In fact, Open is not an Internet venture at all, just an online shopping, banking and email service for those who do not want surfing to interrupt their favourite TV soap for too long. Open consists of Web-like content from a selection of preferred suppliers. Launched in October, it is now being heavily promoted in branches of Dixons. I was sceptical about Open when it launched, believing it was too little too late. But as the Internet gets increasingly congested, the idea of a service with less choice rather than more starts to become strangely appealing.
Consumer choice is a funny thing.
We now have hundreds of online shops selling books, hundreds selling CDs, and scores selling banking and stockbroking services. Most of us have spent many an hour sifting through a variety of sites trying to choose the best, only to be struck by how similar they all are. Even the most avid Net surfer is getting confused and keyboard weary. The average TV viewer wants rapid results and doesn't want to have to become an online nerd to get them. It now seems the idea that less is also more is winning over some of the analysts looking at Open.