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| In Today's Issue: | |
| Quote: | Howard Schultz |
| News: | Microsoft Antitrust |
| Facts: | Ecommerce Stats |
| Tip: | Changing Your Browsers' Home Page |
| Biz Sites: | 1. Articles of Interest |
| Term: | Click Through |
| Ripple Rock: | Wearable Computers Follow Up |
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
*** "Without romance and vision,
a business has no soul, no spirit to motivate its people to achieve something
great. But a successful company can't sustain itself on exhilarating
ideas alone. Many business visionaries have failed because they could not
execute. Processes and systems, discipline and efficiency are needed to
create a foundation before creative ideas can be implemented and entrepreneurial
vision can be realized."
--Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks)
from his book, Pour Your Heart Into It,
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LATE BREAKING NEWS:
In a landmark ruling last week, a U.S. judge effectively quashed Microsoft’s defense to an Antitrust lawsuit launched 2 years ago by the U.S. government and 19 states. In his 207 page ruling, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson described Microsoft as monopolistic, and Microsoft’s actions as abuse of power. According to Jackson, Microsoft blocked innovation and limited consumer choice in the computer industry. Industry insiders are already speculating about what this means for Microsoft. One theory is that Microsoft will splinter into smaller companies. This ruling gives Microsoft a strong incentive to try and settle out of court to avoid potentially punitive court imposed remedies. Whatever happens, it spells a significant change in the status quo at Microsoft.
Source: http://www.globeandmail.com
CyberSister’s Comment:
In some ways, this could go equally well
into our ‘Ripple Rock’ section. Given Microsoft’s enormous presence and
influence on the Net, this decision will likely have a huge ‘ripple effect’
in the weeks and months to come. See the Biz Sites of the week for a
link to more information and commentary about the Microsoft ruling.
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FACTOID OF THE WEEK:
Retail Ecommerce sales are up substantially in 1999 with this year's Christmas season expected to be the biggest ever forecast to be 3.25 billion.
Women made 37% of all Internet purchases in 2nd Quarter 1999 up from 31 percent in 1st Quarter. Significantly, 49% of all first-time online purchasers were women.
Source: Bizrate.com
http://www.bizrate.com/press/press_key_research.xpml
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TIP:
"How to Change Your Default Home Page"
Most new Internet users leave the default home page of their browser (ie. Netscape or Microsoft Explorer) or, in some cases, the home page set up by their ISP (Internet Service Provider). However, making your own businesses site, or a favourite search engine or portal site your home page might make sense. It’s simple to do and might save you a couple of mouse clicks when you turn your computer on in the morning. Below are instructions for both Internet Explorer 5.0 and Netscape Navigator.
Internet Explorer 5.0
1. Open your browser and go to the
site you would like to use as your home page.
2. Select Tools from the menu and
click on Internet Options.
3. A dialog will pop up. Make sure
that the General tab is selected, if not, click to select it.
4. Click Use Current in the Home
Page area.
5. Click OK.
Netscape Navigator
1. With your browser open, select
Options from the menu and choose General Preferences.
2. Make sure that the Appearance
tab is selected.
3. In the Start Up box, type in
the address of the Web page you want to use a home page.
4. Click OK.
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BIZ SITES OF THE WEEK:
This week's BIZ Sites provide some links to articles of interest.
1. Background on the Microsoft Decision
If you want more details on the
Microsoft decision of even a link to the text of the ruling, check out:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-201-1431262-0.html?tag=st.ne.1002.tgif?st.ne.fd.gif.b
2. New Portals for Small Businesses
This article looks at some new portals designed to level the playing field for small businesses giving them more purchasing power. This will be an interesting trend to watch.
http://www.redherring.com/insider/1999/1101/news-fea-sbiz-intro.html
3. Roger Ebert on Women on the Net
This article is a few months old, but has
some interesting and provocative things to say. (sigh, I still miss Siskel...)
http://www.zdnet.com/yil/content/columnists/ebert9907.html
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TERM OF THE DAY:
" Click-through"
Click-through is when a visitor to a web site clicks on a banner ad or other paid advertising and is transferred to another web site, usually the site of the advertiser. Each completed ‘click-through’ event can be measured to determine the ‘Click-through Rate’ (CTR). The CTR is the number of times that an ad is clicked on per impression. This number is expressed as a percentage. For example, if your banner is served to 100 web visitors, and 7 of them click-through to your web site, then your ad has a CTR of 7%.
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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 Nov 8, 1999:
Several issues ago we talked about 'wearable computers' in our Ripple Rock section. They may be be a reality sooner than even we thought. Just last week, Xybernaut Corporation announced they were in advanced talks with IBM on "a variety of potential joint activities in wearable computing".
This makes sense in light of IBM's general investment in the trend towards 'pervasive computing'--the new generation of handheld and wireless computers, cell phones and other electronic devices that will begin to replace traditional desktop and even personal notebook computers.
Source: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991104/tc/tech_xybernaut_1.html
CyberSisters’ comment: Thanks to one of our subscribers, Kim Hare, for sending in this follow-up to one of our earlier ‘Ripple Rocks’
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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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