Tom Murphy's "Web Rules" (Dearborn Financial Publishing, $25, hardback) opens with gushing praise for the Information Age and the Internet-hosannas that seem overblown when considered in the glare of the many dot-coms that have crashed and burned of late.
Murphy, a veteran business journalist, grandly declares that we are now taking part in "the greatest transition of power in history, one that will take power away from the mightiest corporations and social institutions and give it to ... consumers."
To be fair, Murphy's book likely was completed in 1999, a few months before its 2000 publication date. Investment dollars were flooding the Web. The online Gold Rush still was creating instant millionaires. Fortunately, after its overcharged opening salvos, "Web Rules" settles into a well-written and useful study of how the Internet is changing consumer behavior. Almost anyone who wants to sell products or services over the Net should heed Murphy's points.
In his view, savvy Net-wired computer users are "gaining the power to shake corporate giants, to force politicians to respond to our concerns, to demand a better bargain in the marketplace, and to shape what's in the media." What creates this power, of course, is the Web's two-way flow of "cheap, ubiquitous" information. No longer are our choices limited to local banks, dealerships, stores, and media outlets; now we have worldwide options. We can bypass a retailer's sale and order the same products cheaper and quicker online. In minutes, we can size up a political candidate's voting record, apply for a better job, and enroll in a class. We can upload our shopping list rather than waiting in a grocery store line, then surf the Net for entertainment while we await the food delivery truck. We can grab the latest news and investment information from many different sources.
This is power, and more online choices soon will lead to greater changes in the way things work, get sold, and get done, Murphy predicts.
"Web Rules" is an unambiguous wake-up call to any business not yet embracing full customer service and access via the Web. The author offers 10 rules to help companies "have an easier time adjusting to this marvelous new age." These include the No. 1 rule--presuming that customers are in control on any commercial Web site--and guidelines on service, pricing, returns, and online privacy.
Half of Murphy's book is dedicated to "Planning the Future," and includes up-close interviews with several key figures associated with Internet growth, social change, and mass media. The dignitaries include software venture capitalist Ann Winblad; Jerry Yang, founder of Yahoo!; Bloomberg LP's Mike Bloomberg; and Jerry Brown, outspoken mayor of Oakland, Calif.
Some Internet firms that Murphy has praised as winning models already are gone. Others are struggling to survive in the rapidly changing digital landscape. But exciting possibilities loom ahead. Wideband data services, Murphy believes, eventually will make today's Information Superhighway look like a dirt path.
