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Net Gains (Mar 05, 99) |
For those who were captivated by MP3s that this column talked
about last week, here's some good news: noted singer Tom Petty
just made available in MP3 format for free, a single "Free
Girl Now" from his album "Echo" which will be released
only on April 13th. Download the track from www.Mp3.com.
: The single has been removed from the MP3 site after the article went into print. However, there is a link to the Real Audio version there...
I remember the reactions of some of my management school classmates
when I mentioned that I was applying only to Internet companies
(only one came to campus). "Don't be a fool" ranked
as the most popular piece of advice I received. For those facing
the same music, a few words of encouragement for Web builders
like us come from Builder.com - in the form of 10 reasons to
love being a web builder
. It makes very interesting reading,
even if you're not into Web building…
No. 10: You can become rich and famous!
No. 9: You can patent your business plan!
No. 8: You can sell almost anything!
No. 7: You don't even have to sell anything!
No. 6: You can build your Valentine a home page!
No. 5: You don't have to be a programmer!
No. 4: Programming skills are still valued!
No. 3: You get to kick sand in the face of traditional powerhouses!
No. 2: You meet the most interesting people!
No. 1: You can change the world!
This week, we'll take a closer look at a few normal everyday people
who have started building and weaving the Indian Web in their
own little way, be it through a webzine (a magazine exclusively
on the Web), or through an information database to help others.
Thanks to the Internet, you no longer need to invest tons of money,
effort, resources and time to be a publisher. The only investment
you need is time, inclination, and an Internet connection which
is getting cheaper by the ISP.
Today is a new monthly webzine that was launched on 14th
February by Madhuri and Pranav Nadkarni. Catering to the valentine
fever, their inaugural issue has the history of Valentine's Day,
besides capsules on Java, humour, and a link to Comp-India,
another homepage by the duo which aims at computer related information
in India. The next issue will be up within ten days, so read this
one while you can…
Hues - Shades of Thought is another magazine launched in
January by Ruchika Joshi and Nitin Agarwal, but this one will
be updated once in two months. Hues was launched with the aim
of creating a forum to express views on just about every subject
- from humour to poetry and techie stuff to politics. And if you
have an article or two you'd like to contribute, or some thoughts
to share, they're accepting them online.
Cuffe Parade On-Line is a mini infobank about one of Bombay's
posh localities, and is the effort of five enthusiastic youngsters,
headed by Kapil Bhatia. Besides the customary information about
Cuffe Parade (or CP as they call it), you'll find information
on eating, shopping, health and personal care, education and more.
Localised information for the global village.
Efforts like these by normal individuals are what started building
the Net and will continue fuelling its growth. These three mini-sites
are a healthy indicator that the Net is starting to take off in
India, and in the months to come, there are bound to be more people
taking to, and using the Net.
A few words for people who are actively using the Net like our friends above:
- Great things start small. Launching is the easy part, maintaining is what requires a lot of effort.
- For personal publishing, genuine interest is absolutely necessary. Doing something with dreams of making money overnight won't succeed.
- Regular updates, high enthusiasm levels, and hard work go into making these ventures successes. If all the above are missing, instead of a website, the result will be a cob-webbed site.
Next week, we'll take a look at some sites that use the power
of personal publishing on the Internet to help other people and
foster community. If you have created a site or a homepage that
you think will be useful to other readers, do send them in. The
best efforts each month will be mentioned in this column…