This is the third in a series of monthly essays on the business implications of Internet technology. Feedback on these essays is highly appreciated. The focus of the essays is on how technology can be applied in business. In addition, I like to think about the implications for the stock prices of companies such as Netscape. For an index of my occasional writing on Web technology and business, going back to July 1994, see Business and Economic Issues.

I recently came across a news story that a survey of InfoWorld subscribers found that 61 percent had adopted the Web as a platform for all development of new software applications. This article is directed at the rest of you, who are still caught up doing egocentric computing.

Take my bank. Please.

About a month ago, my bank sent me two disks with electronic banking software. I spent a few hours reading all of the instructions and trying to go through the various steps needed to set up the software (it seemed as though I had at least three different id codes/PIN numbers to input in various places).

I did not attend the training seminar my bank offered (which included a drawing for a free TV). Probably I should have. I spent several more hours trying to get the software to work properly, and finally I ended up calling the help desk. After the usual 15-minute hold, I got an answer. That got me through the next step, where things failed again, leading to another help desk call. Finally, I was able to perform some banking functions. However, the program still does not work the way I would like (It says my balance is whatever I tell it, minus whatever payments I make using the service. I want the real data from the bank.)

What offends me the most about this crummy software is that it is so unnecessary! There is nothing going on that could not be handled by putting their application on the Web. If the bank had done this as a Web application, they could have

• Distributed their electronic banking application without printing any disks. I already have a Web browser (several in fact).

• Eliminated the expenses of the training seminar and the help desk. I already know how to use my Web browser. The actual banking functions I already understand. Although it probably will not even be necessary, they could include online Frequently Asked Questions and online email.

• Saved on the cost of designing, coding, and testing the "client" part of their software--the part that runs on my computer, including the complex communication scripts.

Bill Gates once said that banks are dinosaurs, and mine certainly is striving for extinction. But Gates himself tried to pull off a non-Internet application, Microsoft Network, before he realized its futility. Big companies cannot seem to resist thinking that they can win people over to privately branded software. The Washington Post was convinced that it had the clout to get people to sign up for something called "Digital Ink," a proprietary online service. Having tried to deal with some of the people involved, I can tell you that this project was all about ego, as opposed to sound business thinking. Millions of dollars later, the Post gave up and moved to the Web.

For the enlightened companies, the shift from building egocentric applications to net-centric applications has great benefits:

• You get out of the communications software business.
• You get out of the business of designing client software. Instead, you use standard Web forms to create your interface.
• You can build your application gradually, without having to distribute new versions with every upgrade.
• You can use generic tools to build applications.

The more your company has invested and continues to invest in software with your name on it, the more it has to lose. The more quickly it can adopt the Web browser as a universal client and exploit the leverage of generic software from the Internet, the better your chances of survival.

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