Tools turn browser into galaxy (7/07/2000)
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`Posted at 9:42 p.m. PDT Friday, July 7, 2000
`
`T
`
`ools turn browser
`into galaxy
`
`BY KRTSTI HEIM
`Mercury News
`
`Nobody would expect to explore the world's biggest library page
`by page, yet some would say that's exactly what it's like trying to
`get around on the Internet.
`
`While the Web has become increasingly sophisticated, the tools
`available for using it haven't kept pace. Now that's starting to
`change.
`
`Navigating the ever-expanding Web "is not as intu ive c visual
`as it ought to be," said Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at Jupiter
`Communications in New York.
`
`Offering an alternative to the click-and-wait frustration of
`downloading pages, a growing mini-industry is coming up with
`ways to organize the Web into more manageable and visually
`attractive pieces. The new software tools, which are generally
`downloadable for free, make use of symbols such as dots,
`snippets and even a miniature solar system.
`
`Some of these new tools sit on a desktop as icons and eliminate
`the need for turning on a browser and typing in Web addresses or
`finding bookmarks. Where the browser acts Ilce one big window
`onto the Net, these objects act like small portholes onto sites
`people want to visit regularly.
`
`Rather than clicking through numerous pages of a Web site, users
`can combine parts from different pages into one icon, which can
`be sent to others through e-mail. They're designed to let people
`
`http://www.sanjosemercurynewscomIbusiness/top/049432.htm
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`Confidential — Outside Attorneys' Eyes Only
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`7/10/00
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`Tools turn browser into galaxy (7/07/2000)
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`Page 2 of 4
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`do several things on the Web simultaneously, such as keep track
`of auctions or stock prices, read the news and search for
`information.
`
`Even when they're open, the icons leave plenty of room on the
`screen for working on other desktop applications.
`
`For consumers, the new software tools may help in weeding
`through the information jungle.
`
`Businesses can license the technology to package and distribute
`their online content.
`
`But the real test is whether these new Web navigation tools can
`achieve critical mass at a time when many dot-corn. companies
`are going under. Their long-term success may hinge on forging
`alliances with larger content and commerce companies, Pidgeon
`said.
`
`George and John Kembel, twin brothers and graduates of the
`same Stanford University product design program, founded
`Sunnyvale start-up DoDots Inc. to give Web sites better
`packaging.
`
`In their analogy, surfing the Web is like trolling the supermarket
`aisles for lettuce, croutons and dressing. They aim to combine
`everything into a single bag of mixed salad.
`
`The dot.icons they offer are like those bags, serving up bite-size
`HTML code.
`applications written with the widely used
`Companies use the dots to package t heir content and services,
`and then send them out to users as miniature versions of their
`Web pages.
`
`"Album dots", for example, look like little album covers and can
`play music and store song lyrics.
`
`DoDots has agreements with about 30 companies, including
`Merriam Webster, advice service Epinions.com, technology news
`site ZDNet and online shopper mySimon. For now, consumers
`are limited to using dots from these companies.
`
`DoDots makes money through licensing, distribution and click-
`through fees as well as a percentage of sales by DoDots' partners.
`
`Snippets.com, a start-up in Pleasanton, has a similar service that
`offers a "drawer" of small boxes that flicker with online content
`at the bottom of the computer screen. Each "snippet" is a slice of
`a Web site from one of the 40 partners that pay to be in the
`
`http://www.sanjosemercurynews.com/business/top/049432.htm
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`Confidential — Outside Attorneys' Eyes Only
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`7/10/00
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`Tools turn browser into galaxy (7/07/2000)
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`Page 3 of 4
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`drawer. The boxes light up with a green exclamation mark
`whenever the information on the site changes, letting users know
`about new stock prices, for example. Users can customize the
`settings to view highlights or greater detail.
`
`For Snippets partners the drawers represent .a potentially
`powerful marketing pipeline, said Dennis Moulton, vice
`president of business development and marketing. They can learn
`the contents of each user's drawer, allowing them to send targetec
`ads to viewers, he said.
`
`Snippets' partners include CNN, ESPN and Yahoo Weather.
`
`Snippets had 50,000 users in May and aims to increase that
`tenfold by the end of this month.
`
`Another company attempting to change the face of the Web is
`San Francisco-based UBUBU Inc. Its Universe product features
`images of planets, sculptures and other art objects that sit on the
`desktop like bookmarks. The objects represent not only Web
`sites, but e-mail, applications and computer files.
`
`UBUBU's partners deliver content to Web users through
`UBUBU's icons. One of the 75 partners. is the TV show
`"Absolutely Fabulous," which beckons its online audience with
`icons of lipstick, champagne bottles and high-heeled shoes. Other
`partners include BBC America, the World Wrestling Federation,
`Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and actor Patrick Stewart.
`
`UBUBU Chief Executive Brian Backus, a former producer for
`Disney Interactive, said the tool was born out of his "frustration
`at having to stare at an ugly computer screen all day."
`
`"We're all living off a system of Windows designed for
`professionals and engineers transmitting facts and numbers," he
`said. "It's bad at representing other parts of human experience."
`
`Aimed at the youth market, UBUBU lets people transform what's
`on their computer into a "personal cyber solar system" with
`planets that lead to cities, buildings and even rooms.
`
`In September, UBUBU plans to promote a Web-based "public
`universe" by offering a tool set for anyone to construct their own
`planet and disseminate it on the Internet. Backus envisions a Web
`in which a search for "gourmet food" might bring up a Wolfgang
`Puck planet, or a search for "politics" might lead to Ralph
`Nader's planet.
`
`"We believe for the Web to ever become a true worldwide mass
`
`http://www.sanjosemercurynews.com/business/top/049432.htm
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`Confidential — Outside Attorneys' Eyes Only
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`7/10/00
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`DODOTS0026230
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`Tools turn browser into galaxy (7/07/2000)
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`Page 4 of 4
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`medium, it needs to speak as most people do," Backus said.
`"Pictures are a global language." The challenge for companies
`offering software tools beyond the browser is that people may not
`want to spend time to learn a completely different system, notes
`Pidgeon.
`
`Contact Kristi Heim at kheim@simercury.corn or (408)920-5025.
`
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`http://www.sanjosemercurynews.com/business/top/049432.htm
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`Confidential — Outside Attorneys' Eyes Only
`
`7/10/00
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`DODOTS0026231
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