VIEWPOINT: Join hands in the quest for 'Net understanding

<p>In this edition, MEDIA launches 'CReATION', an expanded section </p><p>covering the Internet and all that's happening in that medium. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>When we first started covering cyberspace in 1996, finding stories worth </p><p>publishing was like trying to get blood from a stone. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now, MEDIA's editorial team finds itself swamped under a deluge of press </p><p>releases and phone calls from eager 'Net entrepreneurs banging their own </p><p>drums. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Progress made by the medium and the industry surrounding it has been </p><p>nothing short of astonishing, given the fact that cyberspace as we know </p><p>it is barely out of its infancy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Huge amounts of money are being spent not only by marketers building a </p><p>presence on the Web, but also by those companies who make a living </p><p>selling the Web, whether they are ISPs, Web designers, website owners or </p><p>whatever. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Last year, advertising expenditure throughout most of Asia received a </p><p>massive shot in the arm from Internet-related advertising - in Hong Kong </p><p>alone, monthly expenditure in 1999 in this category had increased </p><p>10-fold by last December, compared with January. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There is no doubt that the Internet is set to make the kind of an impact </p><p>in our lives in the way that television did when it was first introduced </p><p>in the 1950s. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There is also no doubt that despite what may transpire on the stock </p><p>markets of the world, the Internet bubble may occasionally burst, but it </p><p>will never dissipate entirely. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So now it is high time that the advertising and marketing industry gets </p><p>into gear and makes proper efforts to come to grips with what the medium </p><p>is really all about, and how best to exploit it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So let's have less bickering, bitching, moaning and finger-pointing and </p><p>try, instead, to promote learning and share what little knowledge we </p><p>have about the 'Net. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Otherwise, huge opportunities for progress risk being lost as various </p><p>camps engage in petty playground squabbling over who's right and who's </p><p>wrong - and what a price to pay just for a fleeting moment of </p><p>superiority. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>