Entry No. 131

IT Writers Awards

We will probably look back on these times and marvel at the strange, gangling, disorganised way we jumped into the online world. We're a bit like kids who've found themselves alone at the controls of a nuclear power station-there are lots of buttons to push but we don't have any real idea what the result will be.

When it comes to having a presence on the Internet, there are two main problems. The first is the sheer range and power of the things you can use it The second is even more dangerous knowing you have to do something on it, not knowing what or how, but doing it anyway.

A couple of years ago we'd punch www.sony.com.au  into our browser, half expecting that it would work: that there'd be a Sony Australia Web site and that we'd guessed the URL correctly. The smaller the company or the smaller its Australian presence, the less likely that we'd strike paydirt. Today, there's an expectation that just about every business has a Web presence. The trouble is, because we have that expectation, the company does too. The result is a collection of Web sites that look good yet have little or no substance to them.

But we've talked about that before. Today I want to discuss Web sites that could be accused of providing too much information, and causing themselves a lot of heartache in the process. Example: like a lot of PC Week readers I have the DVD bug, and have taken to buying the disks via the Internet. A few weeks ago I ordered a number of disks from Amazon, opting for the superfast DHL delivery option. This for, cost around $35 but as a once-off I decided to try it. It's as close to instant gratification as I could expect! (Let me say that despite the fact that every commentator has an opinion on Amazon, the level of service Is exemplary.)

I placed the order on Tuesday morning Sydney time. Amazon shipped it out of Seattle Washington on Tuesday evening. I knew exactly what time that happened, and I knew what time it cleared Los Angeles and I knew when it hit Sydney and when it cleared customs. I could even see that it was put on the local delivery truck in Sydney early on Friday morning. Then, over the next 70 something hours I watched it bounce in and out of delivery trucks, stores and bins in Sydney before I finally received it on the following Monday.

As annoying as it was, the fact that the parcel took much longer to move the few kilometres from Mascot to North Sydney than from the north-east of the US is not my point. My point is that much of my agitation at not receiving my parcel was caused because I knew to the minute what was (or wasn't) happening. When Amazon shipped the parcel it sent me the DHL airwaybill number, and instructions for tracking it on the DHL Web site.

By giving me an excellent standard of service at one level (the information about the parcel's progress), DHL had made a rod for its own back, exposing the terrible level of service on the ground in Sydney. The service it was paid to do it did poorly. The service it wasn't paid to do, it did very well. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the subject of how much information you should give on your corporate Web site. And for my sanity's sake, I hope Australia Post never offers a service where I can track the progress of every bit of mail that's coming to me.

Everything was going fine until the parcel reached the delivery van In Sydney. Then it took three days to move The last few kilometres.

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