RTev, to add some contrast to the content vs. advertising matter vis a vis the type of venue being offered (closed intranet or open Internet) consider this passage which I took from the Cook Report on Internet, in a discussion that took place on one of the IETF lists. It was from an official from Pingtel Corp:
In contrast, look at how telco/cable-driven “interactive network” experiments have gone. Closed environments in limited regions with bogus, thinly disguised restaurant advertisements substituting for “entertainment” guides. Ask any business manager who has been in the “Smart Phone” business about telco-driven “interactive phone” trials where the telco provided the “content,” email servers, .... (Minitel notwithstanding.) Compare that to boston.sidewalk.com, or www.boston.com, where there is competition, incredible innovation on how to organize information. This all works because of the genius of HTML/HTTP/Javascript/... on an “open,” public IP network. Extensible, simple, text-based protocols that anybody can innovate around. |
