Predicting The Future Online

by: Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reservedhttp://www.thenetreporter.com=====================================The psychic Hotline won't help you in this article!However, I want to share my predictions for 2003 and thetrends I see affecting how you will use the Internet forboth business and pleasure. ** Anti-Spam! Anybody with an email account for more than three days hasgotten unsolicited email (referred to as Spam) from peoplethey don't know. These people offer to sell them everythingfrom acne treatment to inkjet cartridges. As federal and state lawmakers weigh into the battleagainst Spam, you can expect two significant developmentsthis year: First, anti-Spam software sales will skyrocket among homeand business users. Unfortunately, unless somebody inventsa solution that actually works well, the end results won'tfit the promises made to sell the products. On a side note: It will prove very interesting to see howmany of the anti-Spam product vendors will actually useSpam to sell their wares! Second, anti-Spam sentiment will massively affectlegitimate online business owners trying to communicatewith their customers via e-mail. New services will spring up to help even the smallestbusinesses secure their communications with customers andavoid the "Spam filters."** Lights, Camera, Action! The use of multimedia, including video, pictures, andsound, along with other interactive devices, will reallytake off this year. However, the proliferation of multimedia will not occurbecause of higher Internet access speeds through DSL orcable.Cheaper and better computers, combined with improved"streaming" software technology, will drive this multimediatrend. As computers and web servers on either end of theinformation exchange get faster at encoding and decodingdata, the need for broadband access lessens. ** Sold to the Highest Bidder Expect auction sites to see all-time highs in sales andrevenues this year. With a sluggish economy, people lookto save and make money any way they can, and buying througheBay makes it easier than ever. ** Do you Yahoo? Search giant Yahoo will rebound this year from a couple ofpoor business decisions. Expect them to regain the topspot as the world's number one search portal by the end of2003. ** "Micro-Businesses" Will Dominate Using "guerrilla marketing" tactics, small businesses willspread like wildfire online. These businesses won't botherwith startup capital, or IPO's; they'll simply reachprofitability within 30 days or close up shop. Also, expect to see "Big" business start adapting thesetechniques by creating special units within largercorporations that reward the entrepreneurial online spirit.So take the challenge! Cut out this article, put it on your bulletin board, and 12months from now we can all see if my psychic abilities ratewith the most popular 900 numbers or whether flipping acoin would have achieved the same or better results. :-)