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IMHO, "portal" is a good metaphor for a site that provides a jumping off
point for surfing the Web, information gathering and discovery.

But I disagree with the mega portal strategy (Yahoo!, Altavista, Netscape,
et al., to some degree.

One person mentioned that very few of us, if any of us, on this list, use
"portal." We're all professionals, so I'm not sure our usage patterns are a
good way to judge what the comman Internet user will do, even the average
experienced user, who has no interest in the Internet professionally.

The idea that such a person might choose a specific site, make it a default
home page and check on that site every time he/she fires up the browser, is
entirely plausible.

But I wonder if such a person will choose Netscape, say, or Excite, once
they learn how to set their own home page? My theory is that people will
tend toward more personal interests. Of course, I'm betting that RVers will
pick an RV portal (hopefully, mine). People very much into their local
community might pick a local community site, especially if that local
community site offers customized start pages that allows them to link to
other portals or Web sites that fit their broader interests.

The obvious choice for a local portal is the local newspaper, but it seems
that few newspapers have much intrest in going in that direction, judging
from what I see at local newspaper sites and the reaction I get on this
list when I champion portal strategy elements (i.e., niche search engines,
local directories, membership models ... )

Happy trails,
H.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Howard Owens // mailto:howard@rvclub.com
The RV Club // http://www.rvclub.com/
President // #L-CHAR-00001
ICQ# // 5400300
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Get the Scoop -- Get RV Smart

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



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