As I understand it, Netscape makes most of its money setting major
companies up with high-grade web-server/e-mail systems. I think
eventually they will use portions of their browser technologies to make
significant money exploiting nooks and crannies in the web.
I can imagine world-web-wide multiple listing services for real estate
wherein Netscape might manage the multiple listing data bank and, through
major real estate companies, provide virtual reality markup language
(VRML) in the Netscape browser to access the data base. With this
scheme, a prospective buyer can "walk" through the city/town,
neighborhood, and then the "for sale" houses without actually first
traveling to and visiting the area. In this case Netscape would not
make its money on the web navigator, but rather on setting up and
perhaps administering the data base. The cost of the service would be
paid for by home sales as it is now.
Another web-based data base would likely be set up as a repository of
medical information. This site would be used by doctors to assist in
diagnosis, both by a browseable data base (where-in the human body could
be viewed in 3D/virtual reality), and by on-line medical experts.
The Netscape Navigator, as well as the other browsers will probably
always be inexpensive or free. What Netscape wants to do is get their
name formost in the mind of anyone who sees a need to incorporate their
data on the net, so that those people will think first to call Netscape.
Don't forget, a tremendous amount of data on the net is behind company
firewalls and is not available to people outside the company. Company
personnel, policies, practices, procedures, processes, design data,
customer data, and etc. are kept in these data bases. Netscape can help
these companies set up their internal data bases and web-site pages.
I think Netscape can become a very rich company if it can ferret out
these niches. |
