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... ve no such restrictions, and a number of companies have begun
experimenting with online "shops" or other services. Many of these shops
are run by booksellers, while the services range from delivery of indexed
copies of federal documents to an online newsstand that hopes to entice
you to subscribe to any of several publications (of the printed on paper
variety). A number of companies also use Usenet newsgroups (in the biz
hierarchy) to distribute press releases and product information.
Still, commercial activity on the remains far below that found on
other networks, such as CompuServe, with its Electronic Mall, or Prodigy,
with its advertisements on almost every screen. In part that's because
of the newness and complexity of the Internet as a commercial medium. In
part, however, that is because of security concerns. Companies worry
about such issues as crackers getting into their system over the network,
and many people do not like the idea of sending a credit-card number via
the Internet (an e-mail message could be routed through several sites to
get to its destination).
These raising finances uk concerns could disappear as Net users
turn to such means as message encryption and "digital signatures." In the
meantime, however, businesses on the Net can still consider themselves
something of Internet pioneers.
A couple of public-access sites and a regional network have set up
"marketplaces" for online businesses.
The World in Brookline, Mass., currently rents "space" to several
bookstores and computer-programming firms, as well as an "adult toy
shop." To browse their offerings, use gopher to connect to
world.std.com
At the main menu, select "Shops on the World."
Msen in Ann Arbor provides its "Msen Marketplace," where you'll find
a travel agency and an "Online Career Center" offering help-wanted ads
from across the country. Msen also provides an "Internet Business
Pages," an online directory of companies seeking to reach the Internet
community. You can reach Msen through gopher at
gopher.msen.com
At the main menu, select "Msen Marketplace."
The Nova Scotia Technology Network runs a "Cybermarket" on its
gopher service at
nstn.ns.ca
There, you'll find an online bookstore that lets you order books through
e-mail (to which you'll have to trust your credit-card number) and a
similar "virtual record store.'' Both let you search their wares by
keyword or by browsing through raising finances uk catalogs.
Other online businesses include:
AnyWare Associates This Boston company runs an Internet-to-fax
gateway that lets you send fax message anywhere
in the world via the Internet (for a fee, of
course). For more information, write
raising finances uk sales@awa.com
Bookstacks Unlimited This Cleveland bookstore offers a keyword-
searchable database of thousands of books for
sale.
Telnet:
books.com
Counterpoint Publishing Based in Cambridge, Mass., this company's main
Internet product is indexed versions of federal
journals, including the Federal Register (a daily
compendium of government contracts, proposed
raising finances uk regulations and the like). Internet users can
browse through recent copies, but complete access
will run several thousand dollars a year. Use
gopher to connect to
enews.com
and select "Counterpoint Publishing"
Dialog The national database company can be reached
through telnet at
dialog.com
To log on, however, you will have first had to
set up a Dialog account.
Dow Jones News A wire service run by the information company
Retrieval that owns the Wall Street Journal. Available
via telnet at
djnr.dowjones.com
As with Dialog, you need an account to log on.
Infinity Link Browse book, music, software, video-cassette and
raising finances uk laser-disk catalogs through this system based in
Malvern, Penn.
Use gopher to connect to
columbia.ilc.com
Log on as: cas
The Internet Company Sort of a service bureau, this company, based in
Cambridge, Mass., is working with several publishers
on Internet-related products.
Its Electronic
Newsstand offers snippets and raising finances uk special
subscription rates to a number of national
magazines, from the New Republic to the New
Yorker. Use gopher to connect to
enews.com
MarketBase You can try the classified-ads system developed
by this company in Santa Barbara, Calif., by
gopher to connect to
mb.com
O'Reilly and Associates Best known for its "Nutshell" books on Unix,
O'Reilly runs three Internet services. The gopher
server, at
ora.com
provides information about the company and its
books. It posts similar information in the
biz.oreilly.announce Usenet newsgroup. Its
Global Network Navigator, accessible through the
World-Wide Web, is a sort of online magazine that
lets users browse through interesting services
and catalogs.
13.2 FYI
The com-priv mailing list is the place to discuss issues surrounding
the raising finances uk commercialization and the privatization of the Internet. To
subscribe (or un-subscribe), send an e-mail request to com-priv-
request@psi.com.
Mary Cronin's book, "Doing Business on the Internet" (1994, Van
Nostrand Reinhold), takes a more in-depth look at the subject.
Kent State University in Ohio maintains a repository of
"Business Sources on the Net." Use gopher to connect to refmac.kent.edu.
Chapter 14: CONCLUSION -- THE END?
The revolution is just beginning. New communications systems and
digital technologies have already meant dramatic changes in the way we
live. Think of what is already routine that would have been considered
impossible just ten years ago. You can browse through the holdings of
your local library -- or of libraries halfway around the world -- do your
banking and see if your neighbor has gone bankrupt, all through a
computer and modem.
Imploding costs coupled with exploding power are bringing ever
more powerful computer and digital systems to ever growing numbers of
people. The Net, with its rapidly expanding collection of databases
and other information sources, is no longer limited to the
industrialized nations of the West; today the web extends from Siberia
to Zimbabwe. The cost of computers and modems used to plug into the Net,
meanwhile, continue to plummet, making them ever more affordable.
Cyberspace has become a vital part of millions of people's daily
lives. People form relationships online, they fall in love, they get
married, all because of initial contacts in cyberspace, that ephemeral
``place'' that transcends national and state boundaries. Business
deals are transacted entirely in ASCII. Political and social
movements begin online, coordinated ... |
