I wrote:
> Steve Outing, you make an important point in your 'Stop the Presses' column
> today
> 
>         http://www.mediainfo.com/ep/stop.htm
> 
> The problem with the Web is that the consumer must come to the content, not
> vice versa.

To which at 05:57 PM 2/2/96 -0500, Alan McConnell  replied:
>	_________________________________
>	NO    --   no   **   nO   --   No
>	---------------------------------
>
>I'm afraid you've got it _quite_ backwards.  That is the _great_ advantage
>of the Web, and of the Internet in general.  The _consumer_ is in charge,
>_not_ the huckster.

So if the consumer ask for it to be delivered, the consumer isn't in charge?

I wholeheartedly agree that the most significant attribute about the
Internet is that the consumer, not the publisher/broadcaster/marketer, is in
charge. It's an evolution in media. The Internet also can provide a consumer
with greater anonymity, as Nielsen-I/Pro, NetCount, WebCount, and other
companies are finding to their frustration. But, Alan, you're making a
(please forgive the phrase) 'knee-jerk' assumption that if the content is
delivered to the consumer, the consumer necessarily loses control. It's a
natural assumption because that has most often been true in previous media.
Yet, it doesn't necessarily have to be true in new media. My point was that
it is a lot to ask of consumers to go to the content. Most people would
prefer to recieve than to give.

Equation: WEB does not equal INTERNET.

The Web is only one of many of the Internet's vehicles for content. I
thought Steve's article today (http://www.mediainfo.com/ep/stop.htm) was
interesting for pointing out that not all companies are implementing
business plans which require consumers to go to the content. For example, my
company will be electronically delivering, among other things, content to
consumers who wish to receive content, absolutely free for those consumers
and without the need for those consumers to have an Internet Service
Provider or even Web access. (My company's most recent content deal,
announced Tues., was with the ESPN instant sports news and information
service, SportsTicker). My company simply is using a different content and
business model than the Web.

_________________________________________________
Vin Crosbie         FreeMark Communications, Inc.
   vin@freemark.com          125 CambridgePark Drive
      (617) 492-6600 x211            Cambridge, MA, USA
         (617) 492-6622 fax        http://www.freemark.com
            -------------------------------------------------


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End of online-news-digest V1 #499
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From owner-online-news-digest@marketplace.com Sat Feb  3 15:53:03 1996
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