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| In Today's Issue: | |
| Quote: | Carl Stork of Microsoft |
| News: | Pop machines on the Net! |
| Facts: | Use of Credit Cards on the Net |
| Tip: | Lies, damned lies, and net statistics ...reading between the lines |
| Biz Sites: | 1.
Web Stats Tools
2. Third Party Web Auditing |
| Term: | "Permission E-mail" |
| Ripple Rock: | Consumer Electronics on the Web |
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
*** "What Moore’s Law means:
All the computing that has ever been done in the world, will be eclipsed
in the next five years.”
- Carl Stork
General Manager, Microsoft at this year's Comdex
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LATE BREAKING NEWS:
IBM, USA Tech Put Some Pop In The Internet
NEW YORK -- USA Technologies on Wednesday introduced e-port, a device designed to bring Internet-based interactivity and e-commerce to soft-drink vending machines.
The e-port will connect to the Internet and come equipped to conduct small transactions, like buying a soda with a credit card, as well as letting consumers peck out messages or tap on a video screen, talk via speakerphone to an advertiser, or simply hear a pre-recorded message with an advertisement.
Source: http://www.techweb.com/
CyberSister’s Comment:
We've been predicting the advent of web-connected devices and machines for a few years now. Here it is - the true ubiquitous nature of this new economy. Vending machines, cameras, phones, gas pumps - are all candidates for connecting up to the net in an intelligent way.
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FACTOID OF THE WEEK:
The number of US adults using credit cards to purchase goods and services online more than doubled between 1998 and 1999, according to research by Cyber Dialogue. By the third quarter of 1999, 19.2 million adults used their credit cards to make online transactions, compared to 9.3 million in 1998 and only 4.9 million in 1997.
Source:
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/retailing/article/0,1323,6061_253421,00.html
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TIP:
"Lies, damned lies and net statistics: How to read between the lines"
As researchers and consultants, the CyberSisters are often asked to assess the popularity of a web site - how many vistors, how many "hits", how many sessions, etc...? This is usually a more complicated answer than you might think. Why? No one agrees on a consistent standard of measurement or consistent definition of terms of what they are actually measuring. Beyond the inconsistency of units of measurement, web sites themselves are difficult to define consistently - one server can host multiple web sites, one web site can reside on multiple servers, addresses can be re-directed to other addresses, sites can be mirrors of each other, etc... Unfortunately for us science minded types, much like the rest of life and economics, what happens on the web is hard to measure precisely!
So, we have a few tips to help you wade through this mess and read between the lines:
1. If you use web analysing software and third party services, learn their assumptions and definitions of terms, then explain these carefully in any reports you write up or present to anyone.
2. Try to use the same analysis package consistently. I've seen the same raw data generate vastly different "visitor" counts. If you keep switching packages or services, you are going to either inflate or deflate your results artificially. Most of the time, you are looking for trends over time.
3. Report your web statistics as an estimate or a "range" with margins of error. Let's say your software shows you have 10,000 visitors. Really, you've had somewhere between 8000-12000 visitors.
CyberSister's Comment:
Want some background on this? Check out the following story "Web Traffic Statistics Just Don't add Up":
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,402859,00.html
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BIZ SITES OF THE WEEK:
1. If you want to track your web traffic using third party software, here's a list of some of the more popular ones. The site includes a software review, price and feature comparisons.
http://www.builder.com/Servers/Traffic/ss07.html
2. More in-depth analysis of web sites are conducted by third party web auditing and assesment companies (Digital Ripple is included here :). The large parties here are:
If you don't want to spend thousands $US per month, but still need ongoing professional assesments, and audits, drop us an email or call us.
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TERM OF THE DAY:
"Permission Email"
Permission email is just what it sounds - it's contacting a prospect through email after they've given you permission to. It's another tool in online marketing - customer followup email (we've noticed you bought this CD - would you like this new one?) or opt-in email newsletters (like this one) are examples of permission email. IMT Research recently conducted a survey of 169 online marketers and found that permission e-mail produces relatively high clickthrough and conversion rates. They also estimated that marketers will spend $1 billion on permission e-mail programs by 2001, or about 9% of Forrester Research's projected online ad spending for that year.
Source: http://www.imtstrategies.com.
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Ripple Effect "Rock"
What's a Ripple Effect Rock? Well, think of a rock thrown in a lake, and how the water ripples outward. This section of the newsletter covers developments and technologies that we think might soon cause a "ripple effect" in business or society.
Ripple Rock for December 2, 1999:
Consumer Electronics on the Web
Well, I wondered about including this topic in an Internet technology newsletter - aren't computers and consumer electronics totally different areas? Not any more. In fact, with the growing convergence of machines with the Internet (such as the net-connected pop machines noted above), this is definitely a "ripple rock" of note!
At the recent Comdex in Las Vegas,
HP’s CEO, Carly Fiorina, suggested that your future alarm clock, would
interface with your Palm Pilot or some such PDA (personal digital assistant
or electronic calendar), and then check the traffic conditions from a local
web site, before it rang. If traffic was running faster than expected,
it would reset itself to give you another half-hour of sleep! So, now we
have alarm clocks, pop machines, televisions, radios converged on to the
web. Expect more! Eventually the net will be every where - as common as
a light bulb.
CyberSister's comment:
To predict whether two technologies converging together is going to be a business success or not, look for value-added features or services, not just the "hey isn't this neat" factor. We're often asked to evaluate web-based business plans, so we look for added value such as just-in-time information, additional features and productivity, i.e. what's the point of an alarm clock on the web, unless it can do something intelligent and useful? I just read that cell phones are going to be converging with global positioning (GPS) systems. Now, that would be useful! Especially since I never really know where I am anyway :) !!!
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That's it for now! Have a great
week!
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"Exploring the Ripple Effect of Digital Technology"
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