The guests on Mar. 26 were Marc Andreessen, one of the creators of the Web browser Mosaic and co-founder of Netscape, and Robert D. Hof, Business Week correspondent in San Francisco. Their topic: the Apr. 3 BW Special Report on the Internet.
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OnlineHost: Good evening and welcome! Tonight Business Week Online presents its regular weekly conference on AOL, with a special guest--Marc Andreessen of Mosaic and Netscape fame, to discuss this week's BW Special Report, Planet Internet. It's all about how the Internet, largely thanks to the World Wide Web, is revolutionizing the world of computers.
Marc Andreessen (screen name Andreessen) headed the team at the University of Illinois that developed the Mosaic browser. He was still a student then, and he went on to win a BS in computer science in 1993 and to become co-founder of Netscape early last year.
With Marc Andreessen on stage to discuss the Special Report is one of its authors, Robert D. Hof (RobHof), a San Francisco correspondent for BW who covers semiconductors, computer hardware, and the Internet. He's a graduate of San Jose State and has been with Business Week since 1988.
The moderator of tonight's discussion is Jack Dierdorff (JackBW), consulting editor of BW Online. And now on to your questions on browsing the Net--and how this is changing the computer industry and the way you use its products.
JackBW: Good evening to all of you on AOL. And hi to you, Marc Andreessen and Rob Hof.
Andreessen: Good evening!
RobHof: Hi, nice to be here.
JackBW: Rob, the first question is for you--and then maybe Marc will comment.
Question: This week's Business Week has a Special Report headlined Planet Internet. Rob, what's the theme of this story--is the Internet about to take over the planet?
RobHof: Well, maybe not tomorrow, but it does look like the Net is the biggest thing to hit the computer industry since the IBM PC. It's not just the biggest E-mail system in the world anymore. The Net, aided by a new software scheme called the World Wide Web, is so flexible and low-cost that it looks like, as with the PC, lots of entrepreneurs are champing at the bit to use it to build a vast array of new products and markets.
JackBW: Marc, do you share that view?
Andreessen: I dunno if it's going to take over the whole planet, but I think it's going to come pretty close. These days you can even surf over to Russia and China.
JackBW: Marc, Skos7 goes right to the point with this for you.
Question: What new things will you be introducing to Netscape and Mosaic this year?
Andreessen: Obviously an employee of one of our competitors! Just kidding. Netscape is going to grow in functionality by leaps and bounds, I think: More advanced features for displaying and interacting with documents. Better two-way communications capabilities, like secure news. Also, even more range of security features, like client-side crypto certificates.
JackBW: Herrmitt has a basic question I didn't know the answer to myself until quite recently. It's a good idea to define our terms.
Question: What is a Web?
RobHof: The World Wide Web, as it's called, is a software scheme that allows you to do the surfing that Marc referred to with just a click of the button. By using "hyperlinks"--highlighted text--you can click on an item and be transported automatically to the computer that has that information--and you don't even have to know where it is!
JackBW: If I could add, it makes the Internet as easy to navigate as, say, AOL--instead of being accessible only to experts.
Andreessen: The Web is the software service that you *don't* get to use on America Online. (I'm not sure if that was a politically correct thing to say. Late tonight someone will come burn my computer down.)
RobHof: Marc, what will happen when AOL joins Prodigy to offer Web access? Why would people need Netscape's Web "browser"?
Andreessen: Two parts to the question. Answer to Part A, assuming it happens at some point, is that it will bring a wealth of new users to the Web and the Internet in general. The answer to Part B will be obvious when AOL rolls out its service :-).
JackBW: Which is promised by AOL later this spring.
RobHof: I take it you don't expect the AOL browser to knock people's socks off.
Andreessen: Let's just say there are a lot of merits to a true Internet connection, which involve flexibility and freedom to use whatever software you want. Software varies widely in quality, speed, and functionality. This is especially true in the new online world, where content and community are key parts of what you want to do with the software. The real question is whether AOL will be able to offer full Internet access to its users.
RobHof: Won't most people just take the easy way out, and avoid having to install all that arcane software?
Andreessen: Rob, the answer to that is the same as a question that might have been posed in 1980: "Won't people just take the easy way out and just use EDLIN in DOS rather than having to install all that arcane software?"
JackBW: DMFIII wonders about TV vs. Internet.
Question: I know that this may seem contrarian, but when I recently met with some executives about an Internet marketing concept, they said it didn't seem visual and exciting, and they thought most marketing would be TV-interactive. Do you agree?
Andreessen: There has never been a successful trial or application of Interactive TV. Hmmmmmmmm...
JackBW: But there's a lot of talk about the potential for cable, Marc.
Andreessen: Jack, cable as an Internet pipe makes a lot of sense.
RobHof: I also expect the Internet to become much more capable shortly of sending video, animation, sounds, and other things that will make it look much more like TV--but more interactive.
Andreessen: But I bet any amount of money you'll plug that pipe into a PC, not a TV, for the next five years anyway. After that, there may not be any difference between PCs and TVs (except how people use them--sitting 10 feet away on a couch, or at a desk).
JackBW: A user named You asks about HTML (hypertext markup language).
Question: Is there any sort of move toward a browser-independent version of HTML? Is someone establishing a *true* standard?
Andreessen: There is a process under way to define HTML 3.0, the next generation. Netscape 1.1 beta (available now) incorporates many of the proposed features, such as tables and backdrops, and will incorporate the rest as they are standardized.
RobHof: I thought HTML WAS browser-independent.
Andreessen: Rob, HTML is theoretically browser-independent, but browsers vary widely in quality and functionality, as noted above :-).
JackBW: We hear about haves vs. have-nots in the new info age, thus DSynek's query.
Question: What will happen to the people who cannot afford a personal computer or the ones who believe there is not a need for this high tech?
Andreessen: The former will benefit greatly by the price/performance curve currently happening. The latter will probably be in pretty bad shape. (What about TV haves and have-nots? :-)
JackBW: We have another basic question, from LUPOWOLF.
Question: How difficult is it to set up a Web page? Expensive?
Andreessen: It depends who you are and what kind of Internet connection you have. If you are a programmer and have a real Net connection, it's quite easy. If you're not a programmer, there are tools currently under development--and some already available--that make it a lot easier. Many startup companies offer services to people who want to set up home pages. So you can, e.g., pay someone $100 and they'll host your home page for you and help you create it. I think this is something every Kinko's outlet should do.
JackBW: JWJacobsen asks a question we hear a lot these days.
Question: Do you think that a lot of the stuff we currently access freely will be fee-based at some point down the road. It seems like I'm seeing more of that all the time.
RobHof: I do think that the Net will get much more expensive for some kinds of services that are now free simply because the company or group offering it wants to advertise itself. But I think this kind of marketing will continue to make available a lot of useful free information.
Andreessen: Lots of *new* services will be available for a fee. These are services that would not otherwise be available, and they do not in any way interfere with free services, so they're O.K. Also, many services will be advertising-based, just like in the "real world." For example, HotWired and Mercury Center on the Internet today. We will also have advertiser sponsorships on our pages, which get something like 3 million hits per day. This will help us pay for things like our T3 pipe and the tech support that we incur by "giving" so many browsers away. Linked to this advertising will be some neat free services for our users also, like news and search engines that you wouldn't otherwise have access to. There's fun stuff coming. Stop by soon.
JackBW: Jennif418 has a memory question.
Question: Is it true the Web creates or takes up much memory with all the graphs?
RobHof: It's not so much memory but the time it takes to download all that stuff. That's definitely a problem now, and it's one reason some people wonder if the Web is a bit of a fad. They wonder if people will get tired of waiting 10 minutes just to look at a nice picture of Shoemaker-Levy comet hitting Jupiter.
Andreessen: They don't wait 10 minutes if they're using Netscape :-).
JackBW: Schneiss has a user's question--dear to us non-techies.
Question: What is best for the nontechnical layman who wants to search for a particular topic or information related to that topic? Is the Web the answer? Now it appears I have to scroll through the list of Gophers to find something.
Andreessen: Schneiss, if you're running Netscape, just go to the "Internet Directory" menu item. This points you to a service called, implausibly enough, "Yahoo," which lists lots and lots of Internet services in categories. Also you can search very quickly to locate specific things. We'll be more closely integrating Yahoo and Netscape in the near future.
RobHof: There are also search "engines" such as WebCrawler that allow you to type a keyword and get a list of sites that have information on that topic. I expect to see more of these, and more sophisticated engines, fairly soon.
Andreessen: These are examples of services that probably *should* be commercial (advertiser-supported or fee-based).
JackBW: JGold2010 wonders how the Internet will help us.
Question: How will the Web benefit ordinary Americans who currently are not on the Internet?
JackBW: What will make us want to hook up?
Andreessen: Several parts to the answer. Part I is E-mail, which is kinda self-explanatory. Part II is that it will be the single most convenient way to get information, both local and general information on any conceivable topic. Part III is that your kids will be online anyway :-). Part IV is that over the next few years many applications you use will have network-aware capabilities. A good example is Microsoft Baseball today. Or Quicken.
JackBW: DRose 9271 asks about a successor to HTML.
Question: Will HTML become outdated soon? Will there be icon-based programming for Web design in the near future?
Andreessen: HTML will be one of many document formats in use on the Internet. PDF from Adobe, for example, will become very popular for rich documents. At the same time, many tools will be created that will make creating documents and services very easy and graphical. Lots of PowerBuilder-style tools, I'm guessing.
JackBW: Here's a question about fees, again.
Question: Will people be willing to pay for subscription-based services on the Net? If not, where will publishers make their money?
RobHof: I think people will be willing to pay for such services on the Net, just as they do today with magazines and newspapers.
Andreessen: If the content is good, they will come.
RobHof: What's unclear is how publishers will make money over the Net.
JackBW: TPG67 poses a question many of us have about doing business on the Net--security.
Question: Marc, how secure is the Web for transactions?
Andreessen: Lots of work is happening on security. We and many others-- Microsoft, Novell, IBM, Apple, Sun, Digital, etc.--are supporting a security protocol called SSL. Other protocols and mechanisms will be emerging shortly also. Right now with Netscape you can engage in secure transactions with services on the net like Internet Shopping Network and Virtual Vineyards.
JackBW: Rob wants to follow up on security.
Andreessen: (Marc braces himself for withering cross-examination. :-)
RobHof: Marc, some people have criticized Netscape for backing SSL as a security standard. Do you see other standards getting more support, such as S-HTTP?
Andreessen: Rob -- these technologies are actually complementary. For example, we will be supporting both SSL and SHTTP, plus other approaches that will be emerging, like IP-level security. SSL has about 20 backers, SHTTP about 6; neither is a standard yet, but they are both important and will work well together as we and others create new products that incorporate both of them.
JackBW: Marc, I have some suspicion this is a loaded question, from RobertA867.
Question: Why didn't Microsoft make Netscape its browser of choice?
Andreessen: Easy answer :-). We don't give away our crown jewels, in source code form, for a low one-time flat fee. We wear our pants a little tighter around the waist than that :-). (Sorry, couldn't help it.)
JackBW: JLuo40860 has a question BW Online hears from some users.
Question: Are graphics necessary for online services? I mean those we see on AOL? They take time.
RobHof: I think a lot of Web sites are irresponsible in forcing you to view an image that takes five minutes to download. I am really happy when someone gives me the choice to see text-only views when I'm in a hurry to find something.
Andreessen: One aspect to this is that browsers like Netscape allow you to defer loading graphics unless you specifically ask for them to be loaded on a page. Many sites set themselves up so text displays instead of graphics in those cases. Another aspect is that Netscape (for example) displays images as they are received in parallel with displaying the text, making image downloading fairly painless even over modems. Your mileage may vary, but I use Netscape over 14.4 a lot and find it pretty tolerable.
JackBW: Trudyzim sounds like a potential investor for you, Marc.
Question: Is Netscape going to become a public company?
Andreessen: I hope so :-). No immediate plans, but I'll be happy if it happens.
JackBW: I have a question, Marc and Rob, with Senator Exon's bill just having been approved. The Web is pretty wide-open. Will kids be able to get at adult-only stuff? Stuff parents don't want them to see?
RobHof: Kids can indeed get access to adult-only stuff right now, if they have unlimited access to the Web. But that's no different from their being able to read a raunchy best-seller in the bookstore, or take a gander at Playboy or Penthouse at the corner magazine stand.
JackBW: A product question for you, Marc, from BLANGTON.
Question: With Netscape 1.1 beta (Win) expiring in a few days, are you planning a new release or another beta soon?
Andreessen: Keep your eyes peeled for 1.1b2 :-). We're cleaning up last-minute bugs; it seems to be going well, though.
JackBW: One final question, about online services vs. the Net with its Web pages.
Question: For Marc: In view of all the wonderful things you see coming for the Web, what future do you see for online services such as AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy?
Andreessen: That's a great question. I think one thing you'll see is the online services moving very aggressively to embrace the Internet and provide access to their users. It isn't clear, though, what role they serve after they do that.
JackBW: Thanks to both of you, Marc and Rob, for a rich discussion.
Andreessen: Thanks, folks!
RobHof: Thanks, it was fun.
JackBW: And thanks to everyone on AOL. We have lots of questions left over,
alas.
OnlineHost: Thanks to Marc Andreessen of Netscape, Rob Hof, and the Business Week team for this lively conference on Planet Internet. If you'd like to keep talking, we invite you to move over to the BW Online Chat Room. Or you can post your comments or questions in the BW Online Message Boards (try the Computers & Communications board).
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Thanks again and good night!
Copyright 1995 McGraw-Hill, Inc. All rights reserved.
