Any favourite websites? The Financial Times is one, as is Tornado Insider. I also go to Red Herring for all the latest on the industry.
Are you happy with the way the net is regulating itself? It's still pretty anarchic and there are still a lot of poor sites, useless information and anyone can pretty much do what they like. So I think I would like to see a bit more regulation. I also see taxation ahead, although it will be very difficult for governments to work out a successful way of taxing the net.
Are any of the new platforms having any impact? I don't think that Wap (wireless application protocol) has had a terrific impact yet but it's all set to be the most significant platform for accessing the net over the next year. I think it needs a more advanced distribution system. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) will make a tremendous difference, as will third generation technologies when you'll be able to transmit video images to a mobile phone screen.
Is e-commerce having any effect on conventional commerce? I think it's denting it very slightly in certain areas. Even though e-commerce revenues are set to quadruple in Europe over the next three to four years, more than 50% of net users in the UK still do not buy anything online! Surprisingly, the biggest area for online shopping is groceries and women, who are the biggest online shoppers for groceries, but comprise a fairly small proportion of internet users
Where do you see e-commerce going? I think it's clearly growing in certain areas like travel, computer software and hardware, videos and CDs but there will be fewer players. The larger retailers and high street brand names will continue to do well offline but they will do better than the pure play internet brands as and when they decide to go online. They'll have a much better-known and trusted brand.
Do we suffer from too much information? Many of the online news and information sites are not always very focused. It's often not very clear what they're offering, for whom and why.
Are you a fan of gadgets? No, not really. However, I am technically literate.
Is the internet community any less prone to sexism? I think the problem starts when many women feel that the internet is about IT, which it isn't. I commented some time back that I do not receive enough requests for investment from women. Many women maybe don't have enough confidence to submit a business plan but also feel they have to have an understanding of technical issues or technical skills which they absolutely don't need to have. All they have to be able to do is articulate what they would like the customers to do on the site, what services they'd like to provide and what options they'd like to give. A systems development company would then help them put it all together.
