Whenever you find yourself zipping off an e-mail to a friend mentioning a newly discovered web site, the muse Discovery is there. Affinity is the muse of interconnectedness, or the well-placed hyperlink. Affinity is most obvious when you are browsing a web site and stumble upon a link that adds depth and value to your experience. It may take you to a related site across the world, or to a more specific page within the current site. Affinity is the force that pulls you through a dozen different sites in 15 minutes, and often leaves you wondering what you were looking for in the first place.
Utility is the workhorse muse, but perhaps also the most elusive in the early life of the Web.
It is the muse that provides the exact information you want, where you want it, when you want it, and in the ideal format for your specific needs. The most obvious example of Utility is a well-designed Web directory, such as Altavista , that lets you craft a keyword search to suit your exacting needs. Like anything in the information age, these three forces are rarely separate. They almost always work in duo or trio. The InfoSeek directory, for example, blends Utility with Affinity by not only offering sites that match your keywords, but also categories related to your search.