[Air-l] FW: As the Web Matures, Fun Is Hard to Find (L Guernsey NYTimes)

Ellis Godard godard at virginia.edu
Thu Mar 28 12:11:37 PST 2002


Expiring domains outnumber those registered or renewed, and web useage is
(purportedly) down...

-----Original Message-----



 POLLING ABSTRACT

 The lack of compelling content may be contributing to a decline in the
 amount of time that people spend online. In March 2000, according to a
 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, people
 averaged 90 minutes per online session. A year later, when the same
 people were polled, that number had dropped to 83 minutes. According to
 the report, those polled said that they were using the Web more to
 conduct business than to explore new areas, aiming to get offline as
 quickly as possible. The toy box has turned into a toolbox. Even without
 new technologies crowding the spotlight, the Web today seems to be less
 than inspiring. About half of Internet users in 2000, for example, said
 the Internet helped "a lot" in enabling them to learn new things. A year
 later, when the same group was polled, only 39 percent made that claim.
 "For fun Internet activities, users report little or no growth in having
 gone online for hobbies, game playing or just to seek out fun diversions,"
 the Pew report said. Even for newcomers -- those who might be most likely
 to surf around for kicks -- growth is tepid, the report added.


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                 Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
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     http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/28/technology/circuits/28WEBB.html

 March 28, 2002


       AS THE WEB MATURES, FUN IS HARD TO FIND

       By LISA GUERNSEY


 GLENN DAVIS, the founder of the once-popular online destination Cool
 Site of the Day, used to be so addicted to the Web that he called it his
 "recreational drug."

 He started Cool Site in 1994, after discovering the thrill of happening
 upon an especially interesting Web site and telling his friends what he
 had found. Within a year, more than 20,000 people a day were visiting the
 site, and Mr. Davis became a Web celebrity, giving interviews to online
 magazines and fending off gifts from Webmasters who were desperately
 seeking his recommendation of their sites.

 Today, Mr. Davis has not only kicked his Web habit but also almost
 completely given up the medium. The Cool Site of the Day still exists,
 but it is no longer run by Mr. Davis, who has also lost his enthusiasm
 for trolling for new pages.

 "We lost our sense of wonder," he said. "The Web is old hat."

 Just 11 years after it was born and about 6 years after it became
 popular, the Web has lost its luster. Many who once raved about surfing
 from address to address on the Web now lump site-seeing with other online
 chores, like checking the In box.

 What attracted many people to the Web in the mid-1990's were the bizarre
 and idiosyncratic sites that began as private obsessions and swiftly grew
 into popular attractions: the Coffee Cam, a live image of a coffee maker
 at the University of Cambridge; the Fish Tank Cam from an engineer at
 Netscape; The Spot, the first online soap opera; the Jennicam, the first
 popular Internet peephole; the Telegarden, which allowed viewers to have
 remote control of a robot gardener; and the World Wide Ouija, where
 viewers could question the Fates with the computer mouse. The Web was
 like a chest of toys, and each day brought a new treasure.

 "I remember sitting there for hours thinking it was so neat," said Jason
 Gallo, an office manager in Washington who discovered the Web in 1994. He
 said he would often get lists of favorite sites from his friends, which
 he called "quirky islands of fun."

 "I don't see that anymore," he said.

 Lisa Maira, a computer network administrator at the University of
 Buffalo, designed the Mr. Potato Head site with colleagues in 1994 (the
 name was later changed to Mr. Edible Starchy Tuber Head to avoid
 trademark infringement). It allowed viewers to dress up an online version
 of the toy. The site attracted thousands of visitors and a dozen "best of
 the Web" awards.

 "It was just amazing," Ms. Maira said. Now, not only has the site fallen
 into disrepair, with broken links and missing game pieces, but many of
 the sites that gave it accolades are also out of business.

 That kind of Web activity "doesn't impress people anymore," Ms. Maira
 said, adding that she counted herself among the disenchanted.

 The problem facing the Web is not that some of these particular sites
 have come and gone -- there are, after all, only so many times anyone can
 look at a coffeepot, even online -- but that no new sites have come along
 to captivate the casual surfer.

 Bob Rankin, the co-editor of Tourbus, an electronic newsletter,
 frequently sent his readers to innovative pages. Now the newsletter is
 more likely to provide information about online charities and antivirus
 software. "I have a harder time finding the oddball sites that I like to
 highlight," Mr. Rankin said.

 The lack of compelling content may be contributing to a decline in the
 amount of time that people spend online. In March 2000, according to a
 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington, people
 averaged 90 minutes per online session. A year later, when the same
 people were polled, that number had dropped to 83 minutes. According to
 the report, those polled said that they were using the Web more to
 conduct business than to explore new areas, aiming to get offline as
 quickly as possible. The toy box has turned into a toolbox.

 Web sites also face stiff competition from other online services. Music
 programs like Morpheus, a Napster alternative, allow people to download
 files using a piece of online software instead of clicking from one site
 to the next. Instant messaging has grown exponentially, and many users
 say they would rather chat with their friends than spend their time
 surfing the Web.

 Even without new technologies crowding the spotlight, the Web today seems
 to be less than inspiring. About half of Internet users in 2000, for
 example, said the Internet helped "a lot" in enabling them to learn new
 things. A year later, when the same group was polled, only 39 percent
 made that claim.

 "For fun Internet activities, users report little or no growth in having
 gone online for hobbies, game playing or just to seek out fun
 diversions," the Pew report said.

 Even for newcomers -- those who might be most likely to surf around for
 kicks -- growth is tepid, the report added.

 There are other signs that all is not well in Webville. For the first
 time, the number of expiring domain names outnumbers those being
 registered or renewed, according to SnapNames, an industry research
 company in Portland, Ore. Although the SnapNames report theorizes that
 many of the expired domains were simply unused placeholders for existing
 companies, like those who wanted a .org version of their .com site, there
 is no counterbalancing rush to build new sites.

 In addition, researchers at several online measurement companies have
 found that the rate of growth in new sites and unique visitors has
 slumped in recent months. And about 20 percent of public Web sites that
 existed nine months ago no longer exist, according to a sample studied
 last week by the Online Library Computer Center, a nonprofit library
 group in Dublin, Ohio. Separate research shows that of the sites that are
 still operating, a large number have been taken over by pornography.

 How did the Web arrive at this juncture? Some people say that the rush to
 make money, in which profits mattered more than passion, was a
 significant driver. Mr. Davis, for instance, said he did not design Cool
 Site of the Day with profit in mind. The site, which was housed on
 servers at Infinet, the Internet service provider for whom Mr. Davis
 worked, was taken over by the company when he left in November 1995. In
 1998, Infinet sold the site to Mike Corso, a businessman in Chappaqua,
 N.Y., who charges $97 to those who submit a site for "priority express"
 consideration, plus $19 a month if the submission is selected and added
 to the archives.

 The Web's commercialism dismays many longtime surfers. "Everywhere you go
 someone is jumping on you to buy something," said John Walkenbach, an
 author in San Diego, who has written books about software. "It's like
 walking down the streets of Tijuana."

 Other users say they are less inclined to hunt for innovative sites
 because many of them require plug-ins or browser updates that force users
 into bothersome downloading. Entertainment sites, for example, usually
 require a program like QuickTime, and even if Web surfers take the time
 to download a copy, they are likely to be cajoled later into downloading
 an updated version.

 There are still islands of innovation and creativity on the Web. For
 example, iFilm .com shows eclectic video clips posted by Web users. Among
 longtime Web surfers, personal online diaries, known as Weblogs or blogs,
 are often cited as the last bastion of interesting material.

 Lee deBoer, former chief executive of Automatic Media, believes that the
 downturn in the Web is temporary. In the summer of 2000, his company
 bought Feed and Suck, two popular online magazines, and started
 Plastic.com, a Web site that allows users to filter interesting Web
 content for one another. After just a year, Mr. deBoer's company was
 forced to close its doors, killing both magazines and relinquishing
 Plastic.com to a group of investors. (The site still exists, run almost
 entirely by volunteers.)

 Even after the bruising taken by his company, Mr. deBoer is not prepared
 to declare the Web dead. "We've taken a pause," he said, citing a tough
 advertising climate, a lagging economy and a seriousness that has infused
 society since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "But I don't think it's
 much more than a pause."

 Mr. Davis said he believes that the Web's malaise is more permanent. He
 is building an online gaming company that uses the Internet but bypasses
 the Web.

 "I'm a frontiersperson, and the Web is not a frontier anymore," he said.
 "It is simply a place."


     http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/28/technology/circuits/28WEBB.html
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