A fwe quotes from: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C24371%2C00.html?dd.ne.html CNET article/interview with Jennifer Bailey, senior vice president for marketing and strategic development for Netscape Netcenter: <quoted> NET: Are we expected to see integration and more traffic driven from browser software into Netcenter in the future as you continue updating versions of the software? JB: Definitely. The more we tie some of these services into the user interface of the browser, the simpler user experience we can have. The service overall will be appropriate for anyone using any browser. ... CNET: How do you change the public consciousness from thinking of Netscape as strictly a technology-related company to viewing it as a media company? JB: It's marketing and promotion--it's advertising. The trick is getting people to come to the site at least once or twice, and for us, once they get there, to really satisfy whatever they wanted to do. If you ask consumers at large what they think about Netscape--most broad consumers, I mean people who read USA Today--they associate Netscape with the Internet. They may not even understand that we're a browser company because consumers at that level don't necessarily understand specifically what a browser is. Most consumers have a hard time differentiating between the browser, the ISP, and the content. So that brand awareness will leverage easily into this space. </quoted> It sounds like NS is trying to integrate services right into the browser, which MS has tried a little (channels, active desktop). MS sure got a lot of heat about it. Wonder if Netscape will, too? For MS to compete with the NS program, they would most likely match NS feature for feature, right? But....would they have a harder time doing it, legally, due to the tie-ins with their OS? Is that the real NS strategy lynchpin? <ramble> Interesting comment in question 2: "If you ask consumers at large what they think about Netscape <snip>, I mean people who read USA Today--they associate Netscape with the Internet. They may not even understand that we're a browser company... consumers at that level don't necessarily understand specifically what a browser is <snip>(and) have a hard time differentiating between the browser, the ISP, and the content. So that brand awareness will leverage easily into this space." How true it is. Just ask my Mom. This kind of reasoning should make the transformation from browser dealer to portal rather smooth for NS. Since the launch of the "new" Netscape site all their users won't have to wonder why they always look at Netscape Corporate news every time they start their machine. Netscape is a media company! By the way, has anyone looked at MS's Start site lately? IMO, it'll be a failure in round one. Why? Because "the people who read USA Today" don't want to have MS and their fodder behind every button. Maybe I'm woefully wrong. Maybe the vast group of "the people who read USA Today" really can't wait to have the same crap they've been living with for years on TV fed to them via the web, too. </ramble> Jack staying away from sharp objects ____________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done directly from our website for all our lists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
