In order to understand the real value of WWW, we should spend some time considering that which is limiting WWW access and the prospects for growth in the future. WWW is an eletist medium, due to cost and complexity. Cost of access limits the size of WWW audience. WebTV and other similar TV appliances that allow browsers to access WWW through the TV set will help broaden the WWW audience. Now one information appliance allows for both TV viewing and WWW access, a significant cost reduction.
Complexity is another issue.
Technophobia plagues all those who are not comfortable in front of a computer. TV viewing is much less complex than WWW browsing, thus WWW access to the mass population will lag TV access significantly. Speed of information. The infrastructure that supports the Internet and WWW is finding it difficult to deal with the current volume of traffic. The instant gratification that browsers require makes it necessary to develop an infrastructure that supports the size of the system at speed.