August 16, 1999
Internet Week: Customer Relationship Management: Satisfaction Guaranteed.
"We don't want to have huge call centers,'' says Jonas, chief operating officer at Utility.com. "That's not our business model. We're a total Internet company. We reduce energy bills by reducing our transaction costs."
devhead: The Evolution of the Web.
To jack in, in Gibson's cyber-future, means to use digital technology as an extension of yourself, as a tool to enable you to go beyond your own biological limitations much the way the spear transformed humans from the hunted to hunters during the Stone Age.
Forbes: Cutting the cord.
It represents the collaborative efforts of IBM, Intel, Toshiba, Nokia and Ericsson. They have signed away all patent rights to Bluetooth and offer the technology for free to any hardware or software company that wants it--and is willing likewise to give up patents.
Interactive Week: Patents Hook Start-Ups.
The Internet may still have the image of being a Wild West frontier, but fences increasingly are being strung up across the ranges of cyberspace in the form of patents.
Interactive Week: MIT, Minsky Getting In On Action.
"I'm not looking to go after people who are infringing on our patents," he said. "I'm looking for companies that are interested in evaluating an idea and exploiting it in the marketplace."
News.Com: The evolving world of e-tailing.
The interesting fact is that some distributors are not only "not going away" but are, in fact, thriving by embracing what is possible on the Net instead of running scared.
Internet World: Five Reasons Why Amazon Can't Have it All.
But Amazon has flaws. The farther it stretches away from books, the more cracks appear in its plans. While it may always have intended to be much more than a bookstore, being a bookstore remains what it's best at.
Seattle Weekly: Ask and ye shall receive.
It's all about building a brand known for proactive service, cross-promotion, and creativity. So when you log on and look for a book, the site will tip you toward items certain to be of interest on Amazon's auction site.
Upside: Killing the URL.
Teare explains that he was trying to remove the dot-com tyranny of the Web. He argues that URLs were created for the pre-Web Internet and are really a lousy way to find Web pages in the graphically-oriented and supposedly easy-to-use Web.
TechWeb: RealNames Sells MP Prefix To MP3.com.
Several weeks ago, RealNames signed a deal with MP3.com for the MP3 prefix. When a user types in "MP3" and then the name of an artist, album, or song, they will be taken directly to the MP3.com site, whether MP3.com has that artist or not.
PC World: URLS You Can Understand.
The proposed standard, the Common Name Resolution Protocol, is intended to provide the behind-the-scenes links between typed-in words and the URLs that identify Internet resources.
SJ Mercury: The new world of search engines.
What was once a simple concept -- using search and index technology to sort through Web sites, then ranking them by how useful they're likely to be to the computer user -- has gained a commercial edge because of the relentless pressure on companies...
SF Chronicle: Portals Climb Corporate Ladder.
But for a corporate portal to be successful, it must be a place where employees really want to go. "The secret to success for a corporate portal is to have sophisticated data integration, an intuitive user interface, engaging content and easy navigation..."
News.Com: Are "registered user" figures worth anything?
But Jupiter's Keane remains wary of the data because there is no way to effectively audit the registrations and weed out the false ones. "How many of those Yahoo users are using 'Elvis' as their user name? I'd say a pretty huge number..."
ClickZ: Relationships? Don't Kid Yourself…
We all go nuts about creating relationships with our online prospects and customers. But the level of relationship we would like to create has to match the level that our customers are willing to accept.
Wired News: Levi's Brave New World.
At the lavish, frenetic, 24,000-square-foot, four-story complex, you are invited to deliver the most intimate details about you and your body in exchange for a dazzling entertainment experience and a perfect pair of jeans
Dallas Free Press: Ad zappers.
The appearance of advertisements on Web sites several years ago prompted some dismayed Prodigy users to stick tape on their monitors to mask the new annoyances. Internet ads flashing, snapping, scrolling and stealing bandwidth are embedded today in virtually every commercial site.
NY Times: Overload of Hangers-On Creates Bumpy Ride for Internet Stocks.
The infinite loop also seems an appropriate metaphor for the loaves-and-fishes, endless multiplication of Internet "businesses" and the inevitable indigestion; consolidations and bankruptcies and shakeouts and layoffs have become the expected and ritual machinations of the technology industry.
InfoWorld: Credit cards become virtual with eCharge.
"[Credit card companies] failed on the Internet in many ways," said George Fleming, co-founder and co-chairman of eCharge. "We're going to be very aggressive in describing how they've been ripping merchants off."
NY Times: Conventional Retailers Use Web to Improve Service.
Retailers of the so-called bricks-and-mortar variety are plotting their revenge not simply by creating Web sites of their own, but by integrating their Internet operations into their physical stores. Executives say that by mingling the virtual and physical retail environments, they can better serve customers in both.
Wired News: City Guides Losing Sight?
"Tile ads were ineffective because they just don't have many click-throughs," said a Sidewalk employee who requested anonymity. To make a city guide work, the source said, you need other revenue streams.
Washington Post: Japan's Costly Connection.
But the cost clearly is hobbling the world's second-largest economy as it struggles to keep pace with America in the fast-changing digital age. And it is only one of many impediments to development of Internet businesses here.
Wired News: A Confederacy of Gurus.
On the site, the Slavets plan to provide consultants and freelancers with the resources to function successfully without a company or institution backing them up.
Salon: The teeny-weeny Web server.
With a chip that costs about a buck and code so tight it could be handwritten on a 3-by-5 index card, IPic really could be built into everything from light sockets to doorknobs.
NY Times: Small Internet Providers Survive Among the Giants.
The persistent -- and, in some circles, unexpected -- growth of small local ISPs continues to make for a complex market.
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