Well Wall Street loves it because of the low transaction costs. Some other aspects that are not that often mentioned, but are equally important is the growth of the NET itself. We tell our clients to get a web presence now, even if it is small, and evolve with the expansion. One does not need to go full e-commerce initially. That can be expensive and depending on the size of the organization it can also be disruptive.
Brochures often become stale in a short period of time.
On the web as soon as information becomes old - change it. A web presence does not have to be large, expensive, or time consuming. Sometimes a few pages can say it all for starters. Some companies use the web for product support and less emphasis on sales for the initial effort. This way a presence is established and the site can change and evolve as the organization changes.