has proven to be a global microwave.
>From the Pierre Salinger uproar in the wake of the 1996 crash of TWA Flight
800 (when the once-esteemed reporter "broke" the story on a government
cover-up based on widely discredited reports he found on the Internet) to
the making of Matt Drudge into an overnight celebrity based on his Web site
devoted to President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, the Internet can
bring the wildest fringes of gossip ( www.cyberpages.com/
news&views/subjects?30) to the front and center of pop culture with the
click of a button.
- Tom Maurstad
Disabled access
Until recently, Internet access was an abstract concept to most of the
disabled community ( www.eskimo.com/~jlubin/disabled/pchat.htm). Thanks to
the actions of such groups as Boston's Web Access Project, that void is
gradually being filled.
The blind can now browse the Internet using screen-reading software that
uses speech synthesis to convert text to words; people with mobility
limitations have programs that convert spoken words to text; the deaf can
experience almost instantaneous two-way communication, replacing the
more-limiting fax; and programs that reset screen colors to accommodate
color-blindness are also available.
All of this broadens the base of students, consumers and potential employees
who can compete in an increasingly technology-driven world.
- Ellen Sweets
Buying music
Some music lovers hate buying CDs on the Internet because it has none of the
romance of searching through the bins at the local record shop. But others
swear by CD-buying sites such as amazon.com (www.amazon.com) and cdnow.com
cdnow.com; instead of needing a detective to track down an obscure disc by
that highly touted new Bulgarian jazz-metal band, now you can find it with a
few clicks of the mouse. And instead of having to guess whether you'll like
it or not, you can listen to part of a song or two online before you plunk
down $15 for the CD.
- Thor Christensen
Cyber terrorism
The Internet makes computer networks in sensitive security spots - from the
White House to the fire department - vulnerable to terrorists
oicj.acsp.uic.edu/
spearmint/public/pubs/cjfarrago/terroroz.cfm). Cyber weapons can disrupt or
destroy databases, turn radars blank, shut down power grids or route planes
and trains into collision courses. Some work by manipulating data to provide
faulty intelligence or steal funds.
Hackers and thieves account for most of the computer viruses and stolen
electronic funds. But politics is becoming a motive equal to vandalism and
greed.
Yugoslavs and Chinese upset with the air war over Kosovo attacked NATO and
Defense Department Web sites. There are hundreds of unauthorized attempts to
penetrate restricted military networks every day.
An industry of security firms defends against these attacks with anti-virus
programs, encrypted entry systems and special networks run separately from
the Internet. Cyber sleuths with private firms, the FBI and a new federal
Cybercorps try to track attacks back to their source.
- Jim Landers
Net regulation
>From its earliest days, the Clinton administration has tried to follow a
"hands-off" policy toward Internet regulation ( www.isoc.org/). The
reasoning is that the Internet is a young industry that will flourish best
with no federal restraint over content or technology.
It's been difficult to resist regulatory restraint, however, when faced with
Internet overlays to crimes involving children. Two federal laws - one
overturned by a federal appeals court, the other still under challenge -
have tried to restrict the exposure of children to pornographic material.
Another forbids passing on medical histories.
Privacy concerns motivate advocates of additional regulation. And both
buyers and sellers in Internet commerce need ways to validate the integrity
of transactions.
Self-regulation by the industry has led to an agreed set of technical
standards under the Internet Engineering Task Force of the Reston, Va.-based
Internet Society. It's been much tougher to gain industry consensus on
privacy and junk e-mail, though most Web sites now carry policy statements
on privacy.
Governments in China, Singapore and elsewhere restrain Internet service
providers and try to restrict content, but experts say it's a porous
exercise that does more to restrain technology development than limit the
circulation of information.
- Jim Landers
Taxation
The Internet is a useful way to file taxes ( ec.fed.gov/), but it can also
be a useful way to avoid them. Electronic commerce crosses state and
national borders without blinking, making sales taxes problematic.
A federal Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce began meeting last week
to consider whether Internet sales, hook-ups and sign-ons should be taxed
like catalog sales or telephone calls. A three-year moratorium on Internet
taxes was signed into law last year to allow the committee a chance to make
its recommendations.
The Internet can convey work and money in similar fashion: A software
engineer in Texas can deliver a product in Ohio, avoid Ohio's income tax and
collect his pay anywhere. The possibilities for tax avoidance are enhanced
enormously.
"It's not likely anyone would ever allow an entirely tax-free environment on
the Internet, because all commerce would go there," said Don Heath,
president and CEO of the Internet Society.
- Jim Landers
Families
The Internet is a lot like nuclear power in its effect on the family
dir.yahoo.com/
society_and_culture/families/). It has a tremendous power to do good or to
destroy.
Family Web pages can help you keep in touch with the sights and voices of
loved ones. E-mail makes distances dissolve as parents send quick messages
to a child away at college or remind one at home that they're thinking of
him.
Families can surf the Internet together - for school projects or just for
fun. But be careful when family members start spending a lot of time going
it alone, said W. Robert Beavers, M.D., director of the Robert Beavers
Family Studies Center at Southern Methodist University.
"The anonymity is problematic for both children and adults," he said. Adults
and children can be seduced in chat rooms, he warned. In addition, he said,
kids can fall into a Lord of the Flies syndrome if they find a group on the
Web that encourages them to commit violent and destructive acts.
- Nancy Churnin
Scientific research
Professional scientists in the past relied only on printed journals to
publicize research findings. Now they use the Internet to publish data too
cumbersome for print or to share video clips of experiments.
Amateur scientists can also help the pros, thanks to the Internet. Anyone
can participate in data-gathering experiments, such as the Audubon Society's
( www.spea.indiana.edu/v501w-laku/FolderC/audobon.htm) annual Christmas bird
count or backyard observations of distant stars. Weather-watchers also share
up-to-the minute data.
- Alexandra Witze and Sue Goetinck
Law enforcement
The Police Officer's Internet Directory ( www.officer.com/) works as an
enormous bookmark list for anyone working in law enforcement. A search
engine makes it easy to use, and search results tend to be more productive
than directory services because of the focus on criminal justice.
Besides troves of job listings and other data of personal interest to police
officers, the site includes links to legal resources such as court opinions
and state and federal laws. Also, links to specialized information on
classes of crimes - such as hate crimes and computer crimes - are easy to
find, providing a good resource to departments with less experience with
obscure criminal activity.
- Rick Klein
Travel
Travel ( dir.yahoo.com/recreation/travel/) has been a natural for the
Internet - destination and airline-booking sites are among the most popular
online. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. Savvy travel agents can often
beat online prices, and computer glitches and slow connections mean some
people can finish trips in less time than it takes to book them. Still,
Internet travel-planning shows no sign of slowing: Within two years, 8 to 10
percent of all tickets will be bought online, experts said.
- Larry Bleiberg
Religion
After sex, politics and Star Wars, religion
dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/religion_and_spirituality/) may be the
most popular topic on the Internet. The Alta Vista search engine turned up
6.3 million hits for the word "god." Every major religion is represented by
dozens of official and thousands of unofficial sites.
The Net may be most valuable to those who practice or are interested in
faith traditions that aren't well-known where they live. Someone interested
in the basics about Islam, the Baha'i faith or even renewed worship of Norse
and other pagan deities can find it easily online.
On the other hand, the Net is as filled with misinformation about religion
as it is about any other topic. And hate-filled screeds against Catholics,
Muslims, Jews and others are only a mouse-click away.
At the end of the 1990s, some issues raised by religion online are still
unresolved: Can people worship on the Internet, or does real religion
require that people get together? How can a faith tradition exercise quality
control about what is said about it online? What is the best way for an
individual or a congregation to take advantage of the Internet's
opportunities?
- Jeffrey Weiss
Sports ticket sales
Rick Baker, executive director of the Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl, said a
ticket application was included on its Web site last year almost as an
afterthought. Now, he is glad it was.
Because of a major upset in the Big 12 Conference football championship game
Dec. 5, the Cotton Bowl could not announce which two teams were playing in
its annual New Year's Eve game until 6 p.m. the next day, a Sunday.
When Mr. Baker announced in a conference call that Texas would be playing
Mississippi State, the ticket office was closed - and would remain closed
until 8 a.m. on Monday. But in the 14 hours between his announcement and the
reopening of the office, 900 football fans placed orders for 5,000 tickets
through the Web site.
"For all intents and purposes, the Web site sold out the stadium before we
turned on the phone lines," Mr. Baker said. "You don't need a ticket outlet
in Austin or Starkville, Miss., anymore," Mr. Baker said. "Now your ticket
outlet ( st4.yahoo.net/tixx/) is the Internet."
- Dave Caldwell
Target marketing
The Internet is helping companies build stronger relationships withtheir
customers.
In November, Hyatt Hotels upgraded its Web site for customers whobelong to
its Gold Passport club. One of the benefits: Gold Passportmembers can now
use the Web site 24 hours a day to receive missingcredits for stays at Hyatt
Hotels. Before the upgrade, they had to calla customer service
representative during business hours.
The Web site also offers special promotions and the ability to claimrewards
and change account information.
"The Internet provides the ability to get a lot more information more
quickly," said John Jastrem, chief executive of the Dallas office of Rapp
Collins Worldwide , one of the nation's largest direct-response and database
marketing agencies and the company that upgraded Hyatt's Web site.
- Katherine Yung
Car shopping
As a selling tool, the Internet has been widely embraced by new- andused-car
dealers, industry observers say. About 60 percent of allnew-car dealers in
the United States have Web sites, according to the National Automobile
Dealers Association. That number isup from 53 percent a year ago.
But while widely used, the Internet doesn't produce many sales, NADAhas
found. Dealerships make an average of 5.3 sales per month over theInternet,
less than 5 percent of a typical dealership inthe Dallas area. That number
does not include referrals dealershipsget from Internet consumer car
services.
Part of the problem for Internet car sales is that in many states -including
Texas - cars can't actually be sold over the Internet.Information can be
distributed and questions answered, but the sale mustoccur at a dealership.
- Terry Box
Phone service
The Internet is a big part of the reason AT&T is buying or becoming partners
with cable companies, including TCI Communications, which serves Dallas. The
giant long-distance company not only plans to sell local phone service
www.internettelephony.com/) over the cable networks, but also
premium-priced, high-speed Internet access. AT&T hopes customers who get
hooked on its super-fast Web access will become more loyal to its
long-distance service.
Data services are the fastest-growing revenue source for local
phonecompanies and a major factor behind the growth of second phone lines.
The Internet is driving new technology, too, such as cell phones that surf
the Web and wireless computer modems. Manufacturers expect demand for those
products to take off after companies deploy next-generation mobile phone
systems, which will dramatically speed up Internet connections.
- Jennifer Files
Media
Hoping to cash in on the high stock-market values enjoyed by
onlinecompanies, media companies are also rushing to form their own
Internetsubsidiaries that could one day be spun off. In May, The New York
Times Co., the Tribune Co. and Belo Corp., owner of The Dallas Morning News,
each announced plans to pool the online versions of their newspapers and
television stations into separate Internet companies.
"They are looking to maximize shareholder value," said David Cole, a San
Francisco-based newspaper consultant and editor of The ColePapers, a monthly
newsletter on technology, journalism andpublishing. "Ink-on-paper assets
depress the worth of a company."
- Katherine Yung
Electronic communities
Name your village ( www.sonoma.edu/virtcomm/elvill.html).
Or more precisely, name your subject - from breastfeeding toBuddhism, hockey
to home schooling - and chances are good that an Internet community has
grown up around it.
More and more, Web sites are allowing people to post messages and even
engage in real-time chat.
- Pete Slover
Copyright and the First Amendment
Many people wrongly assume that everything posted on the Internet ispublic
domain, says a Web primer on the subject published by the University of
Texas System.
Copyright protection is automatic for nearly any creativework, the page
notes. There is, however, an implied limited right to read, download, print
and forward materials for personal - not commercial - use. The law is still
undecided on how far this "fair use," time-honored in other media, extends
in the Internet context.
Also up in the air is the liability for libelous statements transmitted over
the Internet. Clearly, the person who publishes defamatory information is
subject to being sued for damages. But the liability of third parties for
retransmitting or linking to that material is unclear, especially when the
author is anonymous.
- Pete Slover
Computer gaming
The Internet is slowly becoming an integral part of the gamingworld
dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Games/Computer_Games/). The information the Web
brings is invaluable, but the slow connection experienced by the majority of
gamers is still the bottleneck of the online-gaming explosion.
Things that make a game great, such as real-time chat and smoothplay, will
be hampered until ultrafast connections become more widely available and
affordable. But one thing is for sure: Having Internet support will be
crucial to a multiplayer game's success in the future.
- Jim Buu
Food
The Internet provides foodies and novice cooks alike with millions of
recipes, from the Bon Appetit magazine archives to all manner of
broccoli-and-chicken permutations. Esoteric information, such as metric
recipe conversions, is as close as Epicurious.com, the encyclopedic Conde
Nast food Web site.
Other sites, such as Peapod.com, allow consumers to shop their local grocery
stores without leaving home, while gourmet outlets such as the famous Dean &
Deluca in New York give them entree to shopping opportunities heretofore
confined to catalogs.
In the works: more customized services, such as systems to order takeout
online and pick it up on the way home. But you still can't order direct from
California wineries online: Texas law prevents them from shipping to
consumers here.
- Kim Pierce
Distance learning
Hundreds of programs at accredited universities offer associate degrees to
doctorates in aviation or business or nursing or theology or you-name-it.
And you never have to show up for class on the last day, distraught and
unprepared for finals. You never have to "show up" at all.
Online learning, virtually unheard of a decade ago, is the hottest thing in
academe, appealing especially to working adults eager for the mental
stimulation but lacking time or proximity to a university. Students download
assignments and lectures from profs, receive books through the (snail) mail,
carry on class discussions via e-mail, visit a library electronically and
post completed papers for comment from fellow students.
The virtual classroom is highly democratic - no one can judge you by your
appearance, only by what you contribute to class online. Conversations tend
to be more considered and deliberate when one has to write one's thoughts
beforehand. Harder to ramble that way, or monopolize the conversation. And
if you don't like what a classmate has written, just go on to the next
contribution.
To get started, try Petersons.com for indexed listings of myriad degree
programs, distance learning tips and even financial aid.
- Lois Reed
Pornography
You can explore just about any type of sexuality through the Internet: a
virtually infinite supply of dirty pictures, uncensored chat rooms,
activities and obsessions up to and even beyond what the law allows.
But so can your kids. A lot of adult-only sites try to make you prove you're
18, but a lot of them don't. There are family-friendly filters
public-library.calgary.ab.ca/fam/lkfilters.htm) and software to screen out
objectionable material, but the results vary. For families online, those are
good reasons to set limits for children and to keep an eye on who's browsing
where.
- Michael Precker
Video conferencing
Recent dramatic jumps in Internet speeds and data-packaging technologies are
gradually bringing the Jetsonian video phone into reality.
Although home users have been slow to warm to the camera, businesses already
equipped with high-speed connections are finding video-conferencing
www.gvcnet.com/) a cheap, efficient way to collaborate with clients and
companies worldwide.
Even with sub-$100 cameras and free software programs, it is now possible
for people to see and speak to each other across vast distances with few
delays.
The technology has the capability to ultimately turn every computer into a
tiny Internet television station, broadcasting unique streams of video and
data worldwide.
But will there be enough "anchor people" to go around?
- Doug Bedell
Banking and paying bills
The Internet has sparked an evolution in the way banks ( Yahoo area on
banking) view how theyserve customers and in the way customers view their
banks, experts said. The primary vehicles for this have been online banking
and electronic bill-paying.
In the future, more small banks will join their larger brethren inoffering
Web-based banking, and more banks will offer consumers theability to view
their bills and pay them online, experts said. Somebanks already are
offering those features.
- Pamela Yip
Libraries
The tremendous transformation that the Internet has brought to libraries
www.lib.ci.dallas.tx.us/) is access. Entire archives of up-to-date
periodicals and rare manuscripts, whole libraries from anywhere in the
world: These are available to people in flyspeck towns and students in
no-football-team colleges. Anyone with a phone jack, keyboard and monitor
can do Ivy League-level research. Online access is the fulfillment of the
library's great, democratic mission: unfettered information for the people.
At the same time, the Internet may well prove a disaster for libraries.
Disseminating data is only one library mission; preserving it is the other.
So much of digital culture is pure commerce; it's generated by people racing
to sell the latest gizmo. Who cares about last year? Libraries house our
past, our memory, our literature - while the Internet is a medium constantly
jettisoning its own history, consuming everything, storing nothing.
Demanding more desk space, more machinery, more training, more budget
allocations from libraries and librarians, the Internet (and computerization
in general) boots up the big question: After diverting all of these
resources to digital information, what happens to a library's precious
archives in a few years, when its equipment has been rendered obsolete, when
its computer memory is inadequate?
- Jerome Weeks
Television
Television ( www.emmys.org/archive/) viewing increasingly is spilling over
onto home computer screens. Major productions, such as ABC's recent The
Century series, invariably have companion Web sites brimming with further
details. The venerable "cutting-room floor" increasingly is an anachronism.
Information that previously fell victim to time constraints is now readily
available online.
Sometimes the Internet has a mind of its own. The WB's season-ending episode
of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was pre-empted in the United States after the
tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. But the episode aired
in Canada and subsequently was downloaded for viewing by U.S.
computer-philes. It's a new form of bootlegging that could spread rapidly.
What's to stop "pilot" episodes of new shows from making their Internet
debuts weeks or months before showing up on TV sets?
As if you didn't already have enough to watch.
- Ed Bark
Public records
Access to public records ( records.txdps.state.tx.us/dps/default.cfm) has
become cheaper and easier on the Internet. Netizens in Portland can find
property tax records in Dallas or call up a list of registered sex offenders
by ZIP code. These records have always been available, but their display on
the Internet has made many citizens more aware of the information they can
find.
The pay service publicdata.com also is a great source of quick information
about almost anyone in Texas. A vast amount of public information is indexed
there, most of it obtained under federal and state open-records laws.
Voter registration and driver's license information can be found through
simple queries, as can state criminal records and civil-court information.
Some police agencies use the stop as a quick and easy way to find
information to which all citizens have access.
A serious caution: Check your sources. Some information, posted with the
best of intentions, is outdated or inaccurate. There's still no substitute
for a trip to the courthouse to get the real thing.
- Tim Wyatt and Rick Klein
Job searching
Looking for a job in 1999? Boot up your computer.
Monster.com, the largest job-posting site on the World Wide Web, reported
222,000 jobs up for grabs in mid-June and 1.5 million resumesin its
confidential database.
Those numbers make it the Godzilla of Internet job boards, but Monster is
far from alone. Mark Poppen, who's in charge of customer relations for
recruiting consultant Interbiznet.com, has seen the number of job-recruiting
sites climb from about 500 in 1996 to more than 20,000 by the end of 1998.
"We're probably at 40,000 sites right now that have some recruiting
component to them," he said.
- Diana Kunde
Social services
Although clients at social service agencies ( www.unitedwaydallas.com/)
often lack computer - or even basic reading - skills, many nonprofits are
finding that the Internet helps in the perpetual quest for money and
volunteers.
Nonprofit workers rely on the Internet to search for government grants to
fund their projects. They also are creating an increasing number of Web
sites to describe their operations to potential donors.
Because social welfare agencies face an onslaught of ever-changing federal
laws on everything from food-stamp and welfare eligibility to immigration
rules, the Internet also has become an efficient way of getting up-to-date
information to cash-strapped charities.
- Lori Stahl