Consumer research is allowed only with the consumer's full consent. By answering any research question, they would know they are granting permission for the information to be used. Interactive communications software must never hide concealed functions. Never try to collect data from a hard drive. As yet, nobody's moving tons of product on the Internet, notes Jeff Dearth, publisher of The New Republic and operator of The Electronic Newsstand.
Dearth adds that the key to commercialization is making it consumer-friendly.
It's like GE's 800 answer center,'' Dearth says. Since virtually no statistics exist about Net-citizens, numbers get tossed around loosely. Neil Weinberg, president of The Interactive Connection, says his service is targeting regional sports publications and marketers because males make up about 85 percent of Net users. I think it's a little broader than some systems,'' says Dearth. It's companies telling, not selling.'' About 90 percent of true Internet users are accessing through an institution or university or government operation with wide bandwidth capabilities.