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As someone who has been deeply involved in all forms of new media for

the past four years, and who bores for Britain at every opportunity about

the future opportunities that it will bring to businesses and consumers,

I’m ashamed to admit that I continue to find the internet more dull than

exciting, and more frustrating than useful.

And like a lot of people I know who access the internet, it’s email which

still ends up being the thing I most enthuse about and use it for.

However, things are definitely improving as more and better brains get

turned towards taking advantage of this new medium, and as we all get more

experienced at what works and what doesn’t.

I’ve been particularly impressed with recent developments at Line One, for

example, where a combination of a redesign and an ever-improving content

line-up has made it one of the few places on the web that I try to visit

regularly.

But on the whole, my surfing still tends to be done primarily with a work

hat on rather than simply for fun. I am either researching information

about potential clients, checking out competitive sites or trying to keep

myself abreast of any new developments.

One notable exception for me was the Jagged Internet Works web site.

This was established by Mick Jagger last year to enable cricket lovers to

hear live commentary, by former Indian test batsman Sunil Gavaskar and

former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding, from big games being

played abroad.

I had hours of pleasure listening to the live commentary from the West

Indies while working (at BT!) and through its link to the CricInfo

site.

I was also able to access all the relevant statistics and ball-by-ball

descriptions of what I was hearing. Sad or what?

Of course, the downside of this experience was that to get this live

commentary going, I had to download the Real Audio software.

This was not, and is still not, easy for any normal human being to achieve

with any success. Fortunately, an IT person at BT came and did it for me.

He was also kind enough to help a number of friends who wanted to access

the commentary by giving them a step-by-step guide over the phone on how

to set it up.

Surely, the net has to be made easier to use before it becomes something

that people will instinctively turn to for fun and entertainment, as

opposed to mainly for information.

Because until it does, the net will continue to operate at the margins of

most people’s lives (excluding the IT guy at BT), even allowing for the

benefits of email and shopping online.

THIS IS LONDON

This is a fantastic web site that has stopped me having to buy either the

weekly London listings magazine Time Out or the daily Evening Standard.

The site manages to combine great navigation with some excellent content

about everything that I need to know or might want to know about London.

My only criticism would be that it doesn’t let me purchase tickets in the

Hot Tickets section: an omission which I hope will soon be rectified -

after all, many other web sites offer secure online transactions!

Web address: www.thisislondon.com

Developer: Associated New Media

CRICINFO

As a self-confessed cricket nut (recently retired from playing, now just

observing), this site gives me everything I need to know about Cricket

statistics, results and breaking news, as well as delivering complete

coverage during test matches. Heaven!

It also has an international area which allows me to scan all those

results and scores from the rest of the world which are inadequately

covered even by the major UK newspapers.

Web address: www.cricket.org

Developer: In-house

BARGAIN HOLIDAYS

Given that I suffer from a pathological hatred of the automated call

centres that most airlines seem to use these days, I find that I now do

all my checking about flights and holidays over the web. And for me, the

Bargain Holidays site beats the rest because while it might not look as

pretty as some other travel and airline sites, it is incredibly easy to

navigate around to find the information you need before going on to book

your flights. Although, once again, the real frustration is not being able

to actually book on line.

Web address: www.bargainholidays.com

Developer: EMAP Online

CAPITALFM

I’ve always enjoyed this site. It’s colourful and fun and lets an old fart

like me keep abreast of who’s doing what in the world of music. And recent

stories that Capital is setting up a linked music store in direct

competition to the high street stores will make it even better. The recent

addition of breaking news stories also gives it a dynamic, up-to-date feel

which is sadly lacking on other sites of this type.

Web address: www.capitalfm.co.uk

Developer: Capital Interactive.