This sorry picture is finally changing. Several recent software products have introduced specialized applications with better user interfaces for special-purpose use. And there is even a new browser out with improved user control. It is certainly a good example of the need to start charging micropayments for content and eliminating copy-protection. More important, however, Napster is also an example of reverting to the original networked ideology of the Internet .
Most websites simply show their stuff to one user at a time.
At the same time, Napster also encourages users to contribute back to the richness of this resource by making their own music collection available as a small part of the whole. So Napster is also an example of a two-way user interface to the Internet. I have often been hard on Microsoft and their lack of usability. Fairness thus dictates that I praise Microsoft when they do something right . Which they did for the Macintosh edition of IE 5 .