The curse of Netscape: January 18, 1999 issue of New Thinking

January 18, 1999 New Thinking:
The curse of Netscape

Website content management

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January 18, 1999

The curse of Netscape

By Gerry McGovern

Think back to the Internet of 1994. Remember how different it was then? Oh, so much has changed over those brief, five years. That old cliché is so true about an Internet month being like a normal year. Isn’t it? Come on, isn’t it?

Let me let you in on a secret: Things haven’t changed that much at all! Lots has come and gone, but the Internet itself has largely remained the same (except for a 100 million more users, several 100 million more pages, an explosion in ecommerce!). In fact, in 1999, the Internet is more like it was in 1993 in many ways, than what it was like in 1994.

This is not based on scientific research but from my experience anyway, there was more audio and dancing images and fancy things on the Internet of 1994 than on the Internet of 1999.

The Internet has gone back to basics, and there is no better example of it than the Netscape website. Netscape was cursed to be an innovator and down through the years, its website has carried that curse. In the journey of the Netscape website to its present point, lies an essential lesson for any and every Internet pioneer and business.

The lesson can be summarized as follows: Don’t give the people what you think they should have – fancy technology – give them what they want.

The Netscape website had the Internet audience in its grips and it let them slip away because it was more focused on technological innovation, than satisfying the needs of the people who visited it. Netscape could have been Yahoo, but it blew it.

The Netscape website started out as being a storefront for its products. Not a bad start. However, since for a period in 93/94, the vast majority of web browsers were Netscape, all of which defaulted to the Netscape homepage, it had a golden opportunity to write the book on portals.

Not alone did Netscape not capitalize on this huge opportunity, but because it was so focused on web gimmickry, it pissed people off and turned them away. Netscape invented the dreaded ‘frames.’ It introduced them on its website for a while, then took them off after enough people complained.

Netscape realized its website was losing out, so it decided to do a major revamp. One day I loaded my browser and lo and behold, my screen was covered with exploding windows. One hopped up, then another, then another, each one trying to outdo the other in fanciness.

Technologically it was brilliant. From a user’s point of view it was a nightmare. I was not impressed. Even though I felt a strong attachment to Netscape – I still use the browser – I felt it was time to lay my hat on another homepage.

Then recently, I paid the Netscape website a nostalgic visit. What? It looked just like Yahoo! So, the penny had finally dropped, and Netscape had realized why people actually use the web – to get information and to communicate with other people.

Netscape is close to my heart, and I will continue to use its browser unless I’m forced to change – and I wouldn’t rule that out. Therefore, I am very happy to see Netscape has gone back to basics, and to providing people with what they really want, not with what technologists think they should really have.

Gerry McGovern

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The Netscape website should have focused on providing people with what they really want, not with what technologists think they should really have.