>>>>>NBC is learning that lesson the hard way, announcing this week that it will spend $85 million to buy all outstanding shares of NBCi, it’s Internet spin off, and probably shut down most of those operations.>>>>>
Concerning NBCi's pending demise: About a year ago I was looking for some "free" ECommerce space to sell
my Cds I'll be putting out soon, I tried developing some websites at a few different companies- FreeMerchant, NBC .FreeYellow, but settled on doing it at NBCi.com. They had a simple walk thru menu for creating an effective looking webpage, and you could team up with one of the better credit card online processing companies for impulse buyers. I work slow, so I was adding a little bit at a time on my webpages, and about 6 weeks ago a big baloon "banner" proclaiming "Developed by NBCi for the online merchant" popped up on my site's home page. Pretty irritating, and it took up about s fifth of the page. Then I got an Email from NBCi that said, "Yes, NBCi merchant space is still free, but if you want to get rid of the NBCi banner on top of the page, it'll cost you thirty dollars". What a crock. Also, a few weeks ago I got an Email from FreeMerchant, "We're still free, but if you want to add a "shopping cart" to your page, it'll cost you thirty dollars". I was using "X-Drive" and a few other "free" sites that offered Storage Space. A couple of weeks ago, X-Drive sent me an Email proclaiming that they're "upgrading" to a better concept, but it'll cost me 19.95 per month. All the other "freebie" companies are dropping out or starting to ask for money. It's like a Greek Chorus out there. I was using most of those sites for the past couple of years, and it's only in the last six weeks that just about all of them have sent me Emails with their hard luck stories and requests for handouts. Personally, I thought NBCi had a great shot at it because of the "brand" name. Guess not.
I find it hard to be optimistic that tiny Ampex can succeed in this atmosphere, particularly when some giants with deep pockets are folding up their tents.
al |
