BUSINESS HURTLING TO CYBERSPACE.Byline: Elizabeth Weise Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Even though something as simple as buying a newspaper for a quarter is still a major undertaking on line, business leaders said Wednesday that the Internet will be ready for prime time by the year 2000. All that's missing are standards that will allow a commercial infrastructure to grow, said William Melton William Melton (died April 5, 1340) was the 43rd Archbishop of York (1317–1340). Life He was the son of Nicholaas of Melton, and the brother of John de Melton. He was born in Melton in the parish of Welton, about nine miles from Kingston upon Hull. , president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of CyberCash Inc. ``It's not ready for prime time not ready for prime time - Usable, but only just so; not very robust; for internal use only. Said of a program or device. Often connotes that the thing will be made more solid Real Soon Now. yet, but we're very close. By the end of the decade we'll be there,'' said John Gould, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Therisa Systems Inc. of Los Altos, an Internet security company. Business has only clued into the Internet over the last two or three years, since the introduction of easy-to-use browsers for the World Wide Web. But the trickle has become an avalanche, with a new commercial domain being registered every 20 seconds of every business day, said George Conrades, chairman and CEO of BBN (BBN Technologies, Cambridge, MA, www.bbn.com) A consulting firm that participated in the development of some of the most extensive networks in the world, including ARPANET, which evolved into the Internet. It was founded in 1948 as a consulting service in acoustics by Dr. Corp., a larger Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. in Cambridge, Mass. When it does hit, some businesses will find the bottom falling out of their markets, members of the Business and Internet panel told the audience at what has been billed as the world's largest Internet conference. The first areas that will switch from the physical to the ether will be easily digitized information - phone calls, music, movies and software. For example, long-distance calling will become an anachronism a·nach·ro·nism n. 1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order. 2. with the advent of Internet-based calling, which requires only one local phone call and an Internet connection, Gould said. Federal Express and sending information by fax will soon be replaced by secure document delivery over the Internet. Next will come the programs we're accustomed to buying in computer stores now. ``Anybody selling software today is in deep trouble. The margins are very small. Microsoft could eliminate all their packaging costs and distribution costs simply by selling it over the Internet,'' he said. After that, the video business will be sucked on line. ``In five years, you'll be able to download a two-hour movie in seven minutes and there won't be any place for Blockbuster any more,'' Gould said. Perhaps further away, but definitely on the horizon, are banking services, including loan processing, brokerage and insurance services. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Bill Joy, co-founder and vice president of Sun Micro systems Inc., gives the opening address at Internet World 96 in San Jose. Associated Press |
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