From the President’s Console: June 1999


Posted May 1999

My, how quick the world changes.

Just a few years ago we registered our domain name www.infonetx.com on the Internet and posted our first home page. And we were one of the early ones.  A few months ago we started designing and programming web sites for our customers.  Now we have nearly a dozen different domains registered and sites up in various stages of completion.  E-mail was one of those nice, but not very effective tools a little over a year ago.  But now, like people in many other industries, you (our customer) have been hooking up to the internet and getting e-mail addresses at record pace.  In fact, penetration of Internet access into U.S. households has reached the 70% mark faster than any other pervasive, new technology in history.  Faster than VCR’s, camcorders, PC’s, CD players or even cell phones.  For us, email has now become a necessary communications tool, providing a vital link to our customers and vendors.  When used correctly, it is dramatically more efficient than telephone tag or illegible faxes.

INFONETICS is happy to report that we’ve been able to help a number of you establish Internet access and begin using the web and e-mail from your offices.  Our PC/Workstation, Internet Access, and Proxy Server products have really struck a chord out there.  We’re even starting to see signs of wholesale switch-overs from cheap, dumb terminals to PC/Workstations.  It’s quite rewarding to see the hard work and evangelizing we’ve been doing about PC’s over the last few years start to pay off.  If you’re looking for the right time to jump into the Internet, it’s here.  We’ve cleared some of our backlog on PC/Internet installations, and are ready to take on more.

We’re also laying the foundation for more advanced Internet undertakings.  We’re finally building our own dedicated Internet Server with high speed dedicated access. Look for it to go online as we move into our new offices at the end of next month. This will allow us to bring web site and e-mail hosting services in-house.  From there, we’ll be able to offer more advanced web sites, simple electronic commerce programs, and eventually true electronic commerce integrated with your INFONETICS server.  My, what a different world it will be in just a few years.

I’d also like to welcome Steve & Jim at S.J. Welding & Industrial Supply in Memphis, Tennessee;  Buck at Arc Weld, II in Vincennes, Indiana;  and Boyce, T.J. and their group at Superior Welding Supply in Billings, Montana as new customers.  Welcome aboard!

–David J Frea