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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (24872)	2/9/2001 6:32:32 PM
From: David Howe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

KLP, Ok, I understand your point and it's a good one. Yes, the product needs to be attractive and easy to use. The wireless web is not there yet, but IMO, it will be. When I first tried the internet back in '95 I would have given it a C- and look how far it's come in just over 5 years. Regarding one of INSP's services (which I give a B- at this time) here are my thoughts (posted on another board that was discussing the subject). I wouldn't mind comments on this and information regarding competitive sites. << Ok, I tried www.activeshopper.com for the first time myself and came up with mixed results. I went to electronics and searched for DVD players. The search time wasn't much longer than I'd expected (about 20 seconds). If I'm going to spend several hundred $ I'm sure I can wait that long to do some comparison price checks. The list of DVD players located by the search was quite extensive (50 - 100 depending on the zip code I used). Maybe electronics is a product more hip to this technology than camping gear (someone's earlier search that came up with only a few items). Numerous retailers were included in the search results including Walmart, PC Mall, Camera Club, Amazon, ProActive Electronics, and several others. I was able to sort by product, retailer and price. This does give a rough price comparison and sampling which could be useful. It was a little random though, because each retailer was using a different name for the item (ie. a Sony model aaaa might have been listed as an S-aaaa or maybe a Sony aaaa or maybe an aaaa-Sony). So, if you search by "product" they don't exactly line up perfectly. If I had a wireless PDA and I was shopping for a DVD player, I definitely would use the active shopper site to get a feel for pricing. If I was at an electronics store, I could show the sales person that Amazon had the DVD player for $399 and the store would be tempted to get close to that price in order to make the sale. It's a useful tool. I also searched for Palm and Compaq Ipaq PDAs and came up with a useful search, although more limited than the DVD results. I'll give the service a B- at this time, but with potential. If it's more widely adopted it could be much more useful. The first time I used the internet (back in 1995) I would have given it a C-. Look how far that's come in just over 5 years. >> Dave