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Kevin Featherly wrote ...

> I need a definition of "portal."

Definition: Current ill-defined buzzword. In some circles you don't have to
make any sense if you just mouth this month's set of mumbo-jumbo.

Not long ago, Nando.net changed its corporate name to Nando Media, in order
to better reflect its broader mission and the array of services it provides
(including major site hosting, cobranded content for other Web publishers,
etc.) When the press release went out it included this perfectly innocent
phrase: "With the name change Nando Media introduces its new portal page
(http://www.nandomedia.com) that gives an overview of information and
services that can be found at the site."

Oops. One online reporter read the buzzword, went completely off the handle
and wrote a story about how Nando was shifting to a "portal strategy"
similar to that of Yahoo -- complete with reaction from the usual gang of
suspects who show up in such stories. None of them apparently had actually
looked or thought before speaking -- they just took the buzzword and ran,
completely missing the point.

Every site should be useful. A well-designed news site will serve its users
by integrating into its structure connections with the rest of the Web. We
worked with a partner to build a regional Web index. We have lists of
related Web content throughout our site. Is that a portal strategy? I'd
prefer to think of it as customer-focused utility and avoid the buzzword.

--
Steve Yelvington, editor, startribune.com, Minneapolis-St. Paul
stevey@startribune.com   http://www.startribune.com/




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