Against a backdrop of collapsing dot.coms, a plunging NASDAQ index, and more viruses than a toy store in school holidays, the Internet is in serious need of a new PR manager. But although the new economy may have lost its new car smell, the reasons behind the hype remain. The craze of the Internet, or what became know in the industry as “the new economy” captured everyone, in scenes that paralleled the Californian gold rushes of the nineteenth century. We saw the world’s savviest investors and entrepreneurs loose millions of dollars in a desperate grab for the earning potential of the new economy.

In 1999, Andy Grove, the President of Intel Corporation said "In some period of time, let's say five years, there won't be any Internet companies. There will be companies that use the Internet; all companies that will operate will use the Internet in their business operations, or they will be marginalised out of operations." What Andy was struggling to spit out, is that the Internet represents the future of business. Get on board or get out of the way. So why does the Internet make sense? Why has it been called a paradigm shift for business?

It removes boundaries – as consumers demand more products at lower prices, corporations are becoming bigger and more global in order to create the efficiencies which drive these savings. The Internet is a vital tool in this progression, allowing the seamless sharing of information within multinational companies and across the world’s time zones.

It educates consumers – the Internet has become a critical tool in educating consumers, by providing a gateway to consumer information before the decision to buy. In 1999 James Strachan, the managing director of Encyclopedia Britannica said: "We recognise that, with the advent of the Internet, we can no longer claim to the be font of all knowledge." Where an encyclopedia can’t tell you price of a new CD at a dozen stores before you buy it, the Internet can both quickly and cheaply. The power of product knowledge has shifted from the producer to the consumer, driving businesses to be more transparent in marketing and more knowledgeable at the customer interface.

It connects people – Special interest groups, minorities, businesses, consumers – none have been able to share information as easily as is now possible. A wheat farmer in West Australia can discuss horticulture with his American counterpart as easily as if with his neighbour. Share quotes can be seen in Kapunda at the same time a broker on the floor of the ASX sees them. The prize associated with sharing learning across traditional boundaries of time and distance is immeasurable.

It can be a better experience – No sector of business has been more dramatically affected by the Internet than the banking sector. Consistently in the most frequently hit web sites in Australia, the popularity of Internet banking is not due to the highest quality sites or the best promotion. It is due to Internet banking being a better experience than the off-line alternative. Why queue at the bank for 20 minutes and endure the fees that accompany teller transactions when the Internet is quicker, cheaper and much, much closer.

Of course, but there is always the possibility that the Internet is a passing fad, a craze that will disappear like Pokemon or the YoYo. Lee Deforest, a pioneer of American radio and amongst other things the inventor of the vacuum tube, said of television in 1926: “While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming."  It would be a brave few who would agree the same logic applied to the Internet.

The Internet will be a fundamental part of all businesses in the future. The drive for efficiency and productivity can only be achieved by better, faster communication, which is really all the Internet is about. More information, more quickly and more cheaply. As the technology to get on this superhighway becomes more accessible, the need for small businesses to embrace and utilise the Internet becomes more important. The power of the Internet to remove boundaries allows your business to operate in markets never available before. But with new markets comes new competition, and new competition comes the need for greater efficiency, and the cycle begins again.

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