Articles by Chet Dembeck

When giant e-tailer Amazon.com announced Monday that it would be hawking everything from software to home improvement items, its stock shot up more than $13 (US$) a share, closing at $78 However, reality set in on Tuesday. By the end of the day, Amazon's stock lost more than 50 percent of what it had gained the day before.

Former Microsoft executive Karl Jacob has launched a Web site that allows people to hold private conversations via the telephone without having to share their telephone numbers Keen.com has become a marketplace for conversation that allows celebrities, experts or anyone else to list their qualifications and availability for chats at per-minute pric...

European online auctioneer QXL.com PLC announced yesterday that it has signed a deal with AOL Germany to become the premium partner of the online service provider To exploit the entertainment value of auctions, QXL.com said that it will also manage editorial features such as 'Deal of the Day' on various AOL Germany pages to promote the online aucti...

Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. skyrocketed as much as 40 percent in the company's first day of trading today, raising $5.47 billion (US$) in the largest initial stock sale in history Many industry observers feel that the price of UPS' stock is being driven through the stratosphere because the company is in a unique position to cash in on the...

Prodigy Communications Corp. announced yesterday that it has agreed to buy out rival FlashNet Communications for stock valued at about $120 million (US$) The acquisition will beef up the White Plains, New York-based online service provider's existing subscriber base of 1.2 million subscribers by 244,000 and give it more clout in the e-commerce aren...

Concentric Network Corp. announced today that it will begin offering Office 2000 software via the Internet in early 2000 Industry observers point out that this move, part of a pilot program launched by Microsoft Corp., marks the beginning of a new era for Microsoft. The software giant now appears to be quickly adapting to the concept of Internet-dr...

In an intensifying battle against specialized search services, eBay, Inc. moved last Friday to deny AuctionWatch.com access to its site The San Jose, California-based online auctioneer took technical steps to bar AuctionWatch.com after negotiations to reach a licensing agreement suddenly collapsed.

OpenAuto.com announced the launch today of an online marketplace that allows car buyers to use the anonymity of the Internet to research and price cars and strengthen their bargaining position The model -- which is currently under consideration for a U.S. patent -- is the brainchild of two former Autoweb.com executives, John Truchard and David Grah...

According to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc., AOL and Yahoo! have been slow to cash in on instant messaging as a corporate collaboration tool "As companies adopt IM for business collaboration, AOL and Yahoo! must surmount their consumer-concentric myopia," the report said.

According to a new study by Forrester Research, Inc., a shift in advertising dollars to the Internet will create a $27 billion (US$) shortfall in traditional media spending by 2004 While TV, radio and print media are currently enjoying a shot in the arm from fledging dot-coms trying to build up their markets, e-commerce is spurring the dramatic shi...

According to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc., luxury brick-and-mortar retailers such as Neiman Marcus are approaching e-commerce with a bargain basement mentality The report says that while the retailer has upgraded its site from brochureware to ane-commerce offering just in time for the holiday season, its site is definitely out of sync w...

Earlier this week, when RealNetworks, Inc. admitted that its software had been secretly gathering and transmitting personal information about consumers' listening habits, the company gave privacy advocates a big bone to chew on Even though the Seattle, Washington-based company said Tuesday that it would issue a software patch for users of its RealJ...

Online cosmetics Web site gloss.com's 35-year-old co-founder Sarah Kugelman has been moving at warp speed for months In March, the cosmetics model that Kugelman had envisioned in her mind for four years became a reality -- thanks to $4.75 million (US$) in seed money from Silicon Valley venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners and Matrix Part...

Last Friday, when U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson decided to delay the first phase of his verdict in the Microsoft antitrust case, I wondered how the hiatus affected the personal comfort level of one William F. Gates III. For all anybody knows, Gates may be such a cool customer that he is not worried in the least about the outcome. After all, Microsoft's extraordinary wealth and past track record have many believing that the outcome is merely a formality.

Last Friday, when shares of Internet technology company Akamai skyrocketed 450 percent in its Wall Street debut, the event confirmed what many industry observers already knew We need a faster Internet.

E-Stamp Corp. and Intuit, Inc. announced today that they have joined forces to provide Internet postage to the more than two million small businesses that use Intuit's accounting software Under the agreement, E-Stamp will be the only Internet postage service integrated into Intuit's QuickBooks desktop application. The multiyear deal includes invest...

Toys "R" Us, Inc. announced yesterday that it has signed a two-year agreement with America Online that will give it anchor placement in the Toys department of the Kids, Toys and Babies category in the new Shop@AOL Additionally, the brick-and-mortar toy giant's Web site will be promoted across other AOL brands, including AOL.COM, Netscape, CompuServ...

According to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc. traditional financial services that fail to reinvent themselves quickly will not survive in a marketplace driven by Net-powered consumers The report added that, so far, many brick-and-mortar financial service companies have failed to take the new challenges spurred by burgeoning e-commerce serio...

Autodesk, Inc., a maker of software for architects, is targeting the B2B construction industry with the launch of its new Web site The new site, buzzsaw.com, makes it possible for construction groups to share specification sheets and blueprints on a building, allowing them to submit and review ongoing bids.

It is being reported that major PC makers are responding to Microsoft's anti-trust troubles by busily working behind the scenes to develop a new line of Windows-less models In fact, some industry observers believe that Gateway, Inc. and AOL are secretly collaborating on a line of computers that won't utilize any Microsoft software at all.