Aardvark Daily aardvark (ard'-vark) a controversial animal with a long probing nose used for sniffing out the facts and stimulating thought and discussion.

NZ's leading source of Net-Industry news and commentary since 1995
Australasia's "New Economy" News And Commentary Site
Headlines | XML feed | Contact | New Sites | Press Bin | Job Centre | MARKETPLACE | For Sale
Note: This column represents the opinions of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
Logging On? Take a Packed Lunch 26 February 2002 Edition
Previous Edition

Million $ Ideas
At last, the contents of Aardvark's "million-dollar ideas" notebook are revealed for all to see!
Click To See
We all knew it would never last so nobody can be surprised that TelstraClear has decided to axe its free ISP service ZFree as of April 30.

Even though it was expected, the closure of ZFree is still bad news for the many people who have found free Net access to be the only affordable way to surf the web and I fear it may just widen the digital divide, even if only slightly.

Of course few of us will have much sympathy for those who have been making money by selling their free accounts by auction.

Need Cutting-Edge Copy?
As NZ's longest-running online commentator, I'm looking for extra syndication opportunities for this daily publication -- or I'm happy to write casual or regular material specifically to order for print or Net-based publications. If you're interested, drop me a line

ZFree's demise, or as TelstraClear would have us believe -- its metamorphosis into a paid service, is just further evidence that the once ubiquitous free lunch is all but gone.

Readers Say
(updated hourly)
From Yesterday...
  • jim higgens... - Bede
  • Why people love Macs?... - Allister
  • Singapore traffic... - Alfie
  • Emotive Reponses... - Matt
  • Singapores transport system... - Matthew
  • Have Your Say

    Bad news on the DSL front too, with Telecom effectively raising the price it charges ISPs for those customers who have a static IP number -- an increase that will almost certainly be passed on to users.

    I find it rather strange that, at a time when Telecom NZ keeps hiking its prices, British Telecom in the UK is about to announce that it will be slashing DSL charges.

    Further proof of the need to pack your own lunch when going online has been delivered with the axing of a free realtime sharemarket quote system Stocknessmonster.

    Meanwhile, across the ditch it was announced earlier this month that users of the NineMSN web portal will soon have to pay to use some of the services it offers -- and I suspect we'll see other sites following suit in the near future.

    Much as I hate to admit it, I suspect that unless there's a massive resurgence in online advertising, the subscription model is about to become increasingly commonplace.

    Of course there will always be free or ad-funded options to subscription sites but the reality is that, given the rising costs of production, these sites will almost certainly be "second rate" offerings. A good analogy is the difference between those free newspapers versus The NZ Herald or Dominion.

    Why is it that Net users have been willing to pay $30 a month for flat-rate dial-up Net access but unwilling to pay for content?

    Why is it that Net users have been willing to pay an annual subscription for print-media magazines such as NetGuide but unwilling to pay to read the same quality and quantity of content online?

    However, I wonder if the mindset of your average Net user is starting to change?

    The demise of free Net access might just be the final kick in the pants required to get people acknowledging that they're going to have to pay for quality online content.

    Of course there's still the issue of how people can remit payment for all this content and, as I mooted last week, ISPs could play a role here -- but that's not the only way.

    Perhaps there's huge potential for the creation of a new company which can act as a subscription clearinghouse for online content sites.

    I would envision this as a place where Net surfers could pay for all their casual or regular subscriptions in one fell swoop. This service would then track your access to pay-per-view or subscription sites and forward payment on your behalf as necessary.

    In the case of casual access, this would mean that you could have all your small purchases (perhaps as little as $0.05 per time) aggregated and pay for them in one lump sum each month.

    By virtue of having a large number of subscribers, the service would then be able to aggregate all the payments into a single remittance to each site each month.

    Any entrepreneur considering the implementation of such a system need not consider New Zealand as their only market -- this is the type of thing that could be operated globally from a local base and, just like Pay Pal, has the potential to turn into an incredibly valuable business.

    Of course timing is everything -- however, all the indicators are that NOW is exactly the right time. Any takers?

    ps: I know there are bound to be similar services already in operation -- but since I, as a content publisher, haven't been approached by any of them, I suspect that the market could be scooped by the one which gets its marketing act together.

    It's Still Free -- So Pay Up!
    Note: If you can't afford a donation, please check out The Aardvark Marketplace and visit the advertisers instead.

    Every month, Aardvark scores over half a million hits, at least 150K page views and delivers more than 6GB of data to visitors.

    All this traffic has meant that I've had to shift the site to a new server to ensure that your daily dose is always fresh and delivered to your browser with minimal delays.

    I also invest over 300 hours per year writing the daily column and compiling the day's news index -- all for your illumination and entertainment.

    If you haven't sent any money to help offset the costs of running this ad-free, 100% Kiwi, always fresh, often controversial site then you can give yourself the warm-fuzzies this Christmas by doing so now.

    Just drop by, click on the Aardvark, and hand over your loot.

    Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
    Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or page?

    Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

    Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

    Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

    Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!

    Latest
    Security Alerts
    MP3 Files Not Always Safe With Top Media Players (NewsBytes - 25/02/2002)

    MS server bugs open the door to hackers (ZDNet - 12/02/2002)

    IE bug allows full MSN Messenger hijack (TheRegister - 9/02/2002)

    Mac Office vulnerable, Microsoft warns (AAP - 07/02/2002)

    BlackIce Firewalls Vulnerable To DOS Attack NewsBytes - 6/02/2002)

    Latest
    Virus Alerts
    German worm makes PCs kaput (The Reg - 20/02/2002)

    New MSN Messenger Worm (NewsBytes - 14/02/2002)

    Klez worm reborn as nastier version (ZDNet - 13/02/2002)

    Bookmark This Page Now!

     

    MORE NEWS
    NZL Sites
    IDG.Net.nz
    NZ Netguide
    NZ Herald Tech
    PC World NZ
    Scoop
    NZOOM Technology WordWorx

    AUS Sites
    Fairfax IT
    Australian IT
    AFR Tech
    AUS Netguide
    NineMSN Tech
    APC Magazine

    USA Sites
    Wired.com
    CNet
    CNNfn Tech
    TechWeb
    Yahoo Tech
    ZDNet Tech
    USA Today Tech
    7am.com SciTech

    UK Sites
    The Register
    BBC SciTech

     

    The Day's Top News
    Open in New Window = open in new window
    New Zealand

    Open in New Window Plug pulled on free access
    The free ride is just about over for subscribers of Zfree, the country's sole non-charging internet service provider, which is stopping its service from April 30...
    NZ Herald

    Open in New Window Jetstream barely worth it - ISPs
    Internet service providers (ISPs) reselling Telecom's high-speed Jetstream internet service have been hit with a $3 a customer a month fee that some believe may be enough to make reselling uneconomical...
    NZ Herald

    Other

    Open in New Window MP3 Files Not Always Safe With Top Media Players
    A quirk in media players from Microsoft and RealNetworks could enable attackers to hijack Web browsers and run scripts on the computers of some MP3 music fans...
    NewsBytes

    Open in New Window BT 'to slash broadband costs'
    British Telecom plans to unveil big cuts in the cost of broadband internet services in the UK within the next few days, a company spokesman says...
    BBC

    Open in New Window Web will lose if Google hunts for big bucks
    How long can Google keep the good times rolling? It's one of the few queries you cannot answer by using the popular Web search service...
    Seattle Times

    Open in New Window Ireland becomes a land of tech opportunity
    Ken Maher built a promising career in Silicon Valley, but his native Ireland kept calling him home...
    Mercury

    Open in New Window Chief: ICANN Needs an Overhaul
    Leaving governments out of the ICANN decision-making process may have been a good idea, but it doesn't work, says the board's president...
    Wired

    Australia

    Open in New Window Net package for NSW public schoolies
    Internet access, e-mail accounts and personal Web pages will be progressively rolled out to 1.2 million NSW public school students by June 2003, in what is being touted as one of the largest projects of its kind in the southern hemisphere...
    ZDNet

    Open in New Window Net bank fraud inevitable: expert
    CONSUMERS have unreasonable expectations about the security of data online, according to an e-commerce legal specialist...
    Australian IT

    Other

    Open in New Window Lycos Fee-Based Search Does Not Taint Rank
    Terra Lycos today joined other Internet companies trying to make up for massive advertising revenue losses by charging Web sites money for special search services....
    NewsBytes

    Open in New Window MS warns of 'critical' flaws
    Microsoft sounds the alert for security glitches in Internet Explorer, XML handling software, SQL Server and Commerce Server that could allow hackers to read files off victims' PCs or to crash servers. It's already issuing patches...
    ZDNet

    Open in New Window Steve Gibson invents broken SYNcookies
    He dares to call it "GENESIS" (Gibson's ENcryption-Enhanced Spoofing Immunity System). He dares to call it "Beautiful and Perfect...
    The Register

    Open in New Window Why Consumers Are Not Buying M-Commerce
    Despite an onslaught of marketing hype, consumers remain cool to the idea of shopping via their mobile phones and wireless handheld devices...
    NewsFactor

    Open in New Window Intel Unveils Powerful New Xeon Server Processors
    Intel Corporation has unveiled powerful Xeon server processors that feature new architecture and technology. According to the company, the new processors can boost performance up to 80 percent over current Intel-based systems...
    NewsFactor


    Looking For More News or Information?

    Google
    Search WWW Search Aardvark

    Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2001, Bruce Simpson, republication rights available on request

    jet engine page