Month: July 1998

“In the new world of the Internet, it matters less if you are large or small…. If you have a good idea, you can reach an audience of millions.”

Former Microsoft executive and CEO of RealNetworks Rob Glaser, testifying before Congress on his erstwhile employer’s moves to quash innovation in streaming media, News.com, 23 July 1998

“In the attention economy, there are two philosophies: You can either act as a colonial power who treats the users’ time as an exploitable resource that should be strip mined, or you can treat it as the ultimate … resource … to be conserved.”

Usability consultant Jakob Nielsen, railing against the evils of portals (probably because he’s mad he didn’t come up with the idea first), Wired News, 23 July 1998

“People get addicted to good email like they get addicted to good chocolate.”

Andy Brack, an Internet political consultant based in Charleston, South Carolina, describing how spam from politicians is really just giving the people what they want, The New York Times, 22 July 1998

“It’s a mistake to treat the Internet as an entertainment medium.”

Ed Bennett, former Prodigy executive and godfather of Stim, The Wall Street Journal, 20 July 1998

“Most consumers have a hard time differentiating between the browser, the ISP, and the content.”

Jennifer Bailey, Netscape’s senior vice president of marketing for its portal wannabe, Netcenter, News.com, 20 July 1998