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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my loving wife, Joanne. Her tolerance enabled me to
find time to work on the book without taking a leave of absence.
Forward
By Stewart Alsop
Tude. Attitude. Attitude is everything! At some level, I believe, attitude is
everything anywhere in life. But, for sure, attitude is everything when it comes to
the Internet. And that’s what this book is about. Internet Attitude.
I’ve known John Patrick for a long time, since before the Internet came along,
back when he was just an IBM executive. I remember that even back then he
was good at “business development” -- that meant he got out of the office and
talked to other people including both customers and people who worked for other
computer companies. Perhaps because he was a good schmooze artist and a
smart guy, he saw the possibilities of the Internet early on. (If he hasn’t told you
somewhere else in the book, go visit his website at IBM:
http://www.ibm.com/patrick, where you can find out a lot more.) Anyway legend
has it that he got involved in the Internet so early that he ended up having the
IBM Web server under his desk. He was among the prime movers inside IBM
who recognized that the company should be visibly involved with the Internet and
evangelized the use of the Internet to the rest of the company. IBM, of course,
had been involved in the development of the Internet itself, mostly in its research
labs. But its research labs were often isolated from the mainstream of the
company’s real business: serving customers. Patrick was the guy who got the
Internet to become part of the company’s business. (He ended up as Vice
President of Internet Technology for the whole corporation.)
All of that was attitude. Patrick has a lot of it himself. Odd, since IBM wasn’t
always known as a place where people with a lot of attitude survive and prosper.
But good for the company, because attitude is everything on the Internet. And
totally appropriate to have a guy with a lot of attitude write a book about Internet
Attitude.
Here’s the attitude. The Internet changes everything. It changes the way
business gets done with customers and between business partners and
suppliers. It changes the way we live and enjoy our personal lives. It changes the
way we get educated, manage our governments and public policies, entertain
ourselves, produce creative stuff, everything. It changes everything.
My personal experience: I grew up in the magazine business, mostly as an
editor. I love magazines. Magazines are toast in the Internet era, mainly because
of attitude problems. People who publish and edit magazines think of magazine
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