14.1  SETTING UP SHOP

Back in olden days, oh, before 1990 or so, there were no markets in the 
virtual community -- if you wanted to buy a book, you still had to jump 
in your car and drive to the nearest bookstore. 

This was because back then, the Net consisted mainly of a series of 
government-funded networks on which explicit commercial activity was 
forbidden.  Today, much of the Net is run by private companies, which 
generally have no such restrictions, and businesses are falling over 
themselves to get online -- from giant companies like AT&T to small 
flower shops. In 1994, Home Shopping Network, better known for selling 
cubic zirconia on cable TV, bought the Internet Shopping Network, an 
online computer store.  Its rival, QVC, also has plans for an Internet 
service.  

So with an Internet account today, you can buy everything from computers 
to condoms. Much of this is being driven by the World-Wide Web, which 
makes possible such things as online catalogs and order forms.  To be 
sure, there were online stores before the Web took off, but the Web lets 
a company show off its wares, and logo, in an easy-on-the-eyes (and easy-
to-use) format.  And pre-Web efforts concentrated more on giving you 
limited access to an online catalog -- you still had to call a phone 
number somewhere to actually place an order.