Cyberchatter: Arun Katiyar


	March 6, 2000

	METRO TODAY \| DAILY NEWS \| ASTROLOGY \| ARCHIVES \| INDIA TODAY \| HOME
	Cover Story \| Nation \| Columns \| Newsnotes \| From the Editor in Chief \| Editorials \| Eyecatchers States \| Sports \| Voices \| Diaspora \| Lifestyle \| Heritage \| Books \| Offtrack \| Bodyline \| Centrestage Issue Contents

CYBER CHATTER
The Boom/Doom

By Arun Katiyar

India Today issue dt March 6, 2000 It's not very surprising that the comment most often-heard nowadays is this statement, or a variant of it: "The Internet is a bubble". Nine out of ten people who make this observation have either not spent more than the last two months surfing in an effort to understand the Net or (more probable) they can't expand http to its full form. But last week, at a roundtable organised by The Economist, IndiaWorld's Rajesh Jain while addressing an audience of a hundred plus made an observation that "the Internet is not a bubble, but some companies may be". The audience, made up almost exclusively of CEOs and VPS of major banks, FMCG companies, airlines, financial institutions manufacturing and service industry majors, heaved a sigh of relief. The lines of stress on their faces slackened; they saw their own companies as being rock solid and it was just a matter of time before they moved on to the Net to extend their empires.

Pure dotcoms, who have seen their valuations grow at neck-snap, haven't, as yet, faced the fury of competition from the much-denigrated brick-and-mortar outfits. Yes, traditional brick and mortar companies have been slow to discover the Net, slower still to adapt to the online environment. But when they decide to look at the possibilities of clicks and mortar, they will be a force to reckon with. Not only do they have the products and brands that people want to buy online but they also have reliable distribution channels -- something which dotcoms have to invest in.

OTHER COLUMNS

K.V. Kamath, CEO of ICICI Bank, a bank which has forged an astonishingly rapid and clear path on the Net, led the way when he made the startling observation that "15 per cent of all auto financing was happening on the Net". Suddenly, everyone around wanted to leap-frog on to the state-of-the-art tech, align their people with the Net economy, think of processes by which online products could be rolled out in 60 days and look at partnerships to ramp up faster into the New Economy.

In the end, the roundtable was doubly reassuring. The Net wasn't a bubble -- between the companies represented at the roundtable, expect an initial investment of about Rs 600 crore on Net-related activity in the next six months.

.COM ONE, .COM ALL
Imagine a site that offers horoscopes, personal finance tips, education, discounts on cosmetics, computers, leather goods, party halls (amongst other discounts), articles on Bollywood, scams on the Net, consumer guides, discussion boards on live-in relationships, travel guides, package tours (descriptions only) to Borobudur, Yang Yang and Antarctica, a knowledge portal (with a link to the lovely Electronic Origami Shop) and just about everything you may need. Click on www.indbazaar.com and you'll find it. To reverse what monster.com has to say about itself, IndBazaar is a mile wide but an inch deep. That's going to need some fixing. However, the site, with 15,500 page views a day, already has funding from the IndAsia Fund, so one expects things can only get better from here.

NEWS FROM BIHAR
The simplicity of creating something on the Net is evident at www.bihartimes.com -- a site that offers news as its prime attraction, at least going by the prominence accorded to the headlines. However, the news links only take you to items in the mainline dailies. Perhaps one day bihartimes.com will add its own correspondents and offer its own perspective on the state. In the meantime, the site has decided to be a collection of links on the state. It's perhaps a reflection of reality then that the link to "Business in Bihar" is dead. Ultimately, the site ends up being a reflection on Bihar itself: a poorly organised site, with little to offer and very little that works.

COOL POOL
Isn't there a table in your neighbourhood? Then hang in there and read on. Snooker tables, pool tables that are round and hexagonal (my favourite), right angled (no kidding!), zigzag (after right angled, this is not too difficult to believe), fluorescent ... you name it, www.prime-leisure.com has it. They even have a pool table-cum-dining table and bed! The Mumbai-based company has created a site that caters to the latest trend that has sprung up across the country. For those who think that pool tables are beyond their reach, here's the good news: most models are priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 80,000 (approximately). Naturally, accessories will cost you extra.

SHIP SHAPE
Every once in a while, you have the urge to get organised: you want your old magazines to be in order, your shopping list updated, you want to clean up your kitchen or are about to move house and need a complete to-do list. The problem which most face is where to get new racks and shelves from. www.organisedhome.com is a site for people who hate clutter and helps them attack the congestion and chaos in their lives. Simple and direct, the site has a sense of humour and a way of telling you how things can be managed better.

Arun Katiyar is the chief operating officer of India Today Group Online. His e-mail address is akatiyar@india-today.com

Top

Back | Next