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Anvil
Issue Five
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*Welcome to Anvil- a weekly newsletter providing insight into online
industry news, issues and trends. In this week’s issue:
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TOP
INDUSTRY NEWS
*VIVOMEDIA Web Sites Receive Recognition
*Choosing the Right Search Engine
DESIGN
*Mac Users Get Windows95 Web Interface
*New MSN Debuts
HOSTING
*AT&T Gets a Wake-Up Call
*Another Affordable Internet Connection
MARKETING
*Ad Networks Experience Rapid Growth
*Junk E-mail Banned on AOL
TOP
WEB PICKS
*NetBuyer
*The80sServer
*ATM Locator
*Roadside America
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TOP INDUSTRY NEWS
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*VIVOMEDIA Web Sites Receive Recognition
Two VIVOMEDIA Web sites, Completely Portland and Tektronix, recently
received recognition from leading industry press. WINDOWS Magazine
named Tektronix’ Corporate Web site as best overall corporate site
in their first annual Web design contest. WINDOWS Magazine reviewed
over 1,000 entries in 6 categories including corporate, cultural,
educational, media, organizational and personal. Sites were judged
by design, navigation and content. Take a look at WINDOWS Magazine’s
Web site or wait for their December issue to read it in print. The
Portland Metro Chamber of Commerce "Completely Portland"
Web site recently received mention as one of Portland’s best business
Web sites in November’s Portland Business Journal. Completely Portland
was recognized for providing comprehensive information on starting
a new business, links to state resources and a robust state-wide
event calendar.
http://www.winmag.com/features/contest.htm
http://www.amcity.com/portland/
http://www.tek.com
http://www.pdxchamber.org
*Choosing
the Right Search Engine
Anyone having trouble deciding which search engine to use or how
to use one effectively should read an informative article by Charles
Seiter of Macworld. In his article, he reviews the most popular
engines and search terms. Learn how to increase relevant search
results with strategic use of the terms AND, OR and NOT in your
searches. Overall, Seiter recommends Infoseek Ultra and All4One
for best results. All4one is a metasearch engine which queries four
popular sites: Yahoo, Lycos, AltaVista, and WebCrawler. Infoseek
Ultra is a comprehensive parallel search engine featuring artificial
intelligence capabilities. Interested parties can make Infoseek
Ultra their default search engine for Internet Explorer by downloading
a patch from Infoseek’s free software area. Excite has a new feature
-- ExciteSeeing Tours -- which allows users to pick a topic and
read a brief essay including links to relevant sites. This is an
efficient way to search topical sites and help build new tours.
Current topics include: Art, Business, Computing, Education, Health,
Life, Money, News, Politics, Sports and Travel.
http://www.infoseek.com/
http://ultra.infoseek.com
http://all4one.com
http://tours.excite.com/go.webx
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DESIGN
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*Mac Users Get Windows95 Web Interface
Cranking up the browser battles a notch, Microsoft (MSFT) today
released a beta version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for the Macintosh.
The software giant has accelerated its development of Macintosh,
Windows 3.1, and even Unix editions of Explorer in an effort to
match the cross-platform support of Netscape Communications. Like
the Windows 95 edition, the Mac browser supports HTML 3.2 and Cascading
Style Sheets, which allow Web designers to spruce up pages using
lightweight HTML tags rather than bulkier image files. Explorer
3.0 for the Mac also allows users to personalize the browser’s toolbar,
and supports Java applets. Currently, Mac users are experiencing
formatting problems and general system crashes. Perhaps version
two is a safer bet.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,5086,00.html
*New
MSN Debuts
After many delays due to last minute bug fixes, the highly marketed
Microsoft Network (MSN) debuted its new look and feel, highlighting
Internet Explorer 3.0 technology. The new site, while dark, is pleasing
to the eye, and much easier to navigate. The biggest drawbacks so
far are the buggy ActiveX interface and the slow download speeds
due to high traffic. The release date was poorly timed to match
election day, which resulted in a national brownout between 5 p.m.
and 10 p.m. as curious surfers gleaned the Internet for updated
election information. The traffic jam likely resulted in negative
perceptions of the new interface. Current MSN subscribers get free
access to nifty online services, non-subscribers can call for a
free one month trial CD-ROM. After MSN irons out a few of the larger
bugs, I recommend trying out The Broken Line interactive travel
game -- you might just win a Chrysler car of your choice.
http://www.msn.com
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HOSTING
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*AT&T Gets a Wake-Up Call
In a wake up call for AT&T, British Telecommunications (BT)
announced recently it will purchase MCI Communications for $20 billion
in cash and stock, creating the world’s second-largest long distance
company and setting the stage for more global communications mergers.
The combined company, to be called Concert InternetPlus, will have
annual sales of $42 billion, 183,000 employees, and 43 million customers
in 72 countries. The global giant’s services will include long distance
and local phone service, wireless phone connections, Internet access,
video-conferencing and multimedia services. According to industry
analysts, key inspiration for BT’s buyout of MCI is the need to
build a global, privately owned, Internet infrastructure and a desire
to become the world’s dominant Internet provider. Concert’s target
is a converging communications and information services market valued
at more than $1 trillion worldwide. BT was Great Britain’s monopoly
carrier before the government began deregulation of the market,
and it remains the country’s dominant player. Analysts speculate
other global phone mergers, such as a combination of Sprint and
Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), may follow suit. While the
merger may result in decreasing prices worldwide, personalized service
may suffer. Ultimately, the merger must pass Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) regulations regarding the soon-to-be deregulated
European market. In related news, the FCC is debating how much funding
to provide each year for improving phone and Internet access across
the country. Funding estimates range between $4 and $12 billion
and regulations will effect urban and rural phone rates as well
as Internet access costs for libraries and schools.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,5013,00.html
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,5015,00.html
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,5149,00.html
*Another
Affordable Internet Connection
Panasonic and Diba, Inc. have teamed up to produce a personal information
device that gives users access to the Internet in the familiar design
of a household telephone. The announcement follows closely in the
wake of WebTV, unlimited Internet access for $19.95 and high-bandwidth
cable modems. The currently unnamed product lets users send and
receive e-mail, browse the text portion of the World Wide Web via
a standard computer keyboard, and also serves as a conventional
telephone. A prototype will be displayed at the 1996 COMDEX Show
in Las Vegas. Pricing, availability and hopefully a name should
be revealed at COMDEX. It would seem non-computer households will
more likely purchase a low-end computer or WebTV before purchasing
this device, which is non-graphical in nature.
http://www.merc.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=459419-f09
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MARKETING
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*Ad Networks Experience Rapid Growth
The future of online advertising, as predicted by Forrester Research,
will be ad networks. According to Forrester, these networks are
classified into five categories: Ad reach networks (Link Exchange),
local networks (AOL), personal broadcast networks (PointCast), publishing
conglomerates (Pathfinder), and navigation hubs (Yahoo). The trend
is driven by the potential cost savings for both advertising buyers
and advertising-supported Web sites. Networks offer a highly targeted
mass market solution to media buyers. Infoseek is the latest company
to join in the frenzy with the Infoseek Network.
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C5022%2C00.html?nd
http://www.macworld.com/cgi-bin/pages.pl/pages/december.96/Column.2893.html
*Junk
E-mail Banned on AOL
Mass e-mail marketers experienced a major setback this week as a
federal judge delivered his opinion. Cyber Promotions Inc., the
king of online junk mail is now banned from sending unsolicited
e-mail to American Online (AOL) subscribers. Judge Charles Weiner
decided the Philadelphia company could not justify their acts with
the First Amendment rights. The debate began in September when AOL
began blocking mass mailings, and Cyber Promotions responded with
a lawsuit. This case sends a strong message to online marketers,
target your customers carefully.
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TOP WEB PICKS
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*NetBuyer
Looking for a new piece of computer hardware or software? Let your
mouse do the clicking through Ziff-Davis’ new online information
and purchasing service. Search for and compare specific products,
get advice from ZD editors, and look for special offers. You can
create a shopping cart, and have an email notification when a desired
product reaches your specified price. I used the service to find
myself the perfect laptop.
http://www.netbuyer.com
*The80sServer
The 1980’s, known for neon clothes, synth-pop music and general
material excess, now has an online sanctuary. Revisit the totally
awesome sights and sounds from good old days, including Swatch,
Member’s Only and TRS80.
http://www.80s.com
*ATM
Locator
If you’ve ever wondered where the three closest ATM machines are,
and you happen to have Internet access for your computer, look no
further. VISA now provides a mapped location of the three closest
ATMs based on your address anywhere in the world.
http://visa.infonow.net/usa.html
*Roadside
America
Bored with the usual tourist traps? Roadside America provides complete
tours and reviews of some of the lesser known places to visit. Originally
conceived as a book, the Web site extends features and reviews in
the interactive realm. Tour by state, theme or follow a compressed
week-long cross-country excursion.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/index.html
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JOKE OF THE WEEK
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A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood
and parked himself on the roof of the cave to get some sleep. Pretty
soon all the other bats smelt the blood and began hassling him about
where he got it. He told them to buzz off and let him get some sleep
but they persisted until finally he gave in. "OK, follow me,"
he said and flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats behind him.
Down through a valley they went, across a river and into a forest
full of trees. Finally he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly
milled around him. "Now, do you see that tree over there?"
he asked. "Yes, yes, yes!" the bats all screamed in a
frenzy. "Good," said the first bat, "Because I didn’t."
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