>Is anybody able (willing) to offer some notions as to what sorts of
>significant advances might be obtained with an influx of support
>(especially those that are not likely to occur without such support) and
>also, perhaps, provide some rough estimates as to what might be done with
>what level of new support?
The fact is that a lot of corporate software money already is heading
toward the Web in a hurry. I can't quantify it, but we're seeing
tremendous interest in our Web products. Large companies in particular
realize that information is a strategic asset. The Web offers a way to
integrate information from heterogeneous sources, which is a huge issue
these days. There's a lot of "legacy" data that would be valuable to make
available via consistent UIs -- Mosaic and its kin. What's more, the open
and pervasive nature of the Internet allows companies to make information
available to their partners and customers as well. If "help desk" software
can be available on the customer's desktop, that's going to be a huge
savings for many businesses.
There are big issues that arise, of course. Problems for the users are
opportunities for businesses. One of the really great things is that so
much of the software development is already "solved" -- cross-platform UIs,
in particular -- that very small teams, even individuals, can write
significant applications. I suspect that alone will spur a lot of
creativity.
Nick
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Nick Arnett "We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunity."
Verity Inc. -- Pogo (Walt Kelly)
narnett@verity.com