Furthermore, senior Internet advisor to President Clinton Ira Magaziner claims that one billion people will be online by 2005. The increase of hosts, however, may be a better indicator of this potential as hosts provide the playing field on which organizations and individuals compete. Though a conservative estimate, the chart below illustrates the robust growth of hosts from 1991 to 1997. They want to benefit from the competitive advantages of several vendors. At the same time, they also want to savor the experience of reviewing exciting and professional presentations while making decisions about online transactions.
Online consumers have power and they can make demands.
First, they are members of an intelligent community where both good and bad information spreads like wild fire. Second, online competition will quickly and forcefully respond to the needs of on-line markets if those unmet needs become apparent. In the context of the Internet, previous business models break down. They lose meaning, value, and effectiveness as tools. If you are, indeed, looking at the new media through old lenses, your way of viewing things can mean missing considerable opportunities.