Web Rules: How the Internet is Changing the Way Consumers Make Choices [Hardcover]

Tom Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2000

In the Web world, nothing will ever be the same. The Internet is changing the balance of power between consumers, the companies they buy from, and the social and political institutions they interact with. Corporations and institutions have only a small window in which to learn new rules of engagement, or risk being barred from the game. Veteran technology journalist Tom Murphy forecasts the changes to come in shopping, finance, media, healthcare, entertainment, and gadgetry. Supplementing his informed predictions are conversations with visionary business leaders such as Barry Diller, Andy Grove, and Jerry Yang.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Even before selling on the Internet mushroomed, books on marketing and customer service emphasized the growing interactive nature of the sales transaction; but now even distinctions between buyer and seller are becoming obscured. Murphy, an editor and columnist for CBS.MarketWatch.com and former correspondent for Bloomberg News, offers his own analysis of the growing power of the consumer in the age of the Internet. He looks at the growing demand for quality service, the changing media, improved communications technology, increased interactivity, and trends in retailing. He also considers the impact of the Internet on financial services, health care, entertainment, and journalism. Murphy then conducts a series of conversations with 10 news makers such as Yahoo! cofounder Jerry Yang, entertainment mogul Barry Diller, Oakland mayor Jerry Brown, and economist Paul Erdman to get their views on the impact of the Internet. For those who still might need it, Murphy provides a useful introduction to the expanding role of the Internet in our lives. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Publisher

"Doctors making house calls, the milkman coming to your door, and a dozen newspapers to choose from in every city. That's the future that Tom Murphy says the Internet holds for all of us. In Web Rules he details what this will mean for everyone from business executives and media moguls to professional people and the newly empowered customer."

---Paul Grabowicz, New Media Program Coordinator, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Dearborn Trade Pub; 1st edition (April 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 079313613X
• ISBN-13: 978-0793136131
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,447,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining, July 3, 2000

By 

Buddy Del Rosario "buds" (city of angels) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Web Rules: How the Internet is Changing the Way Consumers Make Choices (Hardcover)

this book can easily be read in one sitting. the writing style is quite entertaining probably owing to the fact that the author is a seasoned journalist. as the book imparts time and time again, the customer returns with a vengance as he sets the web rules of the net. with information readily available, the customer now holds the power. the book tells of how the merger mania has put the mom and pop stores out of business. how these stores really knew the meaning of individualized customer service. but times are changing and the forces of the new economy are upon us. now we have virtual malls and the customer is once again treated like a king. the book has also other interesting insights on the effect of the network economy such as its chapters on gadgets(mobile phones, bots), interactivity, finance,and medicine. it ends with interviews which read like a whos who in the e-conomy such as jerry yang, andy grove and mike bloomberg. although its a good read,for those who are more interested in making it easier for the customer to do business with you(customer focused strategies) you may be more inclined to pick up the customer.com book of patricia b.seybold.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WWW: Well Worth (W)reading, June 7, 2000

By 

Tony N. (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Web Rules: How the Internet is Changing the Way Consumers Make Choices (Hardcover)

Finally, a book about the Internet for the rest of us!

Web Rules explains in clear language what the Web really means to consumers and small businesses without a lot of jargon and condescending attitude found in most of what we see and hear about the Internet.

Let's face it, most of us aren't part of the vaunted digerati. Murphy's book provides the big picture that can help anyone catch up with the latest trends from the biggest thinkers in the field -- people like Andy Grove and Paul Erdman and Barry Diller.

It was great to see someone recognize that the Web is about something more than just another way to sell things. It's about millions of people interacting. This book is all about how companies and their customers will relate on the Internet. And about education, entertainment, information, democracy, choice and more.

Most Internet books only deal with the corporate point of view. This deals with the power of their customers (What a refreshing viewpoint!)

His conversations with the "Big Players" show that even they don't always agree on what's happening on the Internet. Their comments support the author's conclusions: that despite everything else you read about the World Wide Web, it's the consumers who will ultimately decide which companies succeed and which fail. In other words: it's up to us.

Not only do I recommend this book to any consumer (or business!), but I encourage readers to take that advice to heart. The customer IS always right!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars refreshing insight, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Web Rules: How the Internet is Changing the Way Consumers Make Choices (Hardcover)

Tom Murphy does a great job of identifying ways in which consumers are being empowered by the internet. It's a refreshing, optimistic look at how business-to-consumer relationships are being transformed by new technology. It's also a good heads-up for businesses targeting a new breed of educated, powerful consumers.