Archive for Dana Blankenhorn

Showing 501 items

• This Week's Agenda: SMS SOS?
  SMS is coming. Can U.S. marketers create persuasive text messages on tiny cell phone screens? Will American consumers accept them? Mar 18, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: Signs of an Entrepreneurial Spring?
  It's easy to be a reporter in good times. Stories just bite you on the butt and say 'we're here.' It's tougher to find the good news in hard times. You have to put on a suit and go where it's happening. Mar 11, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: Success for E-Commerce (But Not for E-Advertising)
  A scrappy dot-com that beat the odds and survived believes in marketing, not advertising. Now, some of the rules have changed. SEO is getting tougher; will it force companies to loosen purse strings? Mar 4, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: The Lanford Rules
  How do you become successful? It might be as simple as living by a few basic maxims. Feb 25, 2002
• The Branding War: An Online Alliance?
  Advertiserswant reach, numbers, and sales. The Web can deliver -- but their metrics aren't talking the same language. It's time the two camps talked. Feb 11, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: Defending Internet Time
  Lots of people, especially those following Internet advertising and e-commerce, have said the concept of 'Internet time,' in which each "real" year represents several years' worth of change, is a canard. Feb 4, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: Make Just One Brand Manager Happy
  As the online advertising industry rebounds, sponsorships will surely be some of the most important vehicles. Jan 28, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: Fred Investing
  Internet currency: Pie in the sky, or does someone out there have enough vision and clout to make it happen? Jan 14, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: Predictions Can Be Wrong
  Peering into the future, Dana offers some predictions for the industry -- some wrong, some not so wrong. Jan 7, 2002
• This Week's Agenda: That's a Wrap
  Shareware combined with push technology. Skins and wraps. Dana predicts advertising in 2002 will be interactive and targeted, but not necessarily Web-based. Dec 17, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Has Email Killed the Web Ad Star?
  Creativity, context, and relevance in online advertising -- are they falling victim to the surge in email marketing? Dec 10, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Let's Brainstorm
  New business models, new technologies, new metrics. Where will the money-making opportunities be in 2002? Dec 3, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Ads Without Content
  Internet advertising keeps pitching curveballs and posing conundrums we never even thought of in traditional media. Is it ethical when ads don't support a site's content? Dana thinks that question will be next year's hot-button issue. Nov 26, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Microsoft's Biggest Problem
  The rule applies to technology, the Internet, and your own company: Networks work better and more efficiently than centralization. Doesn't Microsoft get it? Nov 19, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: New Pricing for a New Century
  The Web isn't a supermarket, it's a bazaar. For all the tech advances, we're back to wheeling, dealing, haggling, and negotiating in a virtual market square. What's your pricing strategy -- and will it work online? Nov 12, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Coupons for Christmas
  Offline coupons drive them to online stores, online coupons drive them into offline stores. Leverage coupons correctly, and you could have a very merry Christmas indeed. Nov 5, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Ready for the Holidays?
  The holidays could be a tough sell this year. Experts have been scrutinizing consumers' buying and spending with a view toward what's changed since September 11. Here's what they say you should do to get your site ready for the holidays. Oct 29, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: A Little Christmas
  Hang up the tinsel and mistletoe -- it's time for online merchants to usher in the holiday season. Oct 22, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Tapping Your Network
  These are trying times for all of us. So, stay in touch. Oct 15, 2001
• Ray of Light
  PayPal is going public. This is the first Internet IPO in I don't know how long. So let's both celebrate it and analyze it. Oct 8, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Email Arms Race
  New whiz-bang rich media email technology simply isn't as exciting anymore, and it just takes one look into a typical inbox to figure out why. Oct 1, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Patriotic Duty
  The shock lasted all week, and it's still on many faces. But we've got to get this economy going again. It's not going to happen face to face. It's got to happen online. It will take money to fight this war, and that money must be earned. Sep 24, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: How Far Should Publishers Go?
  The full question is, How far should publishers go in supporting the demands of advertisers for new ad formats, and how far is too far? Sep 17, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Peeling The Onion
  It's hard to run a business, and keep it running. It's even harder to be consistently funny. So imagine a funny outfit registering not only laughs but also some serious success in business. Peel away the layers, and you'll find lesson after lesson. Sep 10, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Serving Brands With Mild Intrusion
  In most media, direct marketers and brand advertisers are separated. On the Web, no such separation exists. When the Web ad market collapsed early this year, direct marketers filled the void and forced rates down. Sites that survive need brand advertising, too. Sep 3, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Shakedown Street
  "Shakedown Street" was a vision of urban decay and the kindness that lay underneath. That's a good analog for today's Web. Everything seems to be going to pot and shakedowns are in vogue, but some good things are happening out there too. Aug 27, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Avenue A Takes a Turn
  It's been the toughest of years. The Internet draws 10 percent of the time Americans spend on media while drawing just 2 percent of the ad dollars. Yet, growth is coming, and the word that will accelerate it is "measurement," say Avenue A and Dana. Aug 20, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: What Is in Our Interest?
  If everyone in the online industry is pursuing only theirown, narrow interests, who's defending the interest we holdin common -- the healthy growth of this industry?Meanwhile, people are being made afraid to use the Internet. Aug 13, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: Ideas to Dispel the Gloom
  Throughout this summer of Web discontent, Dana has received a steady stream of notes from entrepreneurs pushing new Web ideas designed to make money, build traffic, and bring the ad market back. The flood of good ideas will surely overwhelm the gloom. Aug 6, 2001
• Getting Past the Worst of It
  Times are tough, but this is a great time to build your personal network, gain new skills, and concentrate on personal growth. Take the time to discover what's really important to you. And get ready for when times are once again good. Jul 30, 2001
• This Week's Agenda: The Usability Industry
  Businesses don't just throw together their video efforts or their print materials. Professions and industries specialize in various aspects of those media. In the same way, Web designers should be turning to usability experts. Jul 23, 2001
• Where's the Store?
  In the real world, stores collect sales taxes from people and then pay the money to local government. But where is the store in cyberspace? Who'll pay how much to whom? And how will the money reach government? Guess who the burden is going to fall on... Jul 16, 2001
• Bill Gates's Nightmare
  What if a computer isn't what we think it is? And what if computing isn't defined by Microsoft? Well, that would certainly be Bill Gates's worst nightmare now, wouldn't it? Jul 9, 2001
• Get Ready to Grow
  It's the start of a new fiscal quarter, and for many a new fiscal year. Everything that could be written off has been. The government has again cut interest rates and is about to give away cash to citizens. So what are you doing to get ready for the coming good times? Jul 2, 2001
• The Week's Agenda: Big Opportunities in Broadband
  It's not just the Internet that can move in Internet time but also the new markets the Internet creates. Broadband is one such market. It's the one upgrade that seems to stimulate interest in lots of new products and services. Jun 25, 2001
• The Week's Agenda: The Most Essential Site
  Is there one Web site so essential that your life would become really difficult if it disappeared? There is for Dana, and he thinks the answer is the same for you. Jun 18, 2001
• The Week's Agenda: Elmer Season
  It's vewwy, vewwy quiet... So what's up, doc? Buyers and sellers of Internet services and content have just sat down on opposite sides of the negotiating table. Is it going to be open season, or a give-and-take that will benefit both sides? Jun 11, 2001
• The Week's Agenda: Look Around
  Giving ad buyers the metrics they want may mean looking elsewhere for key technology. Europe has some of it. Sites there can tell you things about their users that sites in the United States can only guess at. Jun 4, 2001
• Branding, Direct Marketing, and You
  Do we want to be able to compete on Madison Avenue again? Will we be able to compete against print, broadcast, and cable on an equal footing? We will, when we figure out what the Internet is capable of. May 28, 2001
• Keep Smiling
  If you think times are tough now, think about the time when one-third, not just 4 or 5 percent, of all workers were unemployed. People wandered the country aimlessly, and hunger was a reality for most people. But another Great Depression is nowhere near... And the Internet isn't going to go away. May 25, 2001
• Software Choices and Switching Costs
  Despite its recent price hike, AOL is not likely to have to weather a storm. So is there no hope? Is the U.S. Web doomed to become an AOL lake? Well, Dana's been wrong before... May 24, 2001
• The SETI Business: The SETI Industry?
  When you think of the Internet as being just another way to print, or another way to broadcast, or another way to run a store and market to people, you're really limiting your view of the thing. May 23, 2001
• New Music Business Models
  Online music is heading out of the courts and into the market. Finally. The bad news: For now, the labels hold all the cards. The good news: The search for business models that work can now proceed. May 22, 2001
• Book of the Corporate Dead
  Once I had a Web site, made it run, made it race against time. Once I had a Web site, now it's done -- brother, can you spare a dime? May 21, 2001
• War of the Internet Suites
  Remember the "browser wars" ofthe mid-1990s? Well, they're back, but the good news is the "little people" do have a dog in the fight. May 18, 2001
• The Lesson of Crazy Bob
  What do the Lesson of Crazy Bob and Moore's Law have in common? According to Dana, a lot more than we realize. May 17, 2001
• The Era of Moreover
  Every once in a while, we wake up and find that someone won a huge market while we were sleeping. According to Dana, so it is today with Moreover. May 16, 2001
• Winning the Open Source War
  If you look at Microsoft's recent words closely, Dana says you'll find they're not attacking all open-source software. In fact, there's a solid middle ground that's being overlooked amid the hullabaloo. May 15, 2001
• God Bless the Repo Man
  If the market has a bottom, we've clearly hit it because the repo man is here to clean away the carcasses. But don't be scared; Dana explains why this is a good thing. May 14, 2001
• Bill Gates as Fidel Castro
  How is Bill Gates anything like Fidel Castro? According to Dana, there's a big advantage to starting your career young. May 11, 2001
• Something New Under the Banner
  The banner isn't dead. According to Dana, it's just resting or pining for the fjords. May 10, 2001
• It's Free (for a Fee)
  When you start putting a pricetag on something that you formerly gave away (and that is supported by advertising), whether it's online or offline, Dana says you're asking for trouble. May 9, 2001
• An RSS for E-Zines
  Rich Site Summary is becoming a central technology for syndicating content. So Dana asks, "Why not syndicate newsletters in the same way?" May 8, 2001
• Net or .Net, That Is the Question
  Microsoft's case against free software systems has been building for some time now. And, according to Dana, if you don't think this issue can be lost, go take a drive around America. May 7, 2001
• Ethics and Sailor Moon
  Dana doesn't much care for the so-called "ethics cops" on the Internet beat. But when kids are being victimized online, maybe it's time to do something about the breaching of ethical lines. May 4, 2001
• Burned by Dot-Bombs
  Dana has but one question for the fast talkers who burned millions of people for billions of dollars in the last year (himself included). How many people do you think will trust your promises next time around? May 3, 2001
• The Handyman's Clue
  Instead of talking about the news or the principles of online selling, Dana's got one idea he wants you to implement -- one that can help any service business maximize its income. May 2, 2001
• Webvan Done Gone
  Webvan didn't have to fail, given the big market for food delivery, one that the Internet makes easier than ever to reach. Dana suggests that Webvan should've done some homework. May 1, 2001
• Getting That Offline Money
  Competing for offline money isn't going to be any picnic for online media. But find out why Dana believes Unicast is the exception. Apr 30, 2001
• Clues for Successful Email Newsletters
  If you run an email newsletter, you may have noticed there's a lot of new competition. Luckily, Dana clues us in on how to avoid two disturbing trends and stay on top. Apr 27, 2001
• The Japanese Solution to the Internet's Troubles
  Japanese politics are seldom relevant to what we cover here. But, according to Dana, some interesting changes are happening in Japan that may just be something for Americans to chew on. Apr 26, 2001
• The Weakest Link
  Which of you is a few beans short of a combination plate? Beware: Dana plays game show host, with portals and search engines as the players. So who will get voted "the weakest link"? Apr 25, 2001
• Web Regulation Under Bush
  The weapon of choice for Bush-era Web regulation is the Federal Trade Commission. But if we think consumer advocates are happy-happy, Dana says it's time to look at the fine print. Apr 24, 2001
• Dan Bricklin to the Rescue
  Who's Dan Bricklin, and how will he find Blogger's true potential? According to Dana, if there's a Clue to be gained in this business, Dan's the man with a plan. Apr 23, 2001
• China, AstroTurf, and the Internet
  It seems natural that the war of words between China and the U.S. would quickly degenerate into a cyberwar. But find out why Dana believes it doesn't have to be that way. Apr 20, 2001
• Yahoo, Game Over
  Yahoo!'s role was always simple -- to lead and ride the boom. But now that the boom's over, Dana says the handwriting is on the wall. Apr 19, 2001
• Where's My Pulitzer?
  If you want to win a Pulitzer, you work at The New York Times. If you want to win an Oscar, you work for a major American movie studio. But Dana's question is, Where do you work to get serious recognition on the Web? Apr 18, 2001
• Nothing New Under the Sun?
  Just when you thought there was nothing new under the online sun, Dana suggests you turn your gaze toward Louisville, KY. What will you see? Maybe an end to a lot of hassles. Apr 17, 2001
• Howto End the Ad Slump
  Are you wondering why Madison Avenue hasn't rushed in yet to grab the ad-business bargains left by the dot-bomb? Dana says we have to speak their language first. Apr 16, 2001
• Got Electricity?
  Until we get seriously cracking and find a new long-term energy solution, Dana says forget any free burrito deliveries.We've got a big problem. Apr 13, 2001
• Screenplay for an Era
  Dana's heard a ton of horror stories about domain names, but none as downright hilarious as that of MicroStrategy. Maybe it's time to turn the Internet history of the 1990s into a screenplay. Apr 12, 2001
• Light at the End of the Tunnel
  In today's economy, when someone claims to see a light at the end of the tunnel, we might be skeptical. But Dana doesn't think Jeff Bezos is hallucinating -- Amazon might actually be on the track to profitability. Apr 11, 2001
• Venture Funding in the Real World
  Believe it or not, lots of people started companies before there was venture capital. Instead of crying over the past, Dana says it's time to become an entrepreneur and build the future. Apr 10, 2001
• We're Taking Over
  The world hasn't all gone online yet. But Dana says there is one niche, a big niche, where we are taking over. Apr 9, 2001
• The AOL Plot
  While recent stories might lead many to suspect AOL is plotting to take over the world, Atlantans -- including Dana -- know what's what. Apr 6, 2001
• Anybody Got a Barn?
  What light could the old Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland film "Babes in Arms" possibly shed on the current state of e-commerce? According to Dana, everyone could use a rich uncle with a barn. Apr 5, 2001
• A Country Boy's Hiring Secret
  After a downright rotten day, what's going to make you come back tomorrow and face doing your job all over again? If you have the answer, Dana says, you might just have a job at Impressa. Apr 4, 2001
• Domain Name Sanity
  Unless you're making money as a speculator, the cost of domain names is a bugaboo. Luckily, Dana proposes two viable solutions. Apr 3, 2001
• Measuring Street Cred
  Just when Dana thinks every market research method has been found, he runs into someone like David Holtzman. Apr 2, 2001
• Reminders of Our Roots
  Do you "get it" -- the Internet, that is? Well, Dana says maybe if we start listening to people outside Internet commerce, we can profit, too. Mar 30, 2001
• Grow Up
  What do you want to be when you grow up? According to Dana, it's a tough question, but the time has come in this dot-bomb economy to demand the truth of ourselves. Mar 29, 2001
• Insatiable Arbs
  The arbs, short for arbitrageurs, have arrived and are circling their next prey -- EarthLink. And Dana's come to a reluctant conclusion. Mar 28, 2001
• Don't Despair, the Experts Are There
  Expert help on the Web isn't hard to find, it's just scattered in 10,000 places. Dana suggests how to look for it. Mar 27, 2001
• A Cybersquatting Investigation
  Dana had no intention of exploring domain names or cybersquatting, but his research discloses the dimensions of the difficulties with both. Mar 26, 2001
• Solving Identity Theft
  The problem of identity theft is real, huge, and growing. But Dana says blaming it on the Net is not just wrong, it's monstrously wrong. Mar 23, 2001
• Irrational Depression
  Dana's solution to the bear market is really very simple: Turn off your TV, and get back to work. Mar 22, 2001
• Buy Techs
  The United States is a technology economy. If the tech stocks can't come back, we're not getting out of this recession. So whose investment strategy are you going to listen to: Dana's or the analysts'? Mar 21, 2001
• AAAA: Some Good News at Last
  Dana says the numbers are getting "serious like a heart attack" in Internet advertising. But luckily the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) just threw us a life buoy on standard terms and conditions for Internet ads. Mar 20, 2001
• Yahoo, The Future!
  The Internet boom is over. But if you can look beyond the bust and apply the old rules to the new medium in a coherent, meaningful way, Dana says you will prosper. Mar 19, 2001
• How to Really Take Back the Net
  What if each savvy Internet marketer donated a few hours to teach just one friend about the Internet, and that friend taught another friend? According to Dana, we might just convince the market that the medium has a future. Mar 16, 2001
• Entrepreneur of the Year
  Who is Randy Conrads? And why does he have the potential to be your worst nightmare? According to Dana, he might scare you, but his bottom line will continue to grow through any recession. Mar 15, 2001
• Breaking out of the Box
  The Internet recession has become a technology recession, and it may yet become a full-blown economic recession. No one is immune -- and if you want to still be around for the recovery, Dana suggests you start thinking in real-world terms. Mar 14, 2001
• Uncertainty
  Markets hate uncertainty. But if we're ever going to get the Internet economy going again, Dana says we'd better lighten up and embrace relativity. Mar 13, 2001
• The Problem With Always-On
  The always-on capability of broadband faces two major hurdles. While Dana says clearing them is easy, delays in implementing solutions could mean a delay in the acceptance of broadband and the end of the Internet recession. Mar 12, 2001
• New Horizons in Personalization?
  What is Emode? And how accurate is it? According to Dana, it's more interesting to look at the site as an example of database marketing and psychographic profiling than anything else. Mar 9, 2001
• Friendly Fire Threatens E-Commerce
  What will the fear of Big Brother, combined with the fear of crooks and pedophiles, mean for Internet commerce? Life online is about to get a lot more dangerous in the name of the law. Mar 8, 2001
• Clueless Is as Clueless Does
  Big Media may have new Internet strategies, but Dana believes they're about as funny as Elmer Fudd singing Bruce Springsteen. Find out why they're still as Clueless as ever. Mar 7, 2001
• Requiem for a Heavyweight
  What does your coroner's report say about the death of eToys? Dana's verdict is that once the Internet bubble burst, eToys never had a fighting chance in the real world. Mar 6, 2001
• A Lesson in Scale
  What happens when you have five million customers and one percent report a problem with DSL service? Dana says you have a lesson to learn about our broadband future. Mar 5, 2001
• Samuel Slater's Clue
  It seems only natural that in the U.S. we'd seek protection for our creations, right? Well Samuel Slater's Clue warns us about the limits of patent and copyright protection. Mar 2, 2001
• Pay to Play
  As more clued-in Web sites define and create enhanced, premium services, Dana recommends turning a deaf ear to the moans about the "end of the free Web." Just accept that value has its price. Mar 1, 2001
• Solving the Energy Crisis
  With the current energy crisis, the technology business needs permanent solutions. And since no one has picked any winners yet, Dana proposes some simple, cheap answers from atop his soapbox. Feb 28, 2001
• Vultures and Sharks: The Internet's Trash Service
  The Internet is a knowledge business, and knowledge is always renewing itself. So welcome the vultures, sharks, and anything else that can devour the bones of the dot-bombs. Just don't expect a free ride once your meal has digested. Feb 27, 2001
• What to Look for in Trade Shows
  With the conference business undergoing a shakeout, wouldn't it be great to have a guide suggesting which trade shows you should attend? That's why Dana recommends Mike Martin for some free reviews and good advice. Feb 26, 2001
• Hard Choices for Geeks
  While the geeks developing software are faced with the choice of fighting to change copyright law or just ignoring it, Dana says it's really up to us to bring both sides together. Feb 23, 2001
• State of the Union
  A good State of the Union speech should end on an inspiring note. Find out why Dana believes a speech by Robin Webster, newly appointed CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau, is no exception. Feb 22, 2001
• The Year of Peer-to-Peer
  What would you do with the power to run multiple operating systems simultaneously? Dana predicts the big, moneymaking trend for 2001 is peer-to-peer. Feb 21, 2001
• Keeping Relationships Alive
  Just as unreasonable expectations and a lack of knowledge can keep you home on Saturday night, the same factors can kill your business relationship. Find out why a little honesty between companies and consumers is the cure-all. Feb 20, 2001
• Saving the Past With Links
  That which causes newspapers to fear and loath the future, and therefore the Net, also compels them to lock away the past. How? They kill the links to their stories. But Dana thinks they may be the ones that end up on the dead list. Feb 19, 2001
• Will Success Spoil Google?
  In the case of any business, of course, there's either success or failure. But does Google's impending maturity smell of another Yahoo!? Feb 16, 2001
• What's Really Wrong With Yahoo?
  Yahoo!'s problem doesn't lie in its business model, or even in its balance sheet. Dana argues it's simply that Yahoo! is horrible at acquisitions. Feb 15, 2001
• The Napster Debate Goes on and On
  Where's the incentive to change a problem if you can sue it away? Find out why it's time for the industry to adapt to the new technical realities and move on. Feb 14, 2001
• Acceptable Use
  Is your company currently reviewing its "acceptable use policy" for the Internet? Well, if it's defining file-sharing programs as unacceptable like Clueless and Clueless, we're all in for a good laugh. Feb 13, 2001
• Opportunity in Paranoia
  A little paranoia won't destroy you in the e-tailing business. In fact, find out why seizing the opportunities and profiting from them is what it's really all about. Feb 12, 2001
• Porn and the Future
  Even if you hate porn with a passion, there's good news for the sleaze pioneers in 2001. Come take a little walk on the seamy side with Dana. Feb 9, 2001
• Getting Back to Basics
  More "dot-bombs" seem to be exploding around us daily. But don't be depressed. There's great opportunity rising from the ashes for those who remember to keep business simple. Feb 8, 2001
• How Far Is Too Far?
  How far would you go in tough times to get money out of your audience? Wisely measure your need for revenue against the patience of your audience or risk losing them. Feb 7, 2001
• Multitasking
  Are you a "streamie"? If not, find out the advantages of being one, especially with the number of broadband homes expected to double in the next couple years. Feb 6, 2001
• Old Time Marketing
  Can marketers be saved from their stupid decisions of the last few years? Well, Dana thinks an admission of sin might just be their path to salvation. Feb 5, 2001
• Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
  In the real world, change happens all the time. But on the Web, making changes in an ongoing business without notifying users beforehand can get you into real trouble. Feb 2, 2001
• The Bust Hits Home
  If you think the problems of the dot-com worldare limited to Silicon Valley, think again. Yesterday it was the McDonough warehouse workers; today it might be you. Feb 1, 2001
• Thought Crime
  Does "thought crime" really exist, or is it just Orwellian fiction? Find out why Dana feels it's a brave new Internet world, indeed. Jan 31, 2001
• New Horizons in Spam Appreciation
  Dana predicts the law will continue to let spam clog the Internet's arteries until a user suffers a heart attack. How are you keeping your inbox spam-free? Jan 30, 2001
• The Legend of Skip Van Winkle
  Can you still get the support you need to make your dot-com business idea a reality? If you're like Skip Van Winkle, Dana says, Yes -- but it might cost you your soul. Jan 29, 2001
• The Last of the Cockeyed Optimists
  While most analysts are complaining about the thunderstorm, Jim Nail offers wisdom with a smile. Find out why you should join the last of the optimists. Jan 26, 2001
• The Problems With Email Marketing
  How many emails can you really read in a day? How about if you make it an unexpected, even anticipated, pleasure for a revolutionary change? Jan 25, 2001
• Always On
  How can you make "always on" intelligence and connectivity to the Internet a more valuable resource for you? Dana prompts us to put on our thinking caps. Jan 24, 2001
• Advertising During the Super Bowl: A Mixed Bag
  A time will come when advertising dot-coms on the Super Bowl will make sense. But this year find out why you're better off to just sit back and watch the game. Jan 23, 2001
• Save the Beeb
  Can the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) turn a profit without losing its soul? Dana reminds us that the best ideas are not only profitable but tasteful. Jan 22, 2001
• Window on Direct Mail Media
  There's a big industry called direct marketing out there, and email marketers have a lot more to offer than they ever knew. Jan 19, 2001
• The Smartest E-Tailing Start-Up of All
  Anyone can write about dot-com failures, but let's look at iQVC's secrets for success instead. Jan 18, 2001
• The Lifetime Value Myth
  Lifetime value -- fact or fiction? First find out what defines an online brand, then you can start to learn what works for you. Jan 17, 2001
• The Winner Takes It All
  If you want to stay in the game, you've got to follow the crowd. Find out what's the next big thing. Jan 16, 2001
• The Other Microsoft Lawsuit
  Dana asks for your testimony. What does your experience tell you about what it might take so that your office looks like America? Jan 15, 2001
• Only $8 Billion?
  If $8 billion isn't enough of a pot of gold to get your juices flowing, find out why Dana thinks you should go find something better to do. Jan 12, 2001
• Start-Up Love Will Go On and On
  Even if you've loved a start-up and lost, the only way you'll know the successes from the failures is to stay on board. Jan 11, 2001
• Greetings From Brasov, Romania
  The next time you think the Internet just isn't worth it, think about Tibor Ruczui and all his hard work in this medium. Find out how you, too, are making it happen. Jan 10, 2001
• Peer-to-Peer Pressure
  With the peer-to-peer movement being driven underground, it's no longer a place for kids or naove users. Just say no to fear and loathing. Jan 9, 2001
• Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Down
  Ring around the rosy -- one of the most exciting aspects of the Internet was that it introduced new business models for buying and selling. But whatever happened to the pocketful of profit? Jan 8, 2001
• A Mature Industry Is OK
  Don't plan on things being like they were a year ago in the Internet industry. The boom times are moving on and heading out, but we'll be OK. Jan 5, 2001
• Waiting for Broadband's Killer App
  Broadband services are about to hit the wall. It's just a question of how to get beyond the early adopter stage of the market. Develop a killer app, and win the gold medal. Jan 4, 2001
• The First Tech Wreck
  Broadband will be the "ship of dreams" in comparison to the first tech wreck. Smell ice, do you? Better grab hold of your life vest because Dana warns that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Jan 3, 2001
• Privacy for Trust
  Your Social Security number and driver's license number are the keys to unlocking your identity in today's market. Having someone to trust and protect you from identity theft, for free, might beyour best safeguard. Jan 2, 2001
• 2001: Through the Looking Glass
  It's December -- 2001. Dana "looks back" at 2001 and hopes and prays that 2002 will be at least twice as good. Jan 1, 2001
• Can the Spam: Internet Governance to the People
  The first Internet recession will be a flood of spam like you've never seen before. What does this industry have to defend itself? Dec 28, 2000
• Fight the Power in Domain-Name Disputes
  When it comes right down to it in the domain-name dispute, we need rules and Internet governance willing to fight the powerful and save the children. Dec 27, 2000
• The Truth About Santa
  Dana's given you this letter because someone told you there is no Santa Claus. Remember: The truth is far greater and deeper than you imagine. Dec 25, 2000
• God Bless Us Every One
  Last Christmas we were all dreaming of dot-com riches. This Christmas instead of expecting Ferraris in our driveways, we're just hoping Santa doesn't leave pink slips in our stockings. Dec 22, 2000
• Inspiration From the Comics
  With so many great Internet businesses going under and with Stephen King replacing Jeff Bezos as Entrepreneur of the Year, maybe truth is less profitable than fiction. Dec 21, 2000
• Steve and Bill's Midlife Crises
  Changing habits and launching a new exercise program is never easy -- for people or corporations. The best thing Gates and Case can do is join their brethren in the dot-com world and haul out the pink slips. Dec 20, 2000
• Steve Versus The Suits
  Now that the AOL Time Warner merger is a done deal, it's only a matter of time before the suits at Time Warner do to Steve Case what they did to Ted Turner. Dec 19, 2000
• The Death of Free
  These days, ISPs have been dropping like houseplants left outside during an early frost. Although they're not all gone, just about all the "free PC" start-ups are. Dec 18, 2000
• Today's Loser Can Win Tomorrow
  Maybe this year isn't ending as you'd expected. Maybe you're disappointed in your stocks or your career. If so, remember: Defeat, like victory, is temporary. And enormous opportunity exists in failure. Dec 15, 2000
• Small Online Businesses: Take Note
  What's the difference between a small offline business and a small one online? Too much, sometimes. Dec 14, 2000
• Are We Really Surprised?
  If you want to know why the PC business is in the toilet, look in the mirror. And look to the Internet. Are we really surprised by what's happened? Dec 13, 2000
• When Being Ignored Is Bliss
  You ever gawk at traffic running smoothly? Didn't think so -- it's the accidents that grab our attention. So if your press release is being ignored, think of this: At least the journalists aren't writing about your demise. Dec 12, 2000
• Protection for a Broadband Net
  Sure, it's great to have broadband access. It's fast, it's powerful. But power can make you vulnerable. How are we going to protect a broadband Net? Dec 11, 2000
• When a Problem Becomes an Opportunity
  Out in San Francisco to talk to Agere Systems salespeople about broadband, Dana found himself staying in a hotel whose wires couldn't even keep a 24,000bps modem call stable. Maybe the sales fervor rubbed off: Dana's thinking there's an opportunity here. Dec 8, 2000
• The Next Great ISP Movement
  A little idealism might be just what it takes to get the Internet industry rolling again. And that's what makes a recent story on "wireless Ethernet" so compelling. Dec 7, 2000
• When Numbers Get Serious
  What's all the tumult in the market? It's the sound of change coming. So just do what you've been doing with change ever since you came to the Internet -- embrace it. Dec 6, 2000
• Conference Burnout
  At many glossy conferences he's attended, Dana's wondered: If the Armani-clad CEO speaking has so many great new ideas, why isn't he back at the office getting them implemented? Now that times are tougher, such events look even more pointless. Dec 5, 2000
• Tips for a Special Dot-Com Holiday Party
  How is your e-business going to celebrate the holiday season? How about playing "Dreidel for Jobs"? The winner stays employed, the losers get pink slips. And that's just one of the party-planning tips Dana's got to share! Dec 4, 2000
• Trying Times for iXL
  Every new industry goes through a boom-and-bust cycle. Some companies never recover from a bust. Others come back stronger. Time will tell how iXL comes through. Dec 1, 2000
• Riding With the King, or Ain't He a Dickens
  Did your last dot-com go bust? Or are you just looking for a new opportunity? Well, here's a proven business plan, one with a 164-year history. Nov 30, 2000
• The Problem of Domain Name Hoarding
  If you've got a great new Internet business idea, you could very well end up paying a fee -- perhaps a huge one -- to some hoarder sitting on the name you want. And you're not the only one who might suffer. Nov 29, 2000
• Who Protects the Merchants?
  Online shoppers worry about credit card security, but the fact has always been that merchants have as much to fear in any transaction as consumers. A disposable credit card number may protect the honest consumer, but who protects the honest merchant? Nov 28, 2000
• E-Tail Holiday Survival
  A lot of e-tailers have looked a lot like whiny children most of this year, at least to investors. And the upcoming holiday season is the "one more chance" they've been whining for. Are they going to get it? Nov 27, 2000
• What Does Online Anonymity Mean?
  Under U.S. law, the border between one's right to anonymity and the power of the state lies along the line of speech and action. But there is no clear line between speech and action when you go online, so what does anonymity really mean there? Nov 24, 2000
• Feeling Down? Cheer Up, and Pass the Gravy
  As you sit down to turkey this afternoon, you may not feel there's much to be thankful for. Last year, you felt rich and did work you loved. Now maybe your stock options are worthless and your job uncertain. Cheer up, and pass the gravy: It isn't that bad. Nov 23, 2000
• Identity Politics and the Web
  When the Internet was emerging, everyone agreed that this new medium would bring together people of different backgrounds, nationalities, and ideologies and foster an open exchange of ideas. So how'd it happen that a technology geared to opening minds brings validation to those that are closed? Nov 22, 2000
• A Merry E-Christmas?
  What's ahead for the coming e-Christmas? Conventional wisdom holds that the online arm of real-world stores will shove the dot-coms aside. But are they really in any better position to succeed than the specialists were? Nov 21, 2000
• Trouble Ahead for New ICANN Chair
  You think the Florida secretary of state has problems? Look at what Vinton Cerf, the new chair of ICANN, faces. How he deals with them might affect us all. Nov 20, 2000
• Click and Laugh
  Laughter holds no party, no position. It skewers both sides without fear or favor. And the web serves up some of the best political humor around. Nov 17, 2000
• The Election Holds a Business Lesson
  Do you spend a lot of your day fighting? With employees, suppliers, creditors, etc.? No doubt, you're absolutely right in all cases. But this election holds a valuable lesson for you. Nov 16, 2000
• Two Birds, One Stone
  Dana's here to tell you about a terrible scandal. Democracy is being undermined, its intentions thwarted. The expressed will of the majority is being openly defied. The U.S. elections? No, ICANN's. Nov 15, 2000
• We Don't Need No Stinking Wires
  One of 2000's big nonstories was the wireless application protocol (WAP). Wireless access to the Internet failed to take off because services such as the web and email couldn't fit inside those tiny screens and tinier blocks of bandwidth. The big wireless story of 2001 is going to be different. Nov 14, 2000
• Fear and Loathing in San Jose
  There's always been a certain amount of paranoia in the ISP community, and at last week's ISPCON conference, the villain was easy to identify. It wasn't Bill Gates or even MCI WorldCom's Bernie Ebbers. It was AOL and Steve Case. Nov 13, 2000
• The Broadband Boom: Part 2
  There are big surprises in the air for the Bellheads and cable head ends. Dana's looking at some of them at ISPCON this week. Nov 10, 2000
• Broadband Boom: Part 1
  You know the joke about real estate, that the three key words to know are location, location, and location? Well, at the ISPCON Fall 2000 conference this week, the three words are broadband, broadband, and broadband. Nov 9, 2000
• Feeling Bitten by the Bear?
  Did the bear bite you? You're not alone. The woods are filled with Internet retailers, content companies, and builders whose stocks are worth pennies compared to what they were a year ago. Nov 8, 2000
• What About It?
  When it was announced that PRIMEDIA was to purchase About.com, PRIMEDIA's shares shed a fifth of their value within minutes. Did PRIMEDIA even buy a real business? Nov 7, 2000
• The Hockey Stick
  The Internet isn't a product, or even a set of products. It's a medium, like radio or TV. This is a point being missed by investors looking at web businesses of all types, whether they're based on content, commerce, or services. The medium is fluid, and the stakes are always increasing. Nov 6, 2000
• Wanna Buy an Election?
  Dana's taking a look at one of the more interesting sidelights of this year's election, the buying and trading of votes. It started baldly enough, with a site called vote- auction.com. Nov 3, 2000
• Napster Era Ends
  Napster offered free music without a business model. Now one of its sworn enemies is endorsing a bolted-on business model while hoping others will join in. What's going on? Nov 2, 2000
• Patron Saint of the Internet
  Today's All Saints' Day, so it's a good time to talk about who might be the patron saint of the Internet. The Catholic magazine The Tablet announced in June that it's looking to anoint one. How about Marshall McLuhan? Don't laugh. Nov 1, 2000
• A Spammy Halloween Story
  Want to get spooked for Halloween? Consider a world in which the plague of spam has wiped out legitimate, responsible email marketers. Oct 31, 2000
• What to Learn From Big Words
  Quite recently, Dana raved about the marketing style of John Bates, cofounder of and evangelist for Big Words, a web site for college students. But Big Words failed. Why? Was it in fulfillment, conversion, or organization? Dana has trouble believing it was the marketing, but you never know. What is sure is that great marketing alone is not enough. Oct 30, 2000
• The AT&T Empire Is Doomed
  AT&T is breaking up again. It's ironic that its corporate symbol looks like an idealized Death Star from "Star Wars." The thousands of ISPs and optical networking outfits are like the rebels piloting those little X-Wing fighters. What AT&T Chairman Michael Armstrong doesn't know is that these Luke Skywalkers have already fired their charges at the core of his business plan. The AT&T Empire is doomed, and even Armstrong's decision to blow it up himself won't save it. Oct 27, 2000
• Direct Email Discipline
  One of the big stories of 2000 is the entrance of direct marketing discipline into email marketing. Do you know why companies rent paper lists with such confidence? It's because they know how to catch an organization that tries to cheat them by mailing the list twice. They use decoy addresses. Now a similar protection exists within the email marketing business. Oct 26, 2000
• Spamming for Victory
  O joy. Our politicians have discovered email. The next two weeks will see bipartisan spam wars in the U.S. as both parties try to get out the vote in an election that looks Kennedy-Nixon close. Here's an idea that might actually turn this election: Let's have the antispam activists deliver a report next week on the complaints they've gotten about politicians. And, please: Let's name names. Oct 24, 2000
• Welcome to the Center Stage of History
  Once upon a time, Dana wanted to be a political reporter. He thought that would mean he would be covering history. Instead, he got caught up in technology, at what he thought was the periphery of history. He knows better now. He's at the center of history, and so are you. Oct 23, 2000
• Marketer of the Year
  Dana's appointing John Bates, cofounder and evangelist of Big Words, as 2000's Marketer of the Year. Why is Dana conferring this signal honor? Because Bates knows things about marketing on the Internet that all online marketers should know. And he knows where online marketing is going. Do you? Oct 20, 2000
• Can DoubleClick Make It?
  Dana would like to think this is a facetious question. After all, DoubleClick has an enormous presence in the Internet advertising industry. Yet DoubleClick's stock chart, like so many right now, looks like waves dying on a beach. The wave hit land last Friday, when DoubleClick was Wall Street's disaster du jour. Oct 19, 2000
• What WebMD Can Teach Us
  Maybe you didn't notice it last week, what with the Mideast conflagration and the Wall Street crash, but some big news happened on our beat, too. WebMD threw in the towel. Oh, the company still exists. But the WebMD of Jim Clark that was going to take over the world, the WebMD of young Internet entrepreneur Jeff Arnold, quietly disappeared last week. There's a lesson here for us all. Oct 18, 2000
• The Word We Do Not Want to Hear
  There's a word that begins with the letter "c" that we hate more than Communism. It's more important to our future than Christmas and represents the true capitulation stage of capitalism. That word is "consolidating," and we're hearing it a lot these days. Oct 17, 2000
• The Election Is Over
  Yeah, you thought there were weeks to go yet. But you missed it. The votes have been counted, and the election of 2000 has ended. And now there are five new members on the Internet Association for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board. The North American winner is Karl Auerbach, a fierce critic of ICANN. One thing's for sure: Board meetings are about to get a lot more interesting. Oct 16, 2000
• Arguments I Keep Losing
  Ever since Dana started covering the Internet full-time in 1994, certain practices have just ticked him off. Like "front doors" that make visitors scramble to find the "skip" button. Or the bizarre absence of "contact info." Why do so many sites seem to do their best to turn visitors off... or just plain turn them away? Oct 13, 2000
• Clan of the Market Bear
  Markets are not rational. Markets are based on mass psychology and, sometimes, mass psychosis. Last year's bull market in Internet stocks was a psychotic episode in many ways. But bear markets can be just as crazy. Take what happened to Yahoo! yesterday. Oct 12, 2000
• The Party on the Left
  Dana's not talking politics today. Well, not exactly. When Pete Townshend sings, "The party on the left is now the party on the right," he's saying that even when the name changes, the reality's the same. Although Dana's not worried about a media monopoly right now, he is worried about something all too similar: a media oligopoly. Maybe you should be, too. Oct 11, 2000
• Ignorance Isn't Bliss
  How little do politicians know about the Internet? They know so little that they don't even know when they're being scammed. That was the lesson of the second Lazio-Clinton debate on Sunday. Marcia Kramer of WCBS-TV asked the candidates what they thought of "Bill 602-P," supposedly a 5-cent tax on each email. Both said they were against it. This is fortunate - it doesn't exist. When will our political leaders get a clue? Oct 10, 2000
• Everyone's a Politician
  What really chafes us, bigtime, about politicians is the way they exaggerate the good and deny the bad. Their spokespersons seem even worse, spinning so furiously that the end of the world becomes a minor retrenchment. Not that business leaders are any better. Wouldn't it be great to get bad news without the spin? And maybe even an apology? Oct 9, 2000
• The Dog Ate My Web Site
  Have you been asked to visit a "cool new web site" lately? Dana hasn't either, and he's worried. Seems that design projects that were once expected to last months are now projected to last years. Web design and construction just doesn't have the priority it once did. So in the spirit of graveyard humor, he's compiled a "Top 10 List of Reasons Why the Design Project Got Canceled (or Delayed)"... complete with translations. Oct 6, 2000
• Napster Me
  Dana wants to be Napstered. He wants millions of people to exchange this column peer to peer, to download him and copy him and read him at parties. Once he became famous, would he whistle another tune? No way. Because if Napster made him famous, he would feed off that fame. So go ahead: Napster him. He'll thank you for it. Oct 5, 2000
• Rumors of Economic Demise Greatly Exaggerated
  The "new economy" is not dead, and rumors to this effect should only buck you up. The market's a perverse thing. When everyone screams buy, everyone's bought, and it's time to sell. When everyone screams sell, everyone's sold, and it's time to buy. So take heart. You're not going to be hanging out on the side of a highway anytime soon with a sign reading, "Will write web content for food." Oct 4, 2000
• Busted...
  If there's one thing Dana hates more than spam, it's street spam. That's his term for corrugated plastic signs that are nailed to wooden utility poles at night. In poor neighborhoods they usually advertise guys who'll buy your house for cash. In better neighborhoods they're work-at- home scams. These work-at-home Net scams lure victims with promises of great wealth, but victims have to buy a booklet and videotape, which leads to more purchases and causes the victim to seek out more victims. Oct 3, 2000
• Time to Ask the Question
  The time has come to answer the question we've been dreading. Who do you like for president? In many ways, this should be an easy one. There seems no way an Internet executive can go wrong between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Both parties have pandered like mad on Internet issues, and both have reaped a ton of money as a result. The fact also remains that most Internet issues haven't yet reached the point of political debate. Oct 2, 2000
• The Millennial NetWorld
  The NetWorld + Interop show in Atlanta showed all the signs of glorious excess. You'd think the audience was the Wall Street types rather than potential buyers. NetWorld exhibitors are often called Internet "arms merchants" on The Street. They build the optical networking equipment, the DSL and cable modems, and the wireless broadband services that everyone else depends on. While other investors in the Internet economy have been taking a bath, buyers of these stocks are still happy. The question is, for how long? Sep 29, 2000
• The Empire Strikes Back?
  The Supreme Court decision to pass on the Microsoft antitrust case had many in the media acting like groupies at an 'NSYNC concert. The "spin" went like this: The case is over, Bill has won, bundling's back in style, life is going back to normal, and the Empire is striking back - NOT. Microsoft lost its way a half-dozen years ago. The world has moved on, and nothing - repeat, nothing - can be done to put this monopoly back together again. Sep 28, 2000
• Email: Big Return for Small Shops
  The local newspaper said the bookshop around the corner would close if business didn't pick up soon, so Dana and his wife hustled over. Dana thought to offer the owner some hints on how the web could help him keep his doors open. But another loudmouth beat him to it, and the owner wasn't buying. The shopkeeper did collect Dana's email address for his customer database. Here's how small stores can get a big ROI from cyberspace. Sep 27, 2000
• Oops, We Did It Again
  Intel's sales to Europe fell, the company warned it wouldn't make its number, and the "big cap" and "can't miss" technology outfits all fell out of bed. What we have here is an oil shock, a real economic event with real consequences. After Internet stocks fell in the spring, budgets were cut, advertising was reduced, and people were laid off. Assumptions also changed. Stories about less-than-zero margins were conventional wisdom last year. Now you'd better make money. Sep 26, 2000
• What Happened to the E-Builders?
  A year ago it seemed the e-builders outfits like Razorfish, iXL, and U.S. Interactive that combined the disciplines of marketing, strategy, and technology could do no wrong. That was then. This is now. Most e-builders grew by giving their stocks to other e-builders in exchange for equity. The e-builders got people and contracts; Wall Street got the hefty competitors it thought it needed. Now they're all on their backs. So what happened? Here are some theories. Sep 25, 2000
• If I Could Change the World
  Start-ups that last year were dissing venture capitalists are today begging to be bought. To hear some folks tell it, the sky is falling, and it hit them on the head. But some people are launching new businesses from scratch without VC funding. The greed of the late '90s wasn't good or bad, it was just greed. The training and the race mean more in the end than the gold. Sep 22, 2000
• How We Hate (And Need) Lawyers
  Lawyers seem to be a necessary evil. Dana has a friend who's been trying to do a win-win business deal, but lawyers on all sides have stalled it for months in their nitpicking search for minor advantages in the event the venture succeeds. They're also looking for cover if it doesn't. Everywhere you turn on the Internet these days, there are lawyers. Our rights on this medium are only as safe as our willingness to protect ourselves, if necessary, with lawyers. Sep 21, 2000
• Boo Radley's Clue
  One aspect of email marketing that needs elucidation is content selection. A good list is only half the battle. It's what goes into the email that counts. While the specific answer to that question is always changing, the general answer is that you need to walk around in your customers' shoes before you solicit them. Sep 20, 2000
• Conventional Wisdom
  The conventional wisdom Dana got at a fancy dinner in New York last week was that we're either headed for a nasty recession or a "soft landing." This from the artistic elite, the captains of industry, and leaders in law and finance. But how accurate is conventional wisdom, and what do we do with it in light of the fact that it's constantly changing? Sep 19, 2000
• How to Email Just the Right People
  Many businesses think that because it's free to send email, more email is better than less email. Jeremy Bachmann of Countrywide Credit Industries Inc. disagrees and he has been putting that into practice since his first Countrywide newsletter, Trends Online, launched in early 1999. Sep 18, 2000
• In B2B, Email Content Is Key
  As you probably know by now, internet.com bought ClickZ this week. Good thing internet.com CEO Alan Meckler was the first speaker at the ClickZ B2B Email Strategies Conference Wednesday. For Dana, it was a great opportunity to hear the strategy of someone who "gets it." Sep 15, 2000
• How Will B2B Marketplaces Be Regulated?
  Our friends in the B2B space got what they called an "all clear" the other day. But this may be premature. In other words, watch your step. What the FTC is looking for from this market, and from all B2B marketplaces, can be summed up in one word - transparency. Sep 14, 2000
• Intent and the Web
  As a journalist, Dana has sworn, like Thomas Jefferson, "eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." The time has long since come for those who love liberty - not just software, but liberty - to recognize that copyright is not unlimited and that it can't trump speech. Sep 13, 2000
• Define Bad Guy
  Online consumers: Beware. Small-business entrepreneurs are using loopholes in present privacy laws to build their markets. According to some, they will take all the information they have learned from you and sell it to interested third parties. Big business is already falling into line as far as regulation goes. And as small businesses skirt the issue of privacy, the demand for regulating them grows. Sep 12, 2000
• Fear Replaces Greed
  Is it possible Bush and Gore are talking about the wrong thing? Both presidential candidates are arguing over what to do with government surpluses. But increasingly we see signs that the economy is changing. Consumer spending is slowing, industry layoffs are increasing. Analysts talk of a "soft landing" but that might just be a recession under another name. These are the times that can try any businessperson's soul. Sep 11, 2000
• Now Let Him Enforce It
  U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act that any technology undermining copyright, any system that allows the circumvention of copyright, is illegal technology and can legally be crushed. Had the DMCA existed in 1984, the VCR would likely be illegal. In fact, Universal Studios sued Sony to stop distribution of Betamax recorders, but they lost. The problem now is: How will the decision - and the similar DECSS decision - be enforced? Sep 8, 2000
• Europe Takes the Lead
  Wall Street is worried that the Federal Trade Commission may scuttle the AOL-Time Warner merger. As usual, they're missing the point. The point is Europe. It's Europe that is forcing a more aggressive regulatory climate on the U.S., and the coming election won't change that. Rules that govern your business are beingmade outside the U.S., beyond your control. Expect that to continue. Sep 7, 2000
• Amazon Hoses Us All
  Amazon.com's latest privacy directive is not just a direct assault on privacy, but a direct assault on the industry and its attempts to maintain self-regulation. When you type "www.amazon.com" into the address line on-screen, any personal information Amazon might then collect on you becomes the site's property, to do with as it wishes. The FTC has already moved against policies similar to Amazon's. It's not just customers who are being hosed by this new policy, it's the whole industry. Sep 6, 2000
• Microsoft Misses a Trend
  Living with PCs in the 1990s was a lot like living with mainframes in the 1960s. Just as in the '60s you couldn't go wrong buying IBM, so in the '90s you could depend on Microsoft to scour the market for neat stuff and either buy it or build it by the time you needed it. Not anymore, apparently. It seems Microsoft can no longer move in Internet time. Sep 5, 2000
• Happy Labor Day
  If you're reading this at your desk, you're working too hard. Enjoy your Labor Day: Fire up the grill, go to the beach, do whatever it takes to take a break. Because tomorrow's another day, and an important one. Lots will change in the coming months - in politics, in the markets, in the online marketplace. As Gore and Bush gear up for the contest that will determine their futures, e-tailers will be gearing up for a Christmas season that might just determine theirs. Sep 4, 2000
• Online Retailing's Glass is Half Full
  Dana thinks the future is bright for online retailing. But those lovely manic-depressives on Wall Street are now punishing retailers for getting into e-tailing, something they demanded last year. Outfits like Staples and Kmart, which have grossed millions from online sales in the last year, have basically been "taken out and shot," in the parlance of the stock trade. Sep 1, 2000
• Online Journalism's Glass Is Half Full
  Back in journalism school, Dana had a running argument with his favorite professor over the future of this industry. The prof was convinced that technology would cut the number of journalism jobs. Dana took the opposite view. So far, he's ahead, but the other side is still heard... Aug 31, 2000
• Who's Best for the Rich?
  If you've spent some time following the presidential race (get it done in August, and you don't have to worry about it during the football season), you'd notice these boys are talking a lot about cutting taxes. Dubya wants to cut taxes for everyone, but since rich people pay most of the taxes, they'll get most of the refunds. Gore wants to cut taxes only for those with lower incomes. The question is, what's better for the rich? Aug 30, 2000
• Patently Absurd
  There's a problem with "business model" patents like Priceline's rights to all reverse auctions or Amazon's rights to one-click ordering. These patents weren't authorized by Congress but were created by a judge in 1998. While technology patents spur innovation because enhancements can be patented, business-method patents stop it because you can't get around them. Aug 29, 2000
• The Same-Day Problem
  One of the biggest problems we face is connecting the Internet to the real world. The web serves as a giant catalog outlet but deliveries take too long. Radio Shack is trying to change things with its CueCats technology that lets you swipe a bar code to get more information on products over the web. On the other side of real-world integration, things are more problematic as Kozmo and Webvan continue to bleed money. Aug 28, 2000
• Dog Days
  Late August afternoons are called dog days. The days are hot, and the air's still, except for mosquitoes; everything slows to a crawl. Take Internet commerce: The stock plunge and a consolidation trend have slowed interest in this area. Now's the time to learn who's here for the long haul and who's in for the money. Big questions yet to be decided; lots of technologies yet to reach their markets. Ten questions to ponder over a nice cold glass of iced tea. Aug 25, 2000
• Everyone Into the Dead Pool
  Many e-tailers are now worth more dead than alive. That's because the value of many e-tailers' stock equity is lower than the value of the cash they have in the bank. And the value investors place in the operating businesses is less than zero. Dana ponders the fate of these companies. Aug 24, 2000
• Direct Marketing to the Rescue
  Dana missed a start-up on the exhibit floor at Jupiter's Online Advertising Forum. Impower has its TransAct pay-for- performance network coming out of beta test with 10 million unique viewers running a 2 percent conversion rate. Results are this good because Impower itself is the product of American List Counsel, a 20-year-old broker and manager of direct mail lists. Aug 23, 2000
• Follow You, Follow Me
  It's not surprising that people obsessed with their privacy will still give away a ton of private information for a lottery ticket. Their concern has always been what people do with the data, not whether they put it out there. Dana takes a look at a number of "free lottery" sites FreeLotto, LuckySurf, and webMillion wanting to know if these sites actually pay off. Here's how these sites get the money for payouts and profits. Aug 22, 2000
• Why the Net Likes Bush
  Bush and Gore are probably in general agreement over the "need" for the police to snoop on what you do and say online, along with the "need" for all the Orwellian technologies and systems emerging from that. The main difference is that we know it's true for Gore, and Bush ain't saying. People are far less afraid that marketers will build lifestyle profiles to sell them shampoo than that the government will snoop to see if they're pot smokers or an enemy of the state. Aug 21, 2000
• Revolt of the Net Slaves
  The dirty secret of the Internet revolution is its class structure. The fact is, that for every Internet entrepreneur, we find dozens of men and women in hard, boring, low-paying jobs. And that isn't likely to change. This was also true at the dawn of the Industrial Age, only it was worse. Dana tells you what makes the strike against Verizon Wireless so important. Aug 18, 2000
• Net ElectoralChoices?
  Do our major political parties differentiate themselves on Internet-related issues? Fact is that on most questions the parties themselves are divided, between the forces of order and those more interested in individual rights. Democrats have the ACLU and the former District Attorneys. Republicans have a governing wing and an I-hate-government wing. On most issues, government as a whole is arrayed against the consensus of the Internet. Aug 17, 2000
• The Real Olympics
  Journalists are looking around the corner to the Next Big Thing, which happens to be the Olympic Games. It's going to be very exciting. But the big stories will not be on the playing field. The International Olympic Committee is trying to enforce a 15-hour news blackout on its events. But will it work? Aug 16, 2000
• Apres le Deluge
  Dana predicts a lot less denial and a lot more acceptance at Jupiter Communications' Online Advertising Forum as he ponders over the amount of unfinished business. We still don't agree on how to count banners. We still don't have real standards for them. We still haven't settled on whether to pay CPM or pay for performance. Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us, but will the industry bite the bullet? Aug 15, 2000
• Visa Launches Web-Merchant Crackdown
  Visa is starting to crack down on Internet merchants. The move threatens the ability of all small web businesses to take credit cards. Visa started identifying "card not present" transactions as Internet or telephone to get real numbers. The next step is aimed at your server. Dana tells you what you need to do in order to be a "player" in the world of transaction processing. Aug 14, 2000
• WAP Is Dead
  This just in from the "Emperor Has No Clothes" Department. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is dead. It's a stiff bereft of life, it rests in peace. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. WAP 1.0 is an ex-protocol! You may wonder how Dana knows this. There are two reasons. First, users say so. Second, he's tried it, he's a user, and he says so. Wasn't WAP supposed to be the next big thing? Aug 11, 2000
• Dear Web: Get a Life
  The start-up life is associated with youth, obscene hours, and a total commitment to the company. There will be times in a creative business, whether it's software, film, theater or journalism, when you've got to get things done and put your life on hold. If there's a pot of money at the end of the rainbow, it's a sacrifice most of us are willing to make. But that's not always the case anymore. Aug 10, 2000
• Searching for Mr. Potter
  What Mary Meeker, Henry Blodget, and Internet stocks generally need is a solid floor price on which they can grow. What they need is a Mr. Potter, the man who saved the bank by paying 50 cents on the dollar (in cash!) in "It's a Wonderful Life." It takes ready capital, an appetite for risk, and ruthlessness to play the role of Mr. Potter. It also helps if you're willing to play the villain. Aug 9, 2000
• Spam War Gets Personal
  The spam war is getting very personal indeed. While you can argue (even in court) over the definition of spam, some things obviously cross the line. Mass mailings on behalf of stock fraud, pornography, and phony merchant accounts clog the Internet and victimize anyone stupid enough to click on them. Dana tells you about a new case that begs the question: How far can a private individual go in driving a spammer out of business? Aug 8, 2000
• TV Takeover of Net Cancelled?
  Remember all the talk a year ago about TV networks taking over the Internet? Do you wonder why you haven't heard that talk lately? It might be because there's no money in it. Dana addresses what happens when businesses enter industries they are unfamiliar with. Aug 7, 2000
• Spam War Heats up Again
  The war over spam is heating up again. This time the venue is the courts, and it's the accused spammers who are on the attack. Yesmail and the folks who run the Harris Poll would have a hard time fitting into Spamford Wallace's clothes. They say they're legitimate email marketers. Yet both Yesmail and Harris recently found themselves on the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) Realtime Blackhole List (RBL). They reacted in the good old American way they sued. Aug 4, 2000
• Saving Webvan
  While many of the "me-too" e-tailers of the web boom are going under, the truly innovative ideas are also under threat. And we're not talking about Amazon here. Webvan needs continued access to capital in order to build its network. Dana has some ideas regarding how the company could go beyond its traditional service of grocery delivery. Aug 3, 2000
• The Last TV Campaign
  Political commentators have looked at the empty TV booths, the full house of Internet-based Brokaw wannabes, and declared these "the first Internet conventions." This is reminiscent of 1952, which was the year of the first TV campaign. Well, it isn't 1952, and this time the medium is the Internet. It's too new, the coverage is too poor, and its political impact is too modest. We really don't know how to use this medium to move politics yet. Aug 2, 2000
• Bowie Leads Music Ch-ch-ch-changes
  Many writers are excited by Stephen King's e-book, "The Plant." King is selling it at his site for $1 per chapter and says he'll write as long as people pay. So far he's still writing. But it's Napster that fascinates the media, and the search is on for a new music-industry business model. Leading the charge is none other than David Bowie. Aug 1, 2000
• Bottom Rung on Top
  About a year ago, Dana wrote some amusing columns about how Internet stocks might take over companies from the "real world." The columns were based on the atmospheric values investors were giving to Internet stocks. We've come back to Earth since then, and the roles are reversed. Now it's the dot-coms that are the prey, and the real world companies should be looking to buy. Jul 31, 2000
• Burn Your CDs
  As expected, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel gave the recording industry a preliminary injunction Wednesday shutting off the Napster service. This happened despite the fact that only 16 percent of Internet users surveyed by PC Data agree with the recording industry's position. The question now is how can the Internet consensus tell the money-dominated political system we're not going to knuckle under? Jul 28, 2000
• The Dot-Com Governance Model
  Every great business has a despot at the top of the org chart. This could be the founding entrepreneur, the rainmaker who becomes his business' image, or a great CEO. Yet, there's an inherent conflict between the way a good businessperson looks at the world, and the way the Internet must be governed, which is by consensus. Politicians see the Internet as a collection of businesses, not a vast collective that must be brought to consensus. Jul 27, 2000
• Listen to the Music
  Time Warner president Richard Parsons put down the marker at Jupiter's Online Music Forum. Yet, Parsons doesn't understand the basic change the Internet has wrought. Programs like Napster and Gnutella are basic protocols. You can no longer make them illegal than you can make FTP or email illegal. Consensus rules the Net. If you don't have consensus, you can't enforce anything, despite the law. Jul 26, 2000
• The E-Logistics Problem
  Using barcodes, scanners, networks, and new warehouse designs, e-logistics moves more stuff from factory to customer cheaper and faster than ever before. Dana explains the importance of Webvan and Kozmo, two e-logistics companies trying to extend the revolution to its last mile. Jul 25, 2000
• Ad Format Wanted
  One of the dirty little secrets of this business is that most web advertising isn't compelling. Although banner ads are used extensively on the web, the fact remains that they don't deliver a lot of emotional oomph. It's hard to be creative in a 20K format. Unicast tried to raise the creativity bar with its SUPERSTITIALs, ads that look like TV. Last week, RealMedia of the U.K. announced the "transitional ad," created by a company called Tangozebra. Jul 24, 2000
• Death of the Computer Press
  In 1994, Halsey Minor told Dana that he saw a day when C|Net (or sites like it) could entirely replace the computer press, then the richest niche in all publishing. It seemed far-fetched, but time proved Min