Internet editorial

Citation

Foley, P.D. (1999), "Internet editorial", European Business Review, Vol. 99 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.1999.05499aag.001

Internet editorial

Introduction

One of the problems with the Internet, rather like the terrestrial world, is the difficulty of finding information. The lack of refinement and imprecision of existing Internet search engines brings about desperation or hysteria as you find either nothing or thousands of items which may be of use. The sheer quantity of information on the World Wide Web can be daunting. In 1997 there were estimated to be 66 million Web pages (Piggott, 1997), by 1998 estimates had risen to 400 million (Houlder, 1998).

The aim of this new section in the Journal is to overcome some of these problems by investigating Web sites that are useful. The usual caveats will have to apply, the views presented will be mine or those of guest Internet editors, and therefore they will be subjective. But hopefully, by reviewing a range of sites in each edition, it will be possible for readers to discover those sites that best meet their needs. Hot links to all Web sites will be available from the author's Research Centre so that new Internet users and those with more experience can access sites quickly. Updates will be added to the hot links pages as Web addresses change or colleagues and readers add details of new "discoveries".

Future topics

Rather than investigate one or two particular Web pages in each edition this section of the journal will take a thematic approach, investigating several Web pages about a particular topic. This will enable readers to become aware of a variety of good quality Web pages that may meet their requirements. Themes this year will include:

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  The Internet and commercial news sources.

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  Internet data sources and surveys.

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  Academic and commercial Internet research groups.

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  Electronic commerce and online stores.

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  Intelligent agents and the Internet.

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  Security and Internet payment systems.

As the Internet evolves and business uses of the Web change it is possible these themes may change. Equally, I hope interest from readers suggesting good Web pages (for previous or future editions) or alternative topics will also guide the development of this section of the journal.

Commercial news and information on the Internet

One of the primary uses of the Internet is to obtain information and news. This first contribution will therefore focus on news sources. It concentrates on news and information sites concerning the Internet, computing, electronic commerce and technology. However, if you want other types of news or reports from Bangkok, India, the Yukon or over 300 other places or newspapers and journals throughout the world you are in luck.

Numerous Web sites provide regular and succinct reviews of news releases about what is happening on the World Wide Web or commercial developments on the Internet (for the purposes of this section the terms "Internet" and "World Wide Web" are used interchangeably, but their differences are acknowledged). Many sites quote news items from each other's pages and several are owned and controlled by large organisations which have become the new media barons on the Web (for instance CMPnet administer Byte Online, Internet Week, TechWeb and more than 30 other Web magazines and news sites; ZDNet administer their namesake and Inter@ctive Week).

The 12 Web sites that consistently provide good coverage are shown in Table I. Like all newspapers and magazines the Web pages have a different emphasis and style. Some, such as Byte, have a technological focus, mainly investigating new products and computing concepts. Others have a predominantly business and financial viewpoint, concentrating on company performance, sales, profits and new products. Several have a broader coverage encompassing all of these areas.

The style adopted by pages is also different. Byte and ZDNet UK are very bland, whereas Internet magazine and Inter@ctive Week are more colourful and artistic. Others are more populist in style, for instance Inter@ctive Week and ZDNet News both have "rumors and comment" sections. And this misspelling (from an English viewpoint) highlights the one characteristic that nearly all of the sites have in common ­ they originate in the USA. Only Internet Magazine and ZDNet UK are produced in the UK. However, ZDNet UK still has a strong US emphasis.

All the Web sites present a number of lead news items or top stories containing a few sentences of information which can be "clicked" on to obtain the full story or further details. Despite the fact that the number of top stories is limited and none have more than ten the news items included were very diverse. On 30 October 1998 the 12 Web sites had collectively 64 top stories. These leading news items covered 44 different stories. The most frequently reported item, a Microsoft's court case, was covered by only six of the sites. This could indicate that the day chosen for analysis was "slow", with no big stories. But regular analysis of the sites indicates this was normal and sites cover a wide range of topics.

It is necessary to compare several Web sites for a few days before you can gain a feel for whether they highlight news that is relevant to your interests. However, this is less of a problem if you are looking for specific news items. All the sites (except Internet Magazine) have a keyword search facility that enables users to find relevant news stories (often over a specified time period) from items the site has carried previously.

To obtain maximum coverage it is best to search several of the sites. Even here help is available. Although NetTrawler does not provide information itself it has the capability to search seven of the 12 selected sites (Byte, Computerworld, Internet News, Wired, Yahoo, ZDNet and ZDNet UK). It can also search and provide direct links to more than 300 other provincial and national news sites (usually newspapers) and Internet magazines throughout the world. It really is possible to find out what is happening in Bangkok or the Yukon, everyday!

Other news sites can be found at the Internet Marketing Hotlist. This is a very useful UK site that also provides a digest of news and information in an easy to access and search format.

The usefulness of these sites really is a matter of personal preference. For European Web users the Internet Magazine provides a more rounded, less American, view of the world, but it does not have a search function. Of the US sites Computerworld provides a broad level of coverage at a well-presented site.

It is worth highlighting that several of the sites (News.Com, TechWeb, Wired and ZDNet) e-mail a digest of top headlines to subscribers every day or week. If you feel news and information starting to overwhelm you the weekly e-mail service from Nua, an Irish company, which specialises in the results of Internet surveys, may offer a more refined and better filtered service.

At present access to all of the sites is free. While none have stated that they will charge for information it will be interesting to monitor changes in the future.

Paul D. FoleyProfessor, Department of Corporate Strategy, Leicester Business School, De Montfort University, Leicester, e-mail: tag39@dial.pipex.com

Appendix

Listed below is a selective review of World Wide Web news sites. Dynamic links to these pages can be found at the De Montfort University International Electronic Commerce Research Centre: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/ln/ecommerce/ebr1.htm