Transcript of the live chat session that took place Thursday, February 20, 1997, noon to 1 PM (US Eastern Time) These sessions are scheduled for noon-1 PM US Eastern Time (GMT -4) every Thursday.
These sessions are hosted by Richard Seltzer. If you would like to receive email reminders of our chat sessions, simply send a blank email message to businessonthewebchats-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/businessonthewebchats and sign up there.
For transcripts other previous sessions and a list of future topics, click here.
For an article on how to make "business chat" work (based on this experience), click here.
Since the chat itself happens at a rapid pace, it's often difficult to note interesting facts in particular URLs as they appear on-line. Here's a place to take a more leisurely look. I've rearranged some of the pieces to try to capture the various threads of discussion (which sometimes get lost in the rush of live chat).
Please send email with your follow-on questions and comments, and suggions for topics we should focus on in future sessions. So long as the volume of email responses is manageable, I'll post the most pertinent ones here for all to see.
Threads (reconstructed after the fact):
We're here to share experiences about doing business on the Internet -- particularly the World Wide Web. What works? What doesn't work? Why? What are the trends that matter? How can you/should you adapt to the Internet culture and environment?
I work for the Internet Business Group at Digital Equipment inMarlboro, MA. In that capacity, I end up talking to people from large companies about how they can use the Web for business. I also have my own personal Web page -- which discontent rich and no frills -- which I do for practically nothing and draws a fair amount of traffic and attention.
Richard Seltzer 11:58am (199.3.129.189) In a chat session like this things can get pretty frantic. It's sometimesdifficult to follow the threads of conversation. And there's notime to write down interesting URLs and facts. So each week, Itake a copy of the raw transcript and edit itto make the threads clearer and post it at my own little Web site so anyone could take a look. You can see transcripts of previous sessions at http://www.samizdat.com/chat.html
Richard Seltzer 12:00pm (199.3.129.189)Today, we plan to discuss distance education/training and on-line conferencing and also to continue our discussion on international aspects of Internet business -- translation, local language, cultural and legal barriers to on-line business; advantages and diadvantages of a local vs. a global approach to on-line business.
Ed Jaros 12:00pm (207.67.22.30)Hello all :-)
Richard Seltzer 12:01pm (199.3.129.189)We got a lot of follow up messages to last week's discussion. I've added ten of them to the transcript for last week's session. http://www.samizdat.com/chat29.html Please take a look.
12:02pm
Richard Seltzer (199.3.129.189)Welcome, Ed. Are you having any difficulties with response time? For me the page iscoming it at about 25-50 bits per second.Painfully slow. I don't know if it's me or a busy server at boston.com
Ed Jaros 12:05pm (207.67.22.30)it's OK on my end. I have the luxury of surfing on a T1 line. It's nice.
Richard Seltzer 12:08pm (199.3.129.189)Ed, I'm envious of your T1.
Warren Agin - Law Solutions 12:04pm (199.3.142.80)Hi Richard.
Robert 12:03pm (192.58.206.21)Hello Richard,We're looking for ways other businesses are using Internet for training.
Richard Seltzer12:06pm (199.3.129.189)Welcome, Warren, and welcome, Robert. I just got an email from Tracy Marks, who can't join us today. She is setting up an Internet and Windows 95 training site.She's looking for suggestions on how to make it work well.You might want to check her URL and seewhat she is doing http://www.windweaver.com/index.htm
Ed Jaros 12:10pm (207.67.22.30)Note on tracey's site that she might want to use JPEG images instead of GIFS to speed up her load time.
Marna 12:13pm (204.71.169.176)File size determines load time. SometimesGIFs are quicker
Ed Jaros 12:17pm (207.67.22.30)I use JPEG unless I am grouping a bunch of PICS together. then I use gifs to get something up as its loading. File size/quality factor
TheForth 12:18pm (192.58.206.22)Hi everyone, hope I did not miss to much.
Richard Seltzer 12:20pm (199.3.129.189)Welcome, TheForth. May the forth be with you.We're just warming up. There's a fair number of people connected, but we haven't stirred up much activity yet. I'm going to have to get controversial.
Miki 12:23pm (207.109.14.25)Hi.
Richard Seltzer 12:26pm (199.3.129.189)Hi, Miki, what's your area of interest?We mostly talking about distance educationand training and meeting/conferencingapplications right now. We'd also like to start a thread about international business over the Internet. But we'relooking for participants to join us from outside the US. Where are you?
Richard Seltzer 12:08pm (199.3.129.189)Robert, Harris Sussman sent me an email today pointing to a useful distance education/training resource http://www.usdla.org/home.html That's the United States Distance Learning Association, a non-profit focused on distance ed/trainingand sharing info on the subject.
Ed Jaros 12:32pm (207.67.22.30)Here is an idea for distance learning using cable providers. Check out http://www.intercast.com. Will allow users to interact on information while watching lectures. Coming to stations near you.
Miki 12:34pm (207.109.14.25)I'm in St. Paul, MN. I'm with the University of St. Thomas and am involved in an "Internet Assisted Learning" committee to look at how UST should use the Internet. We have one Master's program which takes place on the net.
Richard Seltzer 12:37pm (199.3.129.189) Ed --Sounds interesting. I have a friend at Cablevision who would probably be interested.
Richard Seltzer 12:37pm (199.3.129.189) Miki -- do you have a URL that the publiccould access to see how those courses are run, how it looks and feels?
Miki 12:41pm (207.109.14.25)UST does not deliver classes from our own site as yet. The class is being done through a Medical school site in Colorado. I'll have to look up the URL.
wayne 12:11pm (205.164.134.12)Hi Rich, I finally made it on. I don't know what happened last week to give me the problem. Today I'm chatting with you from the office. Last week I was at home.
Richard Seltzer (199.3.129.189)Welcome, Wayne, I just mentioned you rinterest in making a distance education link with Ghana.
Richard (199.3.129.189)Robert --I'd also be interested in on-line testing and results measuring for education andtraining. I've heard that SmartChoice in New Jersy (I believe http://www.smartchoice.com has some interesting software. Has anyone used that or other such packages?
TheForth 12:26pm (192.58.206.22)I have been using SmartChoice and love it. It allows you processing by choice. As in, if these 2 questions have been answered this way then the next question is that. At the same time the results are correlated and graphically respresented in realtime.
Richard Seltzer 12:30pm (199.3.129.189)TheForth --Can you point to any sites that areusing that SmartChoice software?
TheForth 12:35pm (192.58.206.22)http://www.smartchoice.com/ is the URL for SmartChoice. As for sites, I believe they have demos there. Most Smartchoice system behave like questionaires and one would not recognize them on site.
Robert 12:26pm -- (192.58.206.21)Most of what I'd do is purely internal, so the best I can get will be an internal chargeback. Partner training will have to be no cost as well.
Richard Seltzer 12:28pm (199.3.129.189)Welcome, Tim. One of our participants,TheForth, just asked about mechanisms forcharging for distance education/training/conferencing on line. You're at OpenMarket.And I know your company does a lot with electronic commerce. Do you have any involvement with payment models/mechanisms for live events over the Internet? Or do you just focus on the sale of goods?
Robert 12:42pm (192.58.206.21)Tim, can you use your products to track and chargefor content like training, or is it only for hard goods "sold" over the web?
Tim Greenwood greenwood@openmarket.com 12:36pm (204.254.94.5)Richard, payment for live events could be handled by subscription - either to a specific event, or for all events over a timed period - or on a pay by the minute mechanism. We are involved in both mechanisms.
Richard Seltzer 12:38pm (199.3.129.189)Tim --Any handy way to distinguish between active participants (one price) and passive spectators (another price or free)?
Tim Greenwood greenwood@openmarket.com 12:43pm(204.254.94.5)One way would be to have active and passive accessing separate programs each giving the appropriate view onto the event. Then it is simple to charge different amounts.
Tim Greenwood greenwood@openmarket.com 12:51pm (204.254.94.5)Robert, Our product can be used to sell both physical goods - requiring delivery, and digital goods - that can be downloaded over the net. Also subscriptions and timed access.(Richard - I am very happy to describe our products, but I do not want to be obnoxious about advertising - what is the etiquette ?)
Richard Seltzer 12:55pm (199.3.129.189)Tim --Best would be to send me followup email seltzer@samizdat.com forposting with the transcript.(It's very difficult to provide a detailed answer typing here like a madman).
TheForth 12:41pm (192.58.206.22)As for charging for training: I would want to pay only for training content I actually mastered. What I mean is that by charging throught testing in pass/fail mode I can ensure that a certain level of training quality is maintained. Would that be technically feasible today?
Richard Seltzer (199.3.129.189)TheForth --Do you read my mind much? I'd love to see that -- paying for results, rather than hours in a classroom or for tapes. it seemsto me that there are no technological barriers. But I've never seen it done.Has anyone else?
Richard Seltzer 12:19pm (199.3.129.189)By the way, my colleague, Mark Conway,still promises to provide a trip reportfrom his jaunt to Asia. He's been inundated since his return, and hasn't been able to put it together. He spoke to ISPs and Internet folks in Singapore, Hong Kong and other points in the Asia Pacific Area. When it's ready, I'll post that report with the transcript.
Tim Greenwood greenwood@openmarket.com 12:30pm (204.254.94.5)My interest is in international business on the internet - both in terms of technical issues (langauge, character sets, HTTP protocol ...) and business - many issues of tax, privacy, ...
tbarnes 12:31pm (204.146.132.141)Hello everyone!Richard, did you find any takers for discussing international business over the Internet? I'd like to join in that discussion (altho I live here in the States.)
Warren Agin - Law Solutions 12:34pm (199.3.142.80)I'm interested in international commerce. Primarily in learning about others' experiences and concerns.
tbarnes 12:38pm (204.146.132.141)Warren, are you primarily interested in international electronic commerce?
Richard Seltzer 12:40pm (199.3.129.189)tbarnes -- sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I type faster than this.But my connection is slow. Warren is an attorney in the Boston area, with a particular interest in the Internet.What aspect of international electronic commerce is most important to you? (To me, it's the legal issues -- up Warren's alley --that look toughest.
Warren Agin - Law Solutions 12:41pm (199.3.142.80)tharnes, and domestic as well.
tbarnes 12:46pm (204.146.132.141)Warren, what specific legal aspects are you interested in? Proprietary issues, encryption (internally)?
Warren Agin - Law Solutions 12:49pm (199.3.142.80)tharnes, all sorts of stuff. I've done some work with copyright law issues and securities trading. Encryption is also of interest as are Internet and e-mail use policies.
TheForth 12:49pm (192.58.206.22)tbarnes -- I guess there is another gotcha, international trade laws, not that I am familiar with them but in my work with some to the big accounting firms that the biggested issue they seem to have is on the accounting side. Not having a paper trail in a world that is based on paper trails seem to be a big handicap.
Richard Seltzer 12:48pm (199.3.129.189)tbarnes --I'm sorry the international discussion thread hasn't really gotten off the ground.In particular, I was counting on a participantfrom Nikkei. Their Japanbiztech http://www.japanbiztech.com startup operation is doing training/seminars (live, not Web)and also is providing info and help on-linefor non-Asian companies trying to do business in Asia -- dealing with thewide range of issues that arise, cultural, business,law, etc. Seems like a necessary role for us to get to real global Internet-based business. Also, the last two weeks we've had Bill Dunlap from Paris, whose Euromarketing company helps companies do business over the Internet with Europe.Sorry they're not here this time.
Ed Jaros 12:27pm (207.67.22.30)remember Max Hedrum
Robert 12:27pm (192.58.206.21)The 3-D face sounds like an avatar. What's the difference?
TheForth 12:32pm (192.58.206.22)Robert: The difference could be that I use my own face and it looks live but is not when I speak. I guess video conferencing with a level of privacy comes to mind. An avatar is usually a computer generated image.
Richard Seltzer 12:32pm (199.3.129.189)Ed, a bit like Max Headroom, but instead of a cyborg head and a robot soundingvoice, this could be your natural looking face (or anyone else's face) speaking naturally. Also, it runs on a PC --both the client and also the softwarethat processes the voice and translates the phonemes (from any language) intomuscle movements of the face.
Richard Seltzer 12:35pm (199.3.129.189)Robert --yes the face (I call it face-to-face)is a bit like an avatar -- but the onesof those we typically see today are static images, or moveable placeholders for chat sessions or would-be virtualreality sessions. An unchanging (but move-aroundable like a chess piece)image. When these heads speak, all thenatural muscles of the head move in synch with the voice. It's eery being able todo that. (And it's not video. The head is on the PC the recipient is runningand streaming voice over the Internet passes through his/her lips).
Ed Jaros 12:37pm (207.67.22.30)Richard... that sounds fascinating Like the Jetson's cartoon.. using your good face in place of your usual morning face on video phone.
TheForth 12:39pm (192.58.206.22)Richard, I see this "face-to-face" technology as a good video phone replacement. Convergence comes to mind. Don't you hate being caught in front of the video phone in your underwear?
Richard Seltzer 12:42pm (199.3.129.189)TheForth -- Amen. I'd like this ability to seem to be there -- to have a cyberclone or cyber puppet to make the talkingexperience more direct and personal,and to give my eye something naturalto focus on, without invading my privacy,and making me self-conscious. Reminds me of part of the "history" in the foreground of the recent sci-fi classic Infinite Jest by Wallace.
Ed Jaros 12:49pm (207.67.22.30)tbarnes. AOL, while not necessarily internet, did over $1,000,000 a day in business twice in Dec with business' on line with them.
Richard Seltzer 12:50pm (199.3.129.189)tbarnes --I believe that the main barrier is companies not understanding how the Internet culture/experience works. They dive in and try tosell hard goods through a Web site, when that is the last step you should do. First you should do everything possible to build a loyal audience/a community through offering useful free information and a place for them to interact with others of common interest. See my article on that at http://www.samizdat.com/build.html
Ed Jaros 12:55pm (207.67.22.30)Richard, I agree 100%. Anybody can put up a page to sell something. The trick is to get people to come back and use you as a resource for what your page offers in practical information. It isn't that you want a web page, it is what the web page can do for your business that people want. I focus on that end being the capability of generate qualified leads for a business.
Tim Greenwood greenwood@openmarket.com 12:57pm (204.254.94.5)Business Week of Sep 24, 96 had a report "Making money on the net" They reached the same conclusion - the new business models that reflect web culture, will win.
Richard Seltzer 12:54pm (199.3.129.189) Ed, that's an interesting number for AoL. Was that paying or being paid? I also hear that several PC companies, like Compaq are selling PCs over the Internet to the tune of over $100 million per year.But those are exceptions. Selling hardware and software over the Internet is not the same as selling cabbages and paper clips.
Ed Jaros 12:57pm (207.67.22.30)tbarnes. From my understanding that was members purchasing goods on-line from aol's participating vendors like starbucks, lands end etc.
tbarnes 1:01pm (204.146.132.141)Richard, I agree totally with you about gaining audience trust, build a "Net Community." That's sort of (if not exactly) what Netscape did, isn't it? Sort of make a product available for free and then it became ubiquitous...
tbarnes 1:03pm (204.146.132.141)Ed Jaros--yes AOL does wonderfully, but I'm referring specifically to companies--virtual or not--not ISPs or AOL types.
Richard Seltzer 12:52pm (199.3.129.189)Michael Morrill -- On an intranet, I believe that that would be an excellen tidea. Just take care of any security measures in such a way that you don't prevent and intranet/enterprise version of AltaVista from getting to and indexing those files.
Ed Jaros 12:58pm (207.67.22.30)ed.jaros@websitepros.com Home page http://www.sparknet.net
TheForth 12:59pm (192.58.206.22)ALL: Have a good week. Hope to be here next time. berthold@sbherbals.com
Rvan 1:01pm (192.246.9.35)Hi. It all piques my interest! rick@upword.com http://www.upword.com
Warren Agin - Law Solutions 1:01pm (199.3.142.80) http://www.agin.com WAgin@agin.com
tbarnes 1:04pm (204.146.132.141)My e-mail address is:tbarnes@osf1.gmu.edu It's been a pleasure!
Maurizio 1:05pm (194.166.63.72) mmparodi@avueffe.com
Michael R. Morrill 1:10pm (192.138.214.158) mmorrill@acad.suffolk.edu
Richard Seltzer 12:59pm (199.3.129.189)All --I'm tentatively planning to focus on electronic commerce next week. Pleaselet me know if that works for you.And/or send me your suggestions.Thanks to all for your participation. Hope you'll join us again next Thursday.
This site has some great info on e-commerce which might be of interest to the group.
It has some pretty heavy backing on the tech side as well.
Ed Jaros, Website Strategist, http://www.SparkNET.net
Just got around to reading last Thursday's transcript, and I appreciate your mentioning my Windweaver Internet training site and some of my distance education concerns...
Just tonight I located a few new distance education sites on the Net and thought you might want the urls...
WorldWide Web Course Development and Delivery: Transcripts of Last November's Conference http://www.umuc.edu/iuc/cmc96/
How to Build a Dynamic Web Course (an interactive experience)http://www.assiniboinec.mb.ca/ua/
Online Teaching and Learning http://www.assiniboinec.mb.ca/www/isiit/cade.htm
Another useful link: Conferencing on the World Wide Web - A guide to software that powers discussion forums on the Web http://freenet.msp.mn.us/people/drwool/webconf.html as well as a conference article by the same author on the same subject - http://www.umuc.edu/iuc/cmc96/papers/wool-p.html
Finally, Cybercorp.net is soon offering a highly interactive training on how to teach online (starting in mid-March) Teaching Online Course http://www.cybercorp.net/gymv/crs_out/to_crs.html
Not sure if I can make today's chat, but I will try.
Tracy Marks tmar@tiac.net tracy@marks.net http://www.windweaver.com/index.htm WINDWEAVER INTERNET AND WINDOWS 95 TRAINING RESOURCES
It's a lot but has great info for those willing to take a look
Worldwide Picture
http://www.gartner.com/whatsnew/inettv.htmlIn January, a Gartner Group survey predicted that there would be 150 million Internet users by 1998. While in the same month, Network Wizards Internet domain survey found that there were 9,472,000 host computers, up from 6,642,000 in July 1995.
http://www.killen.com/ipf.htm In May, a Killen & Associates 'Internet: Global Penetration and Forecast 2000' survey estimated that at the beginning of 1996 there were 30 million Internet users worldwide, predicting that by 2000 as many as 250 million would have Internet access.
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-04-1996/#exec In June, the 'GVU WWW Fifth User Survey' results found that, 'Average age has risen again slightly to 33.0 years old. The gender ratio continues to become more balanced with 31.5 percent reporting being female, compared to 29.3 percent for the Fourth survey. Estimated average household income has dropped slightly, but remains high in general at 59,000 US dollars. US respondents represented 73.4 percent of total respondents; Europe was the next largest category with 10.8 percent.'
http://www.jup.com/jupiter/release/nov96/market.shtml In November, a market study entitled 'World Online Markets,' by Jupiter Communications predicted that the number of online households worldwide will rise from 23.4 million in 1996 to 66.6 million in 2000. The main drivers behind this growth will be the development of the European and Asian markets and increased PC penetration. Outside of the US, which will remain the leader in online households, Japan, Germany and Great Britain will be the main generators of growth.
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-10-1996/ In December, the 6th GVU WWW User Survey found that the average age of respondents was 34.9 years old with 68.6 percent male and 31.4 percent female. The percentage of respondents from the US increased in this survey to 82.7 percent. All locations were more gender-balanced in this survey compared to previous surveys.
US And Canada Picture
http://www.jup.com/jupiter/release/april96/0429.shtml In April, a Jupiter Communications survey predicted that total online households in the US will reach 35 million by the Year 2000.
In April, an I/PRO (Internet Profiles Corporation) published survey found that the majority of Web users were male (72 percent), ages 25 through 54 (73 percent) and well-off (58 percent sport a household income in excess of 50,000 US dollars).
http://www2000.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu/baseline/1995.Internet.estimates.html In April, a Project 2000 survey entitled 'Internet Use in the United States: 1995 Baseline' estimated that, '28.8 million people in the United States 16 and over have potential or actual access to the Internet, 16.4 million people use the Internet, 11.5 million people use the Web.'
http://www.commerce.net/work/pilot/nielsen_96/exec.html In August, a comprehensive survey by CommerceNet And Nielsen found that Internet access in the United States and Canada was up by 50 percent from August/September, 1995 (23 million estimated users) to March/April, 1996 (34 million). The survey also found that new Internet users, 'share a different profile from those reported earlier, indicating that the Internet market is widening to include a range of user types.'
In August, InterNet Info reported that commercial domains in the United States had increased over 139 percent during the first half of 1996. As of 19th July 1996, there were 419,360 .com, 28,839 .org, 17,115 .net and 2,686 .edu domains registered.
In October, an Advertising Age/Market Facts survey found that awareness of the World Wide Web and Internet skyrocketed in 1996. Of the 1,000 consumers surveyed, 82 percent said they had heard of the World Wide Web, compared with only 44.7 percent last year. The Internet, a term recognised by 82 percent last year, is now nearly ubiquitous, at 93.5 percent awareness.
http://www.newnetworks.com/statsexecsum.htm In October, an NNI report, 'Online & Internet Statistics Reality Check,'96,' claimed that there are only 15 million people online (encompassing the Internet, World Wide Web and commercial services), accounting for only 6 percent of the US population and 11 percent of households.
http://www.risq.qc.ca/enquete/anglais/index.html In November, the RISQ (Reseau Interordinateurs Scientifique Quebecois) 'Second Internet Users Survey in Quebec (Canada),' found that the user population breaks down into 18.3 percent female and 81.7 percent male. 54 percent are between 25 and 44 years old. 50 percent of this age bracket have completed undergraduate studies.
In November, a survey by Louis Harris and Associates estimated that 35 million adults in the United States had used the Internet, up from 27 million at the beginning of the year. Online services like America Online Inc. and Compuserve Corp. could lay claim to almost 41 million subscribers but that remains at the same level as found in January.
http://www.forrester.com/pressrel/SEP96PTP.htm In November, a Forrester Research report claimed that nearly 5 million of the 25 million 18 to 24 year-olds are on-line in the United States. By 2001, more than a third of this group will be wired.
http://www.jup.com/jupiter/release/oct96/oct21.shtml In November, a Find/SVP and Jupiter Communications survey entitled 'Home Use of the Internet and Commercial Online Services,' claimed that the number of US households with Internet access more than doubled this year to 14.7 million. The survey found that users are increasingly bypassing Commercial Online Services for Internet Service Providers.
http://www.inteco.com/pu961031.html In November, Inteco predicted that 13.5 million new households will sign up for online services in the United States within the next year. The survey of 2,660 households also suggested that online usage among households with income above 25,000 dollars has declined, from 9.8 million five months ago, to 8.7 million now, indicating a broadening of the marketplace. The total number of online households in the US is now stated to be 15.2 million.
In December, a PC-Meter market research study estimated that US household use of the Internet had more than doubled in 1996. The current number of households was estimated at 11 percent of all 98.7 million US households and was up from 4.4 percent (or 4.3 million) a year ago.
http://www.inteco.com/pu961205.html In December, an Inteco survey entitled 'The Interactive Home Service,' stated that Internet growth is being fueled by workplace usage while the level of usage from home is leveling off. The number of adults using Internet/online services at work or school rose to 23.0 million in September 1996, up from 17.4 million in May 1996. Meanwhile, the number of individuals using Internet/online services at home only, stabilised at around 10.3 million during the same period.
European Picture
http://www.clark.net/pub/granered/iim.html In June, International Internet Marketing published an analysis of the May 1996 GVU survey. Findings included the facts that, 'The average age of European Web users decreased slightly during the last 6 months from 29.7 to 28.8; Europe is still behind the US as far as ending the male domination of the Internet. Whereas women make up 34.4 percent of the US Web community, the percentage is only 15.2 in Europe.'
http://www2.ris.org/~matijar/RIS/ris96.html In June, a survey of 7,000 households in Slovenia by RIS Slovenia found that, 'Socio-demographic structure of Internet users is similar as in the rest of the world (males represent 75 percent of users, younger, high social classes). One third of respondents use Internet daily.... One third of users have their access (also) from home, another third is planning to get access from home also.'
http://www.inteco.com/pd9610a.html In October, the results of Inteco surveys in the five largest countries in Europe indicate that approximately 2m households have Internet access. However less than 5 percent (under 100,000) of these are in France.
In November, figures from the Vlerick School of Management at Ghent University, indicated that Belgium is still to flock in large numbers to the Internet. There are approximately 60-70,000 users in Belgium and annual expenditure on Internet investment is only 90m Belgian Francs.
http://www.upside.com/cgi-bin/texis/search/~GABJdne+AmJGGG/article.html In November, an article in Upside Online claimed that Europe is lagging behind the US in terms of Internet usage from home. It pointed out that a survey of 2000 British homes found that while 27 percent had a PC, only 2.7 percent of those had Internet access. By the end of 1996, however, it predicted that Europe will have 20 percent of the world Internet user population or 9.7 million.
http://www.intesys.it/Novita/InternetInItalia.html In November, Alchera Strategic Vision and Demoskopea estimated that figures from Italy show that 1.5 percent of the population (584,000) has access to the Internet, of which 88 percent is male. 54 percent of the user population accesses the Internet from home, 46 percent from work and the remainder from College or University.
http://www.idcresearch.com/HNR/lcistrue.htm In December, an International Data Corporation report entitled 'The Emerging European Internet Access Market,' estimated that the number of individuals and businesses using the Internet in Europe is expected to grow to 8.9 million at the end of 1996, and to reach 35 million by the year 2000. The largest Internet access market by the end of 1996 will be Germany with 30 percent of the market, followed by the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Asia/Pacific Picture
http://www.activmedia.com/ In June, an Activmedia study found that, 'In a brief six months, the Asian/Pacific share has increased from 3.5 percent to 5.4 percent of the 1104 web marketers responding to ActivMedia's study. ActivMedia predicts that the Asian/Pacific region will nearly double its share of sites by the end of 1997.'
http://www.consultco.com.au/ In July, a survey by www.consult of the Australian Internet found that, '40 percent of Internet WWW users have started access in the past 6 months; the majority of people use it at least once a day; nearly all expect to increase their time involvement in the next 12 months; 87 percent are male; most users are aged between 20 and 44.'
http://www.activmedia.com/ In September, ActivMedia claimed that, 'Over the past three months, the growth in the Japanese listings on the Web has been triple that of English. Three months ago Yahoo Japan had 7 percent as many company listings as the general Yahoo listings - it now has 13 percent. The growth in Japan is not just restricted to companies, consumers are also flooding the Internet. With conservative growth predictions, the Japanese user population promises to be around 30 million by the year 2000.'
In November, a Taiwan Central News Agency report predicted that the number of Taiwan PC users hooked to international computer networks is expected to swell to two million over the next three years, while the yearly value of their business is estimated to top 20 billion US dollars.
http://www.yahoo.co.jp/ In November, the first Yahoo Japan Web User Survey found that the average Yahoo Japan user is male, aged between 20 and 24, lives in the Tokyo area, works in technology, and accesses the network from home via a 28.8 kilobits-per-second (Kbps) modem. The user market is split 87.5 male and 12.5 female - a lower than average percentage for women.
In November, sources within the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) in China, stated that there were more than 7,000 Internet users in Beijing with connections to MPT's ChinaNet, and about 40,000 in the country, and this figure is expected to reach 100,000 by the end of 1996.
http://www.agb.com.au In December, a Netwatch report claimed that user growth in Australian cities had grown from 12 percent in August 1995 to 20 percent in November 1996. Users accessing the Internet from a country location had grown from 8 percent to 13 percent. The total number of users in Australia was found to have grown from 1.4 million in August 1995 to 2.6 million in November 1996.
In December, AGB McNair research stated that seventeen per cent of the New Zealand population aged over 10 claim to have access to the Internet either at home, work, school or at some other location. Six per cent, or 188,000 New Zealanders over the age of 10, record having used the Internet at least once in the last month. The user population profile is still mainly upper socio-economic groups with a usage level twice that of the rest of the population. Only one in five claim to have never heard of the Internet.
The Internet Marketing Opportunity
http://www.ora.com/research/business/index.html In March, Initial findings from an O'Reilly And Associates survey, 'Conducting Business on the Internet,' 'underscores the tremendous opportunity that remains for businesses on the Net. At the same time, continued caution is warranted,'
In May, Manning, Selvage & Lee's (MS&L) 'Corporate Cyber-Dash Survey' found 66 percent of 500 corporate communicators questioned in the US and Europe, had access to the Internet. However, 80 percent did not consider it an important communications tool. On the bright side, respondents felt that by the year 2000 there would be a four-fold or higher increase in the importance of the Internet with regard to reaching their respective target audiences.
http://www.yankelovich.com/cyber_ii/CYBER_II.HTM In September, a Yankelovich Partners Inc. study stated that while Internet growth was up 50 percent, from May 1995 to May 1996, it was showing signs of slowing. The study went on to state that, 'Slower growth and declining usage suggest marketers need to look beyond the faddish curiosity that has so far characterised online's evolution.
Marketers now need to identify compelling new reasons for people to log on and new ways of sustaining existing cybercitizen interests.'
http://www.activmedia.com/ In September, ActivMedia, commenting on results which showed that some commercial websites were doing a lot better than others, stated that, 'ActivMedia suspects that the reason for such a disparity is that many online marketers don't understand who they are talking to on the Web, how to reach the audience they want and how to create an effective Web organisation.'
http://biz.yahoo.com/bin/jumpi?/bw/96/11/13/y0007_y00_35.html+bwwire+9 6+11+13 In November, a report by KPMG stated that the Internet has not yet become a substitute for doing business face to face. However 56 percent of the administrators and tax professionals questioned think that the Internet will affect the way they manage overseas business.
http://www.forrester.com/pressrel/961216PA.htm In December, a Forrester report claimed that the Internet will have a profound effect on the direct sales operations of large companies. Forrester interviewed IT executives at 50 Fortune 1,000 companies and found that 46 percent expect the Internet to have either a 'huge' or 'significant' impact on their sales processes over the next three years. This cathartic change will force companies and application vendors to fundamentally rethink how technology can be used to support sales.
http://www.ora.com/research/netcraft/
In December, an O'Reilly Associates report entitled 'The State of Web Commerce,' claimed that fewer than 1 percent of web sites are able to host secure transactions. ORA questioned 648,613 publicly visible Web sites, and found only 3239 SSL-enabled sites that have valid certificates from a trusted third party. In addition to solid statistical data on worldwide penetration of secure transaction technologies, the report suggests that standards and methods for secure Web commerce are still very much in transition and development.
Internet Market Sectors
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ct279.htm In October, the Travel Industry Association of America published a survey which stated that nearly half of frequent business travellers, 47 percent, use online services, and a third of frequent leisure travellers - those taking five or more trips a year -- log onto the Internet.
http://www.wired.com/news/story/583.html?/news/96/47/4/business_section4c.html In November, Editor & Publisher warned that print newspapers' revenues will be badly affected by online classifieds within three years. Since newspapers derive 37 percent of total advertising income from classifieds, this presents a threat that the print industry should take very seriously.
In November, Quality Dynamics Inc. predicted that companies are increasingly turning to technology to deliver training and education. By the year 2000, Quality Dynamics Inc. predicts that half of all corporate training will be delivered via technology. A separate study by the Gartner Group projects the demand for technology-based training rising 10 percent a year for the next two years, to 12 billion US dollars.
http://www.wired.com/news/story/583.html?/news/96/47/4/business_section4c.html In November, an ActivMedia report entitled 'Secrets of Education Marketing on the WEB, claimed that educators, academic researchers and academic institutions are key buyers for profitable Web marketers. It found that companies targeting education markets averaged sales nearly twice those of Web marketers in general.
In December, a Netwatch report claimed that 44 percent (total poll more than 4,000) of Australians who have travelled more than three times in the last six months have accessed the Internet. 24 percent of respondents who stated they are likely to buy a car in the next twelve months have accessed the Internet and almost one third of regular cinema goers have accessed the Internet.
Purchasing/Selling On The Internet
In April, Project 2000 released a survey entitled 'Internet Use in the United States: 1995 Baseline' which found that 1.5 million had used the Web to purchase something.
http://www.activmedia.com/ In June, Activmedia Incorporated published findings from 'The Real Numbers Behind Net Profits,' which stated that, 'The top 10 percent of websites with products or services for sale now average more than 30,000 US dollars per month in sales, compared with only 4,800 in external maintenance expenditures.'
http://www.activmedia.com/ In August, ActivMedia published a survey which found that June 1996 Web sales reached 130 million US dollars. Other findings: Almost 18 percent of sales, or about 23 million are in exports. While American companies are doing well, 'overseas firms are benefiting even more.'
http://www.activmedia.com/ In September, ActivMedia's latest 'The Real Numbers behind Net Profits,' claimed that, 'the top one-third of websites are having an excellent year. Gross profits for these companies totalled 80 US dollars million in June alone. However, the remaining two-thirds lost 11 million, before website launch costs.'
http://www.gina.com/wire/tn/tn960703.htm In November, a report by Jupiter Communications claimed that online revenue was growing by more than 80 percent per quarter. At this rate it will exceed 300 US dollars million this year and 5 billion by the year 2000.
http://www.jup.com/jupiter/release/dec96/holiday.shtml In December, a Jupiter Communications briefing stated that online retail purchases are projected to reach 194 million US dollars during the holiday shopping season. This represents 41 percent of annual non travel online sales from a total of 478 million for 1996.
http://www.mmp.co.uk/mmp/informer/netnews/HTM/d2n!z.htm In December, a Forrester Research report entitled 'Sizing the Internet Economy,' estimated that the Internet economy will approach 200 billion US dollars in the year 2000, up from its present 15 billion level. The report also stated that business-to-business electronic commerce in the US alone will represent 66 billion dollars in Internet revenues by 2000. An estimated 33 million US households will go on-line by the year 2000, and the number of businesses connected will rise from 4 percent in 1996 to 33 percent in 2000.
http://www.mmp.co.uk/mmp/informer/netnews/HTM/d11n!h.htm In December, a Simmons Market Research Bureau report entitled 'Consumer Online Usage,' estimated that 40 percent of the 25 million American adults who have used the Internet or online services in the last year have made purchases on-line. It also found that of those people who have not yet purchased on-line, 43 percent were likely to do so in the next 12 months.
In December, a PC-Meter market research study estimated that 25 percent of home Web users surveyed are visiting shopping sites.
Internet Banking/Electronic Cash
In July 1996, a survey by www.consult of the Australian Internet found that, 'A large majority of respondents are willing to try online banking and online shopping.'
http://www.killen.com/studies/study.ecash.fwd.htm
In September, a Killen and Associates report entitled 'E-Cash Payments: Impact and Opportunity,' estimated that, 'By the year 2000, consumers world-wide will use electronic cash for 9 billion transactions. By 2005, this will have risen to 20 billion. This has enormous implications for all companies who produce payment services and products.'
http://www.jup.com/jupiter/release/oct96/oct21.shtml In October, Jupiter Communications and Find/SVP released their study, 'The American Home Financial Services Survey.' The survey showed that 55 percent of all PC-owning households are doing some financial management on their computers, representing 9.2 million households.
http://www.datapro.com/datapr10.htm In November, a survey by Datapro Information Services, entitled 'The Banking Technology Issues: 1996 International Survey,' revealed that banks are responding to competitive pressures and moving into Internet-based banking services. Results show that 7 percent of the bank IT professionals surveyed in early 1996 offered Internet banking services and 36 percent had plans to do so by 1997. 61 percent of those surveyed will have implemented Internet marketing activities by 1997, up from 17 percent at the time of the survey.
In December, Positive Support Review, Inc's 'Banking Industry Internet Response Time Study,' found that nearly one-fourth of all requests for Internet banking services fail because of problems such as missing URLs, downed servers or sites under construction.
Online Advertising
http://www2.simbanet.com/simba/whatnew/whats1.html#WA In July, a study by Simba entitled 'Web Advertising: Market Analysis & Forecast' found that, 'Advertising revenues from the World Wide Web and the four largest proprietary online services (America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy and Microsoft Network) would total 200 million US dollars in 1996 and grow to 1.97 billion in 2000'.
http://techweb.cmp.com/ia/iad_web_/newsnow/oct21-25/oct25/oct25-4.htm In October, a report by Frost & Sullivan claimed that advertising is fast becoming the largest growing segment of the Internet, accounting for 3.4 percent or 85 million US dollars of all ad dollars spent in 1996. The market is expected to grow to 22.2 percent or 5.48 billion by 2002.
http://www.ipro.com/pr961008.html In October, a study by Internet Profiles (I/Pro) and DoubleClick Network, entitled 'A Comprehensive Analysis of Ad Response,' claimed that Internet users click on 2.11 percent of all ad banners displayed, while direct mail typically generates a 1 percent to 2 percent response rate and print ads 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent.
In October, a report by Hambrecht & Quist indicated that yearly advertising revenue will soar to 3.8 billion US dollars by the year 2000 -- far above this year's projection of 300 million and last year's revenues of 12 million.
http://www.jup.com/jupiter/release/nov96/adspend/adspend.shtml In November, Jupiter Communications' AdSpend report estimated that total WWW advertising revenue was 66 million US dollars in the third quarter of 1996, the highest for any quarter up until then. It brought the total so far in 1996 to 138 million. The growth rate for the quarter was 43 percent resulting in revenue five times that of the fourth quarter 1995.
Ed Jaros, Website Strategist, http://www.SparkNET.net
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