[10684] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Minitel and the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jmaloff@aol.com)
Sat Mar 5 07:57:58 1994
From: jmaloff@aol.com
To: com-priv@psi.com
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 94 14:22:09 EST
This is in response to the paper by Thierry Lehoux, forwarded by Marty Salo
to this list.
It seems that the author has missed one of the more critical points of value
afforded by the Internet: the Internet has become a powerful tool for
researchers, educators, and business people because of the wealth of resource
we all bring to the party, and not because it is a monolithic information
transit vehicle.
Mr. Lehoux makes many arguments - some of them possibly valid. However, if
one accepts his conclusions regarding Minitel, are they not somewhat
similarly representative of CompuServe, America OnLine, or Prodigy? And yet,
no one is arguing that these services are about to be the cause of the
imminent dissolution of the Internet.
As to the commercialization of the Internet including the development of
industrial strength user interfaces, I am afraid that the horse is miles out
of the barn. The Internet is now either being used widely or is being
considered for such use by businesses of all sizes. Law firms, publishing and
printing companies, medical facilities, as well as the "mega-corporations"
are using Internet for their day-to-day activities. As long as the use of
Internet can reduce their expenses, increase revenues, or otherwise
contribute to an organization's "bottom line", it will be embraced. Also, Mr.
Lehoux needs to take a look at the innovative work being done by people like
Spry, Z-Code, O'Reilly Publishing, WAIS, and others to see the beginnings of
a very robust and competitive "user interface" industry.
To be honest, I believe that Mr. Lehoux has it backwards. Minitel will become
one more part of a vibrant global "shared information utility" that we call
"The Internet". Yes, the Internet will continue to evolve. We as its
constituents have the obligation to ensure that it maintains the good and
open qualities that have made it the impossible marvel that it is today, but
it isn't likely that one organization or one "replacement technology" (like
OSI) is going to do away with the Internet.
The ability to choose among a menu of service providers, information sources,
access methods, user interfaces, security services, and network management
systems will be very important if the vision of an information superhighway
is to be realized. No monopoly or single provider can do as well.
I for one do not believe that the Internet is about to be displaced by
Minitel, and would be quite disappointed if this wonderful anomaly were
replaced by a proprietary monolithic structure.
Joel Maloff
The Maloff Company
Internet Consultants
(313) 426-1331
joel@maloff.com
