July 3, 1999
Today's Links Story: Goodbye Studio Archetype
InfoWorld: Web applications often fail to scale, to CEOs' chagrin.
But despite the dubious provenance of the study, the lesson is obvious: Web sites and the applications that drive them often run into trouble when faced with real-world usage.
Advertising Age: Rich media carve niche.
...the "almost gimmicky" but "fun" applications probably boost brand awareness. But "in the future if they're widely adopted they'll become a victim of their own success; it'll be ho-hum."
Project Cool: No Free Lunch. The various free services are a case in point. In every case, you put up your pages and the services sells banner advertising on your content. It often collects your data and your visitors data and resells this information in various ways.
PC World: Beyond the Online Shopping Hype.
Site review of Beyond.com. What's notable is Beyond.com tells you the prices up front in the customer service section. Several online retailers seemed to hide the shipping and handling fee information, while some insist that you begin the order process to get a price estimate.
Fortune: New Search Tools.
Two of the larger search engine companies have created new versions of their search engines that can be targeted at particular subjects, and a couple companies are using that technology coupled with researchers of their own to target specific business markets.
Internet World: Dissatisfaction With Banner Ads Is On the Rise.
"In an interactive world, the consumer is doing something else," said Stanley. "The banner is blinking out of the corner of their eye."
Wired News: Starbucks Stirs Literary Brouhaha.
But no sooner had Joe hit the stands than the protectors of the literary elite were waxing (eloquently) about Starbucks' attempt to buy itself some cultural and intellectual property.
Intenet World: Deconstructing Corbis.
Clement Mok and Jakob Nielsen. Every section and every function is labeled with great accuracy. You are never tricked into clicking and pushing a button without being informed about the consequences.
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