Re: Swedish Websites

From: Brandi Jasmine <brandi_at_brandijasmine.com>
Date: Fri 10 Aug 2001 06:56:49 -0500

PETTERI PYYNY <webmaster_at_afterdawn.com> WROTE:

>Just wanted to clear this thing a little bit -- in
>Europe we _don't_ have (anymore, not for few years at
>least in countries I know) ISPs who charge for minutes
>used. Problem in some European countries is that local
>calling charges tend to be high ($0.03/minute or so)

I was actually referring to phone companies making
the charges per-minute, actually <g> - sorry, should
have been more clear.

>And AOL is not that big in Europe, not even the
>biggest ISP in Europe -- and people who use AOL, don't
>use their AOL browser very often, but use IE/NS
>instead (which makes a very different when you compare
>it to U.S. market).

Which may be another reason why TRIC could work there
- but not here.

One reason AOL does not work well outside the USA is
the "A" in AOL, BTW. What a lot of Americans (some of
them working doing branding for AOL, clearly) fail
to consider when marketing outside the USA is that the
people in the countries they are marketing to do not
necessarily see the USA as the centre of their
universe. I suggested "Canada Online" when they came
here and predicted they would never be as successful
in terms of marketshare here as there - so far the
market has borne me out. For much of the period where
I worked for Tucows Interative Limited, our little
independent local ISP was bigger in terms of
membership than AOL's national figures. Now, even
though our telecos and cablecos have a heavy amount
of US ownership (not total by virtue of CRTC
regulations) - they far out-market AOL in Canada. I
think the perception of "America First" in the
branding of that company has a LOT to do with that.
They just can't let go of it though. Just as well,
IMNSHO <g>.

In the USA they are clearly the dominant force, and
with the US government firmly tied up in their right
hand pocket that's not going to change in the
foreseeable future. Like it or not, no matter where
you live, the USA is the dominant cultural force in
the English-speaking Internet too - those are the
realities any TRIC-like program would be up against.

---

Brandi Jasmine - Writer, Photographer, Illustrator
www.brandijasmine.com - www.astrology.ca - www.twostar.com



Received on Fri Aug 10 2001 - 06:56:49 CDT