
The Last Word                                 A WindoWatch Feature


                                      Web Surfing Anyone?
                           Copyright 1995 by Ben M. Schorr

If you're reading this column you are obviously already familiar with
the underlying concepts of on-line communication.  There has been a lot of talk in recent months about the future of the Internet, parti-cularly as it relates to the proposed $500  Internet-Box that some people are seeing as the future wave of Internet computing.

Until fairly recently, today in fact, I was one of those people who
firmly believed that in the not-terribly-distant future we would see a
proliferation of cheap boxes with monitors, modems and mice that we
would use from our homes, and some offices, to access and surf the
web.  Various applications being provided via the Internet on a subscription basis, perhaps even a link to your local Kinko's to do full custom and color printing of your documents thusly created.

However, today I ran head first into what I believe will be the greatest
obstacle to the Internet's success as a global network for serving more
than basic information.  In a word it is BANDWIDTH.  Yes, as I sat
here at my desk waiting for a connection to Yahoo...and waiting...and
waiting (and playing a spirited game of Solitaire while I was waiting) it took literally more than five minutes before I finally gave up and went to do something else, but nearly everywhere I turned I found sluggish response.  I have a machine well suited to Web surfing (a Pentium with 16M of RAM, accelerated video card and 28.8Kbps modem) but still I found the poor performance unbearable.  I certainly don't see people enduring that to receive applications or more than basic information.

If the web is going to be truly useful it has to be reliable and that
means that when you click on a link you shouldn't have to wait more that a minute or so at the MOST to get your connection and be ready to move through that page.

Now don't get me wrong; I use the Internet on a daily basis.  I send and receive E-Mail in huge quantities, I regularly go to Web and FTP sites to get information from vendors and download the latest patches and drivers.  But rarely is that a time critical circumstance.  If the
response is sluggish I can wait or call back later.  If, on the other
hand, I get my Word Processor from Lotus via on-line subscription, that sluggishness will be unavoidable and intolerable.

The critical word is  bandwidth.  We need to find and expand upon ways to deliver Internet access more rapidly.  We need to continue the growth of ISDN deployment.  In fact, those $500 boxes may need to have a $750 big brother with an ISDN connection.  We need to continue to develop more robust and powerful Web servers and Web server software.

Smart Design Anyone?
Part of the problem is that some web pages aren't very intelligently
designed.  There are still a lot of people using 14.4Kbps modems for
access and to force them to download huge graphics is to discourage them from accessing the net at all.  Even at 28.8Kbps there are some pages that take forever and longer to load.
The design solution is to use less graphics.  Keep them simple, don't
use every color in the palette and test your pages.  Insert Text Links for those who just want to navigate the page quickly without waiting for the 80K JPEG of your new office building to load.  Give the user the option of seeing the graphics or not.  When you test your page, test it with a 14.4Kbps modem and a moderately configured PC with just 8M of RAM, an ISA video card, etc.  Make sure the pages load
within an acceptable period of time.

More  Design Tips
E-Mail is a fabulous tool.  I use it whenever possible to communicate
with vendors and manufacturers as well as friends and clients.  It never ceases to amaze me that companies will deploy elaborate web pages with no obvious way to send them E-Mail.  Insert a link so that the user can click on it and send you a quick E-Mail message.  Make it easy to find, perhaps at the bottom of each page.

If you have an FTP server, consider having a README file in each
directory that gives a one or two line description of what each file in
the directory is.  Don't expect users to know that 121HGTP4.EXE is your company's latest video driver for Windows95.

Consider posting links to companies that provide complimentary products and services. Ask them to return the favor.

If you have a special section for limited access, make the process of
registering for that section easy and make the verification process
reliable.  A major computer magazine requires you to be a print
subscriber to gain access to their on-line forums.  I am a print
subscriber and after completing what seemed like an easy registration
process I was chagrined to discover that my numerous attempts to enter the forums were only successful just twice.  The rest of the time the system returned an error indicating that my username and/or password were incorrect.  Occasionally it will return that error before even prompting me to ENTER my information and then leaves me with no way to enter it!

I type this username and password pretty often, so it's unlikely that I 
could make that many mistakes on it.  More likely, I think that their
security measures are just unreliable.  To date, E-mail sent to that
publication trying to get the issue resolved has met with only a
lukewarm response.

The Internet is a great tool with a lot of promise, but we're already
starting to run ourselves into the ground with it.  As usage increases
and the graphic designers start taking control away from the computer people, the web is going to get slower and more cumber-some.  Prettier, yes.  But slow; and I've played about all of the Solitaire that I really care to today.

If you have any design tips for web pages or pages that you either love or hate, drop me a note at ben.schorr@bcsbbs.com-

Ben Schorr is the Host of the Ilink Consultants conference and the Director of Operations of Watson/Schorr Consulting of Canoga Park, CA . Ben's consulting practice keeps him very close to what is happening and being said on the street.
He is a regular contributor to WindoWatch.


                         ww


