We thought we'd take this time to reflect on the topics we've covered and whether our advice and rants have stood the test of time. For an industry that smugly considers itself one of fast-paced change, a lot remains the same. And while each week we tug our hair trying to come up with a new and interesting topic for our readers, we have also noted threads of the same theme that run through many of our columns. It's a theme that has run through several of our articles companies are so anxious to jump on the next hyped bandwagon that they go about their Internet strategy in a haphazard way, further alienating their customers. If a company does a boring site really well that is, boring old useful information geared toward a consumer's needs it's better than doing a flashy web site with databases and every bell and whistle in only a half-baked way.
Databases break down.
Print catalogs don't jive with online catalogs different pricing, different inventory, different policies regarding delivery and returns. The Internet is notorious for shining a magnifying glass on corporate mismanagement, inefficiency, lax customer service, internal turf wars and redundancy. Only those companies that are willing to lift the hood of their organizations and fix the fundamental infrastructure problems will survive the Internet. Otherwise, the magnifying glass will fry them like a bug on a sidewalk. Health care on the Internet has been a big disappointment so far.