While many Internet companies required substantial patience and computer skills to get online, AOL has required just a single diskette. The magic of AOL is what happens in front of people's screens. Just a year ago, the idea that AOL would take over Netscape, which has become a symbol of Silicon Valley verve and innovation, would have been unimaginable. It shows how much the industry is changing, said John Seely Brown, chief technology officer for Xerox Corp. and widely called a major industry visionary. Promoted by AOL, which now has 14 million subscribers and is growing ever day, these devices might well become common, many industry analysts believe.
Electronic commerce is today still a small but rapidly growing part of the business world.
Even so, that's more than double what it was last year. Analysts at Forrester and elsewhere predict that Internet commerce will continue to grow at a breathtaking rate. Just about every company is scrambling to grab some piece of that business. But this past year, it has put much energy into building a huge site on the Web, called Netcenter, that millions of people visit every day. AOL hopes that through the merger, Netcenter will be helped in emerge as a key site for commerce.