Yet media can also enhance and add new views. Climate data, for example, as Fred Stoss tells us, can be presented very dramatically when it utilizes the graphical capabilities of the Web. Richard Pardy, reviewing DataStar's TradStatWeb, wishes that this trade database would add significantly to its graphical presentation to make the information more understandable. Sometimes it cuts both ways. Greg Notess mentions that small chunks of data such as stock prices, sports scores, and weather reports fit well onto the small screen of a mobile phone using WAP while full articles do not.
Legal restrictions can impact access.
As Martin White points out, the European Data Protection Act prohibits the transfer of some types of information across borders. Particularly impacted are multinational companies that wish to create expertise databases to enhance their knowledge base. Price is perhaps the most obvious barrier to viewing information. If I can't afford the price of the house they're building on that empty lot, I forfeit the view. Today's information world is not so simple, as Steve Arnold points out in his cover story.