|
Lets face it January is depressing. Even if you do have any money left over from Christmas the shops are full of tatty old sale goods. Spring is still just too far off to be just around the corner and worst of all next month is February! It all makes me want to curl up in front of a roaring fire and watch black and white movies with women who get something in their "ay". But when I tried to do this recently I found myself caught in a dilemma. I could not only turn on the box and watch movies from bygone times, I could download a movie, get myself a new job, watch video footage of a place I might want to stay, play computer games and shop till my digit dropped off, or at least my credit card fused. Yes Interactive TV has most definitely arrived.
Yes, yes, we all know that, I hear you saying, but have you actually become a user? Have you experienced the environment?. I suspect few of you have. Well, for me it was a bit like the Internet used to be in terms of speed but it is much better at video. The design naturally has to be simplistic as you tend not to move from your usual watching TV position and so things like text have to be large. But does that mean they have to be so badly designed? A report sponsored by Smashed Atom states that ONdigital and Bloomberg are the most poorly designed interactive TV services, "iTV will rise and fall within two years...if they dont learn from the dotcom experience in terms of user experience and usability,"states the report. But on the whole you get the feeling something is most certainly happening.
You may think this should not come as a shock to me in the sector I work in, but in fact like all things, the buyers perspective is not the same as the sellers. Even though we are seeing an increasing activity with Interactive TV I had never stopped and really let it really happen to me.
Will it leave the Internet standing? Will I want to sit on the couch and plan my life? Well maybe on a cold January day but like the Internet it will just be anther channel to market. How much simpler life was in those black and white days...even the trains worked then!
Annie Millar.
Managing director, XXIST.com
BACK
| EU ETAIL RULES CONFUSING WARN LAWYERS |
|
The Brussels Regulation agreed by EU ministers last month will give consumers the right to a court hearing in their country of residence in legal disputes between them and sellers "directing their activities" outside the company's domestic market. But lawyers are already warning that the legislation is ill-defined and will need a test case in the European Court of Justice before its implications can be known. The ruling comes into force in 2002 but does not specify instances where a site would be regarded as "directing" itself at other countries.
The CBI is one of the organisations which has campaigned against the regulation because it fears the law will lead to litigation across the EU, leading to small companies unable to afford legal representation in 15 countries, going out of business. Lawyers also warn that the process could take years.
BACK
| BIG DIFFERENCES IN ONLINE SHOPPING ACROSS THE POND |
|
Among the welter of reports coming out after Christmas is one which shows that there are big differences between online shoppers in the US and the UK. The research from BMRB and Initiative Media Futures found that clothing was the most popular purchase (more than one third) in the US, whereas in the UK, only eight per cent of shoppers bought clothes online.
Books were equally popular in the US and UK (just over one quarter). Flowers, chocolates, leather goods and mobile phones were all popular in the US, but hardly any shoppers bought these online in the UK. A far smaller range of goods was bought by UK shoppers than their American counterparts.
Interestingly, UK shoppers spent slightly more than US shoppers - £142 compared to £139. And while delivery reliability was a major concern in the UK, Americans were far more concerned about their credit card details being used fraudulently. Excessive download times annoyed around one third of UK shoppers, while only five per cent of Americans were worried about thi
BACK
| WEB SITES SHOULD BE MULTI-LINGUAL SAYS EU |
|
In an effort to compete with the US in the e-commerce arena, the EU is calling for Internet companies to offer multi-lingual web sites. A report from Jupiter Research reveals that by the end of this year, more than 40 per cent of Internet users worldwide will come from Europe.
The European Telecommunications Council says that multi-lingual web sites are not a high enough priority for most businesses and online companies need encouragement to use translation on their sites. Research from the Gartner Group estimates that by 2003 more than 285 million Europeans will own a WAP phone, while in the US, there will only be around 150 million WAP users. EMarketer research shows that the global percentage of Internet-based revenue provided by Europe will jump from 15 per cent to 29 per cent in two years' time.
To encourage companies to offer translation facilities on their sites, the EC has also announced the eContent programme which will enable European content to be distributed across global networks in a variety of languages.
BACK
| VIRTUAL BONDING FOR EX-C&A STAFF |
|
The failed high street retailer C&A which is due to fold in a couple of month's time, has set up a web site "to provide support for employees after they have left the company." The idea is to encourage virtual bonding among ex-employees so that they can "stay in touch with old friends and colleagues." Although most staff have already found other jobs - according to the company - the site will also act as a recruitment board. The site provides a hyperlink to an online service which brings employers and recruitment firms into contact with jobseekers. It is protected by individual user IDs and passwords.
BACK
| OFTEL ORDERS BT TO SPEED UP UNBUNDLING |
|
The telecoms regulator Oftel is insisting that BT opens up its more popular telephone exchanges ahead of schedule as part of the battle to allow other operators access to the sites. The move came after increasing concerns over the pace of orders for space in the first exchanges opening to competitors. Operators have not rushed to place orders with the first 25 sites open to them because they are considered less profitable locations with few business customers.
As a result of Oftel's intervention, the second round of local loop unbundling which contains 360 higher-priority exchanges, will now supersede some of the first round sites. Oftel has also launched an investigation into the charges being made to other operators for space. Low take-up at the less popular exchanges means higher charges for those who do opt for them as costs are supposed to be shared.
BACK
| MASS SPAMMING BRINGS COMPANY TO A HALT |
|
One of the world's biggest Internet companies was brought to a standstill for almost a week by a hacker who sent more than two million e-mails in just minutes. UUNet, an Internet service provider based in Cambridge was unable to distribute e-mail to millions of Internet users after the hit which crashed UUNet's system. The company is a subsidiary of Worldcom and provides e-mail services to companies such as AOL, MSN and Pipex. Although the company has refused to provide details of the e-mail, it was said to be commercial and not pornographic.
A team of Internet security specialists has been hired to track down the hacker, believed to be in North America. UUNet says it will sue the culprit if the spam is found to be a deliberate attempt to sabotage business.
BACK
The Advertising Standards Authority has told Internet service providers that they cannot advertise themselves as free if consumers have to pay for any element of the service. If there are any telephone call charges, initial subscriptions, connections fees or anything similar then, says the ASA, the service is not free.
BACK
| SMEs STILL FAILING TO UNDERSTAND THE NET |
|
A poor understanding of the strategic importance of the Internet is leading to poor decision-making from a short-term perspective by SMEs. This condemnation comes in an Oftel survey following up research done last September which showed that over half of SMEs thought the Internet was irrelevant to their business. At the time Oftel said this was because no-one had explained "the potential uses and benefits of the Internet".
The survey also uncovered the fact that 45 per cent of the businesses with fewer than 10 staff did not even own a computer. There are about 3.7 million small businesses in the UK ranging from corner shops and individual consultants to manufacturing and service companies, from sophisticated software companies to accountants and fast-food franchises.
BACK
A new web site with the unambiguous name of amigoingdown.com allows travellers to check out the chances of their plane crashing. All you have to do is supply your destination and using death rates for each route - supplied by the aviation companies - the site will calculate the risk of your plane suffering a mishap.
The people behind the web site say their aim is to convince the flying public that they have little to fear! They also include safety tips such as warning passengers not to sit under TV monitors in case they crash onto your head during turbulence. Nervous flyers are also recommended to choose a large aircraft on a non-stop route as 70 per cent of incidents occur during take-off and landing.
"In essence," they say cheerfully, "the probabilities produced by amigoingdown.com highlight how extremely safe it is to travel by air."
BACK
| BRITAIN TOPS LIST FOR EUROPEAN E-BUSINESS |
|
In a poll of European company executives, Britain emerges as the best place to start an Internet-related business. The annual poll by TNS Harris, a London-based market research group on behalf of UPS, the Parcels Company, is regarded as among the most authoritative snapshots of European business life.
A third of managers said that Britain was leading the way in e-business in Europe, though 27 per cent ranked Germany first. France was third with under 10 per cent. Four out of five thought e-business was here to stay with one in five saying that the Internet would transform existing business models.
Half the executives said the Internet posed a security threat, with 15 per cent believing their corporate reputation could be damaged by use of the Internet to spread false information.
BACK
| DOTCOMS "UNAWARE" OF LEGAL RISKS |
|
There is an alarming ignorance among Internet start-ups of the legal risks and regulations connected with the net, according to new research. The survey was carried out by Landwell, the legal arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and canvassed the views of 400 dotcom managers in UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Another 100 heads of legal departments in B2B and B2C sectors were also interviewed.
One in five dotcoms say they are not worried about any legal risk, despite the explosion in legislation at both national and European levels in the last 12 months alone.
Three main areas of concern were picked out by the survey: the failure of dotcoms to protect their intangible assets - often their only value, the fact that they are ignoring international legal issues and that they are exposing themselves to liability in many areas. But the list goes on: security, online contract enforceability, linkage with other web sites, consumer law and data protection compliance.
Fewer than half of dotcoms have registered any trademark abroad, making them vulnerable to infringement outside home jurisdiction. And 40 per cent spend £5,000 or less on trademark protection. "In the rush to be first to market, dotcoms are spending vast sums on advertising," says a Landwell spokesman, "but brands are not established by advertising alone - their value must be captured and secured."
BACK
SEE THE LATEST INTERNET STATS
Back to Top
Back to Home
Suggestions and article submissions welcomed, click here
Regrettably, the editorial staff of NOW XXIST cannot answer your specific marketing questions. But suggestions of topics to cover in future issues are welcome.
Would you like to sponsor NOW XXIST? Contact Annie Millar on 0161 907 3309
(c) Copyright 1999 xxist.com - The Internet marketing and ecommerce specialists
NOW XXIST may only be redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission from
xxist.com must be obtained to reproduce the information contained within this newsletter.
|
