Rough Drafts

The Washington Post published a nice history of B2B e-commerce this week, tracing its roots back to EDI: B2B: Almost as Old as the Internet

A panel at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference agreed: Broadband opens a can of security worms for unsophisticated home users. Panel: Broadband security threat no exaggeration

Web sites are becoming obsolete, as I’ve long argued. This article by Harvard Business Review editor Nicholas G. Carr makes the point convincingly. He points single-function applications like Napster, interactive email tools like Zaplets, and mobile/wireless commerce tools — all of which utilize the

The U.S. Commerce Dept. has launched a site to help small and midsize businesses in the U.S. break into global commerce. The site features research, multimedia webcasts, and a virtual exchange where businesses can get leads from overseas companies looking for products or services. Also, the site is

Six old-school, high-culture institutions, including Columbia University and the London School of Economics, are teaming up to cash in on the Internet-based-education trend. Their new site, called Fathom, will “will seek to address one of the most serious weaknesses of the Internet, its founders sai

Business portals fall short of actual CEOs’ expectations, according to this Inc. Magazine story. “In general, the sites’ level of sophistication was far below what most heads of growing companies could really use. ” Managing by the Web

Yet another retail exchange. Hey, guys? B2B exchanges are supposed to unite markets, not fragment them. How about teaming up with Sears, or Wal-Mart, both of which also recently launched big retail exchanges? Retailers to form trading exchange

It may sound obvious, but a new study shows that the single most important factor for online profitability is customer loyalty — getting customers to come back regularly. In fact, most online retailers lose money on one-time shoppers. To earn customers’ loyalty, the study’s authors recommend, treat

Fifteen big gas and electric companies are hiring PriceWaterhouseCooper to build them an online energy exchange, slated to be ready by the end of this year. No indication of how they plan to deal with existing energy exchanges, such as Altra, which are already ahead of them be a year or more. Utilit

Career shortcut: In a hurry to get on the Internet bandwagon? No time to figure out what you can do? The Monster.com Dotcom Job Converter will tell you exactly how to transform yourself from some useless old-economy role like “Teacher” into a way-new-economy position like “Internet Trainer.” Just pi

Some progress: Now two patent officers will review applications for online business method patents, instead of just one. U.S. to revise Net patent process

Odd lots go online: “Exclude autos on one side and fresh vegetables on the other side, and we’ll sell everything in between,” touts company chief executive Ken Frieze. – Online exchange reinvents the closeout sale