First off, let me say a few words for those unfamiliar with the Net Economy. Marc Andreessen and others here at Netscape Communications recently redefined Netscape's vision using that simple term. If you haven't read Marc's TechVision column on the subject, I'd suggest you do that. I'm going to give you a brief summary of the Net Economy here, because whatever kind of a developer you are, you'll soon find yourself playing a role in its development. 

The Net Economy, simply put, is the online global trading environment; it's not only changing the Internet, but it's also making fundamental changes to business.  The Net Economy is changing the Internet from a place where people go to find and publish information to an online marketplace where people do business of all kinds. People are creating, viewing, and sharing corporate data; buying and selling goods and services; managing systems; conducting financial transactions, etc., etc.--and all from the comfort of their Web browsers. In turn, it's making possible new ways of doing business and business opportunities that just weren't possible even a couple of years ago. Let's look at just a few of these. 

Take First Auction, who you might have read about in View Source already. First Auction is an online auction application that lets customers bid against each other for a huge variety of consumer items--consumer electronics, jewelry, kitchen ware, to name just a few--and purchase them at a (usually) substantial discount. First Auction takes full advantage of Netscape Enterprise Server and Netscape Application Server to provide real-time auctions for a great many simultaneous users. Not only is it a new use of the Internet, but it's also an entirely new business; true, there have been auctions for as long as there have been people, but I'm not sure anyone has ever successfully sold standard consumer goods at auction, at a price lower than retail. 

Then there's Oakley. Inc., the company that you might know from their sunglasses. Oakley recently worked with Net Explorer, an Internet professional services firm, to produce an online store built on the Netscape Application Server. The "O Store" sells replacement lenses for Oakley sunglasses; it also introduces a new line of athletic shoes that aren't available in standard retail outlets. When's the last time you heard of a someone introducing a new line of retail goods exclusively over the Internet? 

These are only two of a great many instances of the Net Economy that I've heard of lately. There are dozens more, most of them small and unheralded. For example, there's Narrowline, which connects Internet advertising sellers with buyers of ad space, makes sure that the correct advertisements appear on the right Web sites, and also takes care of billing and payment for both sellers and buyers--all over the Web. Then there's InsurePoint, an Internet-based insurance company. They're selling insurance in a new way (that is, over the Web); they're also helping small high-tech startups that previously had trouble finding insurance (including software developers and systems integrators) obtain the coverage they need. Finally, there's the ClarinetSpot, a small commerce site I found the other day when I wanted to buy some music for my son and I to play; I found the music I wanted and bought and paid for it in the blink of an eye. I also got a note in my email in-basket moments later confirming that the book would be shipped to me that afternoon. 

Some of the applications I've just mentioned aren't running entirely on Netscape solutions (yet!), but that's not the point. The point is that many business applications are already available over the Web--either in corporate intranets, through extranets, or over the public Internet -- and many more are coming online each day. As Marc Andreessen has said it, the Net Economy is at "flashpoint"--it's like gunpowder that's been heated to the point where it's about to explode. Netscape is poised to provide the software and services to fuel the explosion. 

You can do the same. How? There are two general ways for Netscape developers to take part in the growth of the Net Economy, and to reap the ensuing rewards: 

• If you're a Web application developer, you'll want to consider developing on Netscape's application platform, which consists of the Netscape Enterprise Server, Netscape Application Server, and the directory and security services that are part of Mission Control. Or, if you want to buy a prebuilt commerce solution, you'll want to consider Netscape's CommerceXpert product line.
• If you're building software to sell to application developers, you'll want to consider bundling any of these Netscape products with yours.

It would be naive of me to expect you to rush right out and do what I just said, based on these few paragraphs (although if you want to do that, don't let me stand in your way). You're probably going to want to make a complete business and technical evaluation of all these products. The best way to start doing that is to familiarize yourself with DevEdge Online and the Netscape Channel that's part of Netscape Netcenter, where you can get complete business and technical information about these products. 

You'll also want to join the Netscape DevEdge Application Builder program, as I said at the top; for a mere $995 per year, you get development and test copies of  Netscape software -- including the newly-released Netscape Application Server--for all shipping platforms, as well as two free incidents of technical support, co-marketing opportunities, and a variety of other services. The technical support is worth $600 by itself; the software together would cost well into the thousands of dollars if you bought it separately. 

Of course Netscape doesn't offer the only technologies that can help you join in and benefit from the Net Economy. To quote Marc Andreessen, however, Netscape ". . . software and services make it possible for businesses to build an end-to-end online architecture for creating and keeping customers, linking the entire supply and distribution chain with internal processes in a business. As pioneers on the Internet, we've got the experience, the innovative products, and the implementation expertise to help companies succeed." 

Join the Application Builder program. You get easy, inexpensive access to all these technologies and the support you need. And there isn't a better, less expensive way to work with Netscape in pioneering the Net Economy. 

P.S. Are you already helping build the Net Economy? Send me an email, and let me know about your online business application. We'll consider including an article about it in the new View Source Case Studies section. There, we publish technical profiles of innovative Netscape-technology-based applications that are helping to deliver the Net Economy. 

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Related Readings:

• Frequently Asked Questions: Find the answers to your questions on Internet technologies.
• Documentation: A library of technical information.
• Developer Central: Collections of developer resources organized by Internet technology areas.

Any sample code included above is provided for your use on an "AS IS" basis, under the Netscape License Agreement - Terms of Use