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Internet business
news and analysis. by Dylan Tweney
Daily updates: week of 14 June - the latest
| the tweney report for 14 june 1999 | |
Spinoff cityPrint publishers have been struggling to understand and profit from the Internet for the past five years -- not to mention trying to avoid getting crushed by it. It's a classic changing-of-the-generations story: an old, entrenched industry, used to comfortably fat margins, and not accustomed to rapid technological change, is suddenly faced with a bewildering pace of change and an array of rule-breaking young upstart companies. How to cope? One popular way is by creating a Web publishing division, allowing a smaller, more Net-savvy group of people to concentrate on the cutting edge. Then, naturally, the old media company spins off the new media division through an IPO, thus cashing in on the Internet craze, and using the proceeds to fuel further Net expansion. Softbank/Ziff Davis followed this strategy by spinning off ZDNet. Now it looks like the New York Times will take the same approach. A thoughtful analysis by Michael Woolf (who is himself a very jaded early casualty of the print-Net clash) examines what this might mean for the Newspaper of Record [1]. But the problem with spinning off your Internet assets is that by doing so, you're simultaneously spinning off the old media arm -- the "dead trees" division -- in the opposite direction, and thereby consigning it to an uncertain fate. But what if you took a more radical approach, and turned your entire old-media company into an Internet company? Check out Steve Outing's recent column on the subject for some interesting thoughts [2]. [2] Alternative
To Spinning Off New Media Units ---------- EBAY'S TROUBLES mounted last week, with another server crash taking the auction site offline -- for 22 hours this time. People are starting to get annoyed, and rightly so. Some small merchants already rely on the virtual marketplace as a revenue stream, occasionally even closing down real-world storefronts to concentrate on online auctions. Yet eBay is having trouble managing the huge volume of traffic and transactions on its site... while well-funded competitors, such as Amazon.com, are starting to push into its market. Could eBay turn into the Apple Computer of Internet commerce -- beloved by its customers, but unable to keep pace with its own torrential growth? Fortune columnist Stewart Alsop, perhaps prematurely but certainly provocatively, has already started an eBay death watch [4]. [3] Auctions
frozen for 22 hours [4] Contemplating
eBay's funeral ---------- ALMOST A THOUSAND: The Tweney Report's subscription list has grown to exactly 999 subscribers as of this mailing, with rapid growth in the last few weeks helped immensely by a referral in Robert Seidman's Online Insider [5]. Thanks, Robert! Those of you who *weren't* referred to me by Robert, go check out his newsletter -- it's a great source of in-depth analysis on the online industry. Robert has been publishing the Online Insider longer than any other e-mail newsletter I know of... I used to read it back in 1994 when I was working on my book. Want to help me get to 2,000 subscribers? If you like the Tweney Report, forward it to your friends and tell them to sign up at http://www.tweney.com. Speaking of which, check out my Web site's NEW DESIGN, which now includes a "weblog," updated daily [6]. Or nearly so. I send out the Tweney Report newsletter once a week, but I often run across interesting sites, news, and ideas that don't make it into the issue. I'll post those to the Tweney.com weblog as I get them, along with interesting feedback and letters you send me. You can get to the Web log from my home page, or go directly to the URL below for the most current update. The inspiration for my weblog (and part of its design) comes from Dave Winer, whose "DaveNet" newsletter has been discussing the topic at length over the past few weeks [7]. Essentially, a weblog is a kind of upside-down diary -- a form of writing unique to the Web. New content is added to the top of the page, so it's the first thing visitors see when they hit the page; you can read back through previous days' updates in reverse by scrolling down, like a geologist examining layers in sedimentary rock. Most weblogs are heavy on links to other sites, with more or less content written by the author depending on the style of the weblog. Thus, a good weblog is both a window onto the Web as well as a reflection of its author's personality and moods. Here are some other interesting Weblogs to check out: one written by a single author [8], one collectively produced [9]. I have been searching for an efficient way to manage and archive frequent updates to my Web site, so the weblog concept seems particularly appealing to me. I don't know how assiduously I'll be able to maintain a strict daily schedule, but I am looking forward to posting stuff more often. Stop by and see what's new! [7] DaveNet [8] Robot Wisdom [9] MemePool ---------- NET
PROPHET: Banking doesn't get the Internet I'M MAD AS HELL, and I'm not going to take it anymore. ... click for more ... ---------- INBOX: What you're telling me Reader Richard Tietjens wrote, in response to my AFFILIATE MARKETING column [10]: Affiliate marketing online which rewards affiliates for recruiting
ALWAYS leads to spamming. I haven't seen an exception yet. And spamming
eventually leads to http://MAPS.VIX.COM and http://WWW.ORBS.ORG
which translate to "online shunning" of the sponsoring
domain. There have been some exceptions there, but they are few
and usually come to news.admin.net-abuse.email hat-in-hand when
connectivity starts to erode. [10] Affiliate marketing: the future of e-commerce or another hard sell? ---------- ~ Back issues ~Costs of doing business - Barnes & Noble vs Amazon.com - Internet stocks - land grab (6.7.1999) The money issue - online banks - 24-7 stock markets - Yahoo! - affiliate marketing (6.1.1999) |
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