August 3, 1999
PC Week: Wireless speeds ahead.
"At first I was not convinced why I needed to have [wireless Internet access]," Mann said. "[But] it's the self-reliance; not having to depend on anyone else for a Net connection."
MSNBC: Billboards add new dimension to the world of multimedia.
Only about one of every 200 viewers of an Internet ad actually clicks through to the advertiser’s Web site. "People kind of ignore them," says Michael Feldman, marketing manager at Fogdog, an online sports store that is beefing up its offline advertising.
SJ Mercury: Internet ad auction site goes traditional.
Moving further from its roots as a bargain bin for Internet banner ads, Adauction.com said Tuesday it launched a division to sell outdoor advertising, including billboards, wallscapes, taxi tops and buses.
Wired News: Online Liquor Ban Approved.
As expected, legislation restricting the sale of alcohol over the Internet sailed through the House of Representatives Tuesday, dealing a blow to online wineries and angering e-commerce advocates.
LA Times: Net Searchers to Index All 800 Million Pages.
Nielsen said the problem with automated search engines isn't so much their reach, but an inability to make even the most basic decisions on what is relevant, important and worthwhile.
TechWeb: ExciteAtHome Engine To Search Entire Web.
The index is being compiled using a combination of software and dozens of human editors, Carpenter said.
ClickZ: Telling It Your Way.
Guiding web visitors through product information to easily create understanding can help visitors make a good decision quickly, and can help improve web site effectiveness.
Useit.Com: Spotlight of a report from Resource Marketing on a usability test of shopping cart terminology.
Actually, the draft design he tested featured the term "Shopping Sled" since the site (selling a winter sports products) was interested in standing out and avoiding standard terminology. Result: "50% of users did not understand The Sled concept.
- Web Review: From February 21, 1997; Love Your Labels.
If you don't have to re-invent the wheel, don't! Take lessons from sites that are particularly easy to use and employ similar labels and labeling schemes.
PC Week: Can 'messaging diplomats' end AOL-Microsoft impasse?
"Vijay and I know that a lot of traffic will be based on services and offerings other than instant messaging. Once the infrastructure is in place, you can do a lot of stuff beyond instant messaging."
Stating the Obvious: The Truly Personal Web.
The ones who win will be those who figure out how to offset the risk (or perceived risk) of privacy violations with functionality that customers truly value.
ABCNews.Com: A World of Sensors.
And the researchers at last week’s conference noted that planting unseen computers everywhere would be pointless unless real, useful benefits result.
WebWord.Com: The Stranglehold of the Priesthood Has Been Broken.
Q&A with Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini. AOL figured having a usable interface would be a good thing. Compuserve did not. Compuserve has folded it's unfriendly little tent and became an ISP, while AOL has enough money in petty cash to buy Compuserve and a large portion of South America.
Salon: For your information.
The information markets will connect experts ranging from tax accountants to dog trainers with people who are willing to pay for their help, and the info market providers will take a cut of the transaction fee.
Red Herring: Big Fish: Paul Bandrowski stands up for (digital) rights.
"People need to protect their investments," he explains, painting the scene of a world where customers can order books or training films online and pay for them in increments as they view them. Reciprocal, Mr. Bandrowski says, will sit in the middle of these Internet-based transactions, taking a cut.
Mappa.Mundi Magazine: Maps: Internet Arcs Around The Globe from 1996.
A team of researchers, Tamara Munzner, K. Claffy, Eric Hoffman and Bill Fenner produced visually striking, interactive maps of part of the Internet using arcs encircling an Earth globe.
ZDNN: Excite@Home, Yahoo! rumors squashed.
[Excite@Home president George Bell] "We have been in talks with AOL, Yahoo!, and lots of folks about our start page." He added: "But there is no truth to the rumors of acquisition discussions reported in Business Week."
Builder.Com: Pump Up Your Content and Get Paid for It.
Dan Shafer. I believe affiliate programs are the hidden gold mine of the Web. As more of them come online and as more builders of small-to-medium sized sites latch onto them and use them wisely, they are going to become a huge economic sub-sector.
Interactive Week: 3Com Licenses Browser For Palm.
...3Com today said it signed a licensing agreement with Phone.com to incorporate Phone.com's Wireless Application Protocol-compatible browser into the Palm operating system.
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