We ve cataloged a number of different kinds of information and service providers here. Let s try to analyze the motivations of these different kinds of services. Companies offering customer support via the Web actually may benefit from effective use of the Web as much as consumers do. Customer support calls are expensive. Thanks to the Web, their marginal cost of satisfying me is virtually nil.
Companies offering something to sell over the Web probably are clear winners as well.
Amazon presumably prices its books and shipping so as to make money on each sale. Hello Direct is merely extending its catalog to the online realm, and, to the extent people order online, probably lowering the costs of maintaining a phone bank. The case for auction houses is a little murkier. They ll need to get enough people participating in every auction in order to bid up prices to a level where they make money. Over time these issues will be sorted out, as the houses figure out how long an auction should last, what times of day to run auctions, and what sorts of minimum bids are best.