Doctors show high resistance to internet bug
Commercial healthcare providers believe they are on the brink of overhauling the industry through online medical services. One problem: They forgot to ask the doctors. According to senior Forrester analyst Michael Barrett, busy doctors who rely on word-of-mouth referrals are unlikely to jump on the internet bandwagon, and many won’t even let themselves be dragged onboard. Doctors are interested in the internet only insofar as it saves them time, says Barrett; they simply don’t go in for the online revolution. In Barrett’s brief, called "Why Doctors Hate the Net," he reveals that most doctors aren’t even interested in using email to supplement their practices. That's in part because they fear email consultation could replace the more lucrative office visit and in part because, as one physician put it, "If I have to answer 30 emails a day, I’ll get no work done." Barrett’s findings corroborate a recent report issued by the American Medical Association which after interviewing 1,084 doctors found that 63 percent of doctors have never even been online. 

New Netscape browser, at long last
Netscape, the company that helped launch the legal armada against Microsoft, has kept mum about new products throughout the trial. In fact, there have been no major updates to Netscape’s browser since early 1999, when Netscape was acquired by AOL. That all changed yesterday, as Netscape announced the release of Netscape 6. The new browser will include a component called "Gecko," a lean program that renders the browser much more adaptable to non-traditional hosts such as cell-phones, pagers and other net appliances. The launch’s timing was synchronized with a massive internet trade show in Los Angeles; it was not, as many assumed, timed to coincide with Judge Jackson’s verdict in the Microsoft case. The new-look browser operates on an open-source model, borrowing many of its ideas from Linux. However, difficulties in recruiting the loose network of programmers needed to manage such technology hindered the project. This lag, coupled with the flight of executives and programmers that accompanied the AOL merger, delayed the launch for about a year.

European investors fall for April Fool's IPO prank
Beware of Dutch sites bearing IPOs, especially on April Fool’s Day. On April 1, Dutch financial web site lex.nl announced the initial public offering for Frite Air, a company that microwaves air particles, which produces a purified air that regenerates human tissue, stimulates brain cells and even cures depression. The company is a figment of lex.nl’s imagination, but tech-hungry European investors didn’t get the joke. Twelve hours later, $7 million worth of orders had poured into lex.nl, and not one of the buyers asked for details. Lex pulled out all the stops for their lavish practical joke, claiming that Pfizer, philanthropist George Soros and Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Paul Allen were among investors in Frite Air. Dutch newspapers unmasked the pranksters on Sunday, but that did not stop more orders from pouring in Sunday and Monday. Apart from the fact that it was April Fool’s Day, and that lex.nl is not a brokerage, Dutch investors also missed one more hint: Frite Air is Dutch for "hot air."

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