February 3, 2000
FEED Magazine: The Constraints Of The Wireless Web.
Clay Shirky. WAP, by contrast, is being pushed commercially from the jump, and it is fenced in by a remarkable array of patents which will affect both producers and consumers of WAP content. These differences put WAP's development on a collision course with the Web as it exists today.
Salon: This e-mail brought to you by ... a bad idea.
The idea, while simple, is incredibly insidious. As if your inbox weren't already stuffed with enough spam, commercial solicitations and e-mail newsletters stuffed with text ads, now your friends get to send you huge banner-type ads, too?
Salon: MP3 free-for-all.
Despite its rather humble beginnings as a college freshman's software project, Napster represents a new paradigm in online music distribution -- much like its predecessor MP3.com, which is also embroiled in a lawsuit with the RIAA.
Business 2.0: Learn from the Libraries.
Jim Griffin, CEO of Cherry Lane Digital. Essentially, we are learning that the answers lie in new business models, not technology-based solutions. The video industry that once emphasized control now sees greater value in growing the crowd. The best forms of copy protection are new business models that destroy the motive to copy, not its mechanism.
Internet Week: Auto Dealers Take Web Offensive.
Rather than resist the Web revolution, auto dealerships are starting to embrace it--to improve interactions with both consumers and suppliers. They are taking on their fledgling online competitors and improving dealer-to-dealer communication.
Business 2.0: Lessons From the Rust Belt.
Evan I. Schwartz. Who would have guessed that the rust-belt dinosaurs would be among the first to use the Internet to obliterate an age-old business model and replace it with a shiny new one?
Business Week: The Online Beauty Biz Is Looking Pretty Ugly.
In fact, the exclusive online strategies of the leading cosmetics companies may hasten the shakeout in the market segment. With the top brands off-limits, beauty products e-tailers are left to battle over less prestigious products.
CIO: Sticky Business.
The idea of "stickiness" is one of the most important ideas in electronic commerce—and business in general. In e-commerce, it's a measure of how much attention a website receives over time.
Interactive Week: Amazon Testing New Home Page.
The test page, available to some, but not all site visitors Wednesday, signals that the tab design is reaching capacity as Amazon continues adding merchandise categories, retailing concepts and marketing partnerships, chief executive Jeff Bezos said.
News.Com: Virgin Atlantic limits auction to Windows users.
"We are really using this as a test to see how our inventory sells," said Bill Danylko, interactive marketing manager at Virgin Atlantic. "If we choose to move forward with it, we will make it compatible for the Mac (and other systems)."
News.Com: Sony pushes PlayStation in e-commerce deal.
He said e-commerce using existing retailing networks like convenience stores are seen as a stop gap until consumers are able to simply download games from the Internet. Japan's more than 50,000 convenience stores, many of which open 24 hours a day, already offer consumers a wide range of services...
Wired News: Moveable Media: Stick or Card?
A fledgling organization of technology and consumer electronics companies wrapped up their inaugural meeting Wednesday with the promise that their proposed Secure Digital Memory Card for portable music players will soon be ready to do battle with Sony's Memory Stick.
News.Com: Winery sues over Net sales.
A Virginia vineyard is hoping to put a cork on state laws that restrict Internet wine sales by challenging a New York law that makes it illegal for out-of-state wineries to ship to consumers.
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