| It is only a small step to go from the information
center to actually conducting business online. Many of the daily transactions
are routine and easy to automate. As the ATM (automatic bank teller machine,
that is) generation will attest, it's often easier to deal with a machine
than a surly service rep or a closed office. Business automation, of course,
isn't new - there are many systems based on touch-tone telephones. But
we have all gotten lost in voice-mail hell simply because most of us navigate
the options better with the information charted out visually in front of
us. The more complex a transaction, the easier it is in visual rather than
audio form. Like many another problem on the net, the bandwidth makes the
difference.
The growing popularity of the web will bring a flood
of simple and complex service transactions. Already, you can check airline
schedules and fares, buy a ticket, rent a car, check your bank balance,
or find out the location of your express shipment through the web. Eventually,
anything we can now do via telephone can be done via the web, and better.
More than 50 million people use
the Internet in the United States alone. Countless more are on the net
in Europe and Asia. Millions of new computers are being sold each year.
More and more people are buying into the computer revolution. This huge
proliferation of powerful CPUs, high resolution monitors and fast modems
(often built in) means only one thing - the Internet is on its way to becoming
a standard feature in computers. Soon the Internet may be the most widely
used tool in the world for processing and distributing information. No
advertising campaign can then afford to be without an arm in the Internet.
|
