When the head of the U.S. Patent Office declared in 1899 that "all that can possibly be invented has been invented," his position lent that statement credibility. Clearly, however, technology refused to comply. And today, even the high-tech companies who drive change don't know how far the progress of the Internet can be taken. This is all very exciting for users.
Take the seemingly mundane browser, for example. Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), found on all Windows PCs, had achieved market dominance in the past two years, but vanquishing rival Netscape was far easier for Bill Gates & Co. than dealing with constant attacks by hordes of scammers, spammers, spyware, and pop-up "artists."
That's why more than 25 million people have started using an Internet browser called Firefox 1.0, from www.mozilla.org. Firefox, which is free, is faster and less vulnerable to attack than Explorer—and runs on Windows, Macintosh, and even Linux computers. It also has a tabbed interface that lets you run multiple Web pages in the same window.
Perhaps prodded by competition, Microsoft, which for years has denied there's a problem, suddenly announced plans to release a new version of Internet Explorer this summer that's independent of the new version of Windows—so the firm can more quickly fix security problems.
Many businesses are adopting Firefox because they see it as more secure than IE. Unfortunately, I'm just now starting to notice pop-up ads targeting my Mozilla browser—a new and unwelcome development.
Search for Tomorrow
Over the past year, it seems the term "search" became synonymous with Google. But Yahoo, Microsoft, and AskJeeves are fighting back with powerful search engines. Then there's the search tool born from a start-up named blinkx. Instead of relying on the familiar keyword search, blinkx's approach is this: Open a file, an e-mail message, or a Web page, and blinkx will automatically search Web sites for related news articles, JPEGs, PDFs, blogs, and more—and will also search your own hard drive for other saved documents and e-mail messages.
And planners looking for video content to license for a presentation, might enjoy blinkx TV search. blinkx doesn't just search the Web for video by file name, the blinkx search engine actually "watches" TV clips, understands what they are about, and can take you straight to the relevant point inside the video.
Another interesting offering is A9 (www.a9.com) from Amazon, a cross between a smart Yellow Pages, a location search, and a traditional search engine that includes addresses, descriptions, and photos of city blocks where restaurants, stores, and other services are located. This is perfect for providing delegates with a street-level peek at your meeting city. So far, A9 photographers have accurately captured Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Manhattan, San Francisco, and Seattle.
With the massive popularity of search engines, paid spots are all the rage: You pick the keywords about your company or business and when users type them in, the top of the page lists "sponsored links" that include yours.
Is paid search worth it? It depends. For my media training firm, I created the site www.msgmediatraining.com and signed up with Overture.com for keyword placement. But first placement using the keyword "media training" would have run $8,000 a month. So if you can't pay much for your prized keywords, don't be surprised at being placed in cyber-Siberia.
SIDEBAR
I'll Drive, You Navigate
When doing site inspections, finding your way around strange locales can be a hassle. Magellan's RoadMate 700 GPS Vehicle Navigation System, from the creators of Hertz NeverLost, is portable; you can take it from your car onto the plane and then install it in a rental car. The color LCD screen shows maps and your movements with street-by-street detail. When you input an address, RoadMate gives text directions or turn-by-turn voice-prompts, letting your eyes stay on the road. Price: $1,200; www.magellangps.com