Network

Readers respond to articles in Inc. Technology 2001, #1, including Anne Marie Borrego's "An Ad Model that Works" and Anne Stuart's "Cutting the Cord."

 

Reality Check
As one who's been planning a Web site for the past 18 months, I found " Look Who's Making Money on the Net" [ Inc. Technology 2001, No. 1] searingly informative. Your stories, including an analysis of the ongoing dot-com bloodbath, certainly changed the focus and format of my future site. Although I can't accurately estimate the amount of money you've saved me, I can conservatively guess it's many thousands of dollars.

Ron Reinhold
Owner
R.W. Weinhold Co.
Williamsburg, Mich.

As the son part of a mother-son team that has bootstrapped an E-commerce company, it's great to see people who are successful on the Web despite a market downturn. Maybe the big boys should take some notes: "It's not the Net that's the problem. It's the business plan, stupid!"

Matt Herbst
Owner
AlexiaGallery.com
Alpharetta, Ga.

First, Do No Harm
Pharmaceutical and medical-device companies' underwriting Web sites for doctors [" An Ad Model That Works," by Anne Marie Borrego, Inc. Technology 2001, No. 1]? Great business concept. Great possibilities. Too bad it's at the expense of sick people. I guess any manufacturer may, with sufficient mark-up, develop and host Web sites for its retailers. But the health-care version of that model puts doctors in a bind. For Dr. Nelson to say that he feels there are no strings attached to the funding of his Web site is to make fools of the readers.

John Zeckler
President
Task Inc.
Oviedo, Fla.

Missing Links
In " Cutting the Cord" [ Inc. Technology 2001, No. 1], writer Anne Stuart neglected to cover the downside of going wireless. For one thing, the ergonomics are terrible. If you want to use a laptop as your only computer, you have to factor in the additional costs of a docking station with a monitor and keyboard placed at the correct height to reduce repetitive-strain injury. When working outdoors, watch for eye strain, as the relatively dim output from the laptop competes with the sun.

Perry Doell
CTO
CoreData
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Review Redux
Thank you for your recent review of Handango [" Handling Your Handheld," by Ron Feemster, Inc. Technology 2001, No. 1]. We were pleased to see that your team of CEO reviewers put Handango at the top of the class with a cumulative A rating. Overall we thought the article's observations were fair. Our only concern was that one of your reviewers extrapolated incorrectly about our financial health. We feel this was outside the scope of a Web-site review on usability and service -- and simply wrong. As a longtime reader of Inc., I was very surprised to see this type of speculation printed.

Laura Rippy
CEO
Handango
Hurst, Tex.

The editors reply: The comment in the "CEO's quick take" box that Handango would be "out of business soon" reflected one CEO reviewer's thoughts on the quality of the site and was not an insight into the company's financial health.

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