Letters to the Editor: 10.03.96
On The Internet
East Hampton
September 30, 1996
To The Editor:
I enjoyed your article on East End Web sites ("Local Websters See the Sites"). The article compliments the sites that Peconic Online has created for the Hamptons International Film Festival, Photographic East, East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Gosman's Dock, and East Hampton Point. Peconic Online is proud of the work that we have done to represent the East End on the Internet, and we ap pre ciate being recognized by The Star.
Many of our clients have found that the Internet has been a tremendous vehicle that benefits not only their business but the area in general. We receive E-mail on a regular basis from as far away as New Zealand, thanking us for information that is available on our home page. E-mail has also allowed our Internet access customers to stay in touch with friends, family, and business associates throughout the world. Peconic Online looks forward to the continued benefits that the Internet will bring to our community.
Once again, thanks for including Peconic Online in your "Websters" article.
Sincerely,
CHRIS HALL
Hailed As Pioneers
East Hampton
September 30, 1996
To The Editor:
Congratulations on The Star's new Internet Website! Now in the esteemed company of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Time magazine, and many others, The Star can Shine for All those traveling the information highway!
While there's been much hype and criticism of the Internet, The Star's new site exemplifies the way it should be done - old and new co-existing so well, reflecting both The Star's proud heritage and the edge of today's technology.
As the owner of a Web development firm here in East Hampton, I was obviously pleased to see the article "Local Websters See the Sites," and I think all those courageous local businesses who have already put a site on line are to be hailed as the pioneers they are. They are making an investment in the future of communications and a way of doing business that will richly reward them down the road. Practically no business investment delivers immediate payback, but [they do] plant seeds for the future.
As the price of entry drops (and it is) and the availability of a stable, fast, Internet "appliance" (not necessarily a computer as we now know it) becomes a reality, probably within six to eight months, the growth will be explosive.
I do feel that the writer of the article was somewhat unfair as to the "static" nature of most of the sites. In some cases, I'm sure enthusiastic business owners put up a page or two and have yet to fully absorb the need to keep current, since, unlike a print ad which only lives a few days, pages on the Web are there until changed.
By and large, though, the excellent sites hosted by Hamptons Online (42 listed in its directory) are interesting, dynamic places to visit and offer an excellent taste of their sponsors' places of business. And they are offering a taste of the Hamptons to Web visitors all over the country and many in foreign countries.
The Internet offers the capability today to retrieve information on any subject you can think of, from libraries and publications located most anywhere in the world. One can only imagine the resources our children will have at their disposal as they begin their careers.
Last fall, in the tiny (pop. 1,650) town of Lusk, Wyoming, a forward-thinking Mayor in a dying town rewired the community and offered high-speed Internet access to everyone who wanted it. It kept at least three large employers from moving out, instead remaining there and prospering owing to the new communications avenue.
East Hampton faces no such threat, but, as we embrace the future, we will maintain the essence of our beloved town only as local businesses prosper and so-called "big business" is kept at a suitable scale. So let's encourage progress, albeit carefully monitored.
In these times, opportunity no longer knocks, it blows right by.
MARSHALL BARRETT
At One Inc.
First Website
Sag Harbor
September 30, 1996
To The Editor:
I read the article on the Internet. I have been intrigued by the possibilities of the World Wide Web for many years. George Heine Realty was the first real estate company to create a Website in the Hamptons - http://www.peconic.net/realty/hamptons/heine/ .
When we discussed the creation of our site with Peconic Online, I was uncertain that it would yield immediate results. I am pleased to report that, within six months of its debut on the Web, we sold a home that was found by Web browsers from the outside area.
The consistent quality of Peconic Online's presentation of our marketing program has reaped a positive flow of information from clients and customers. I am happy to say that the decision to advertise on the Internet has been a profitable one.
Thank you,
GEORGE HEINE
The Hamptons Web
Amagansett
September 30, 1996
Dear Mrs. Rattray:
I read with great interest Irene Silverman's front page article on the Internet in the Hamptons entitled "Local Websters See the Sites" (Sept. 26), and I congratulate The East Hampton Star on its very attractive new Website.
However, early into the article, I began to be concerned by the lack of any mention of the Hamptons Web. The Hamptons Web is certainly the oldest and largest Hamptons-related site on the Internet.
Although both Peconic Online and Hamptons Online had been offering excellent on-line services to the area, they became Internet providers quite a while after they had become general on-line providers. When these two services entered the world of the Internet, I met with Chris Hall and Ray Sanchez of Peconic Online, as well as Bob Florio of Hamptons Online, to introduce myself and to welcome them onto the still-very-young and exciting Internet. Both Peconic Online and Hamptons Online have created very fine Websites, which I consider to be better than most of the regional sites which I have explored over the past few years.
The more I read into the article, the more upset I became. By the time I had read the entire piece and realized that the Hamptons Web was not mentioned at all, I was highly agitated. The accompanying box entitled "URLs of the Hamptons" also left us out.
After I had received a few, very upset phone calls from some of my advertisers, I realized that I might be facing a professional disaster in the making. I called Irene Silverman, who had come into my home several weeks ago to interview me and to research the Internet. She apologized, explaining that the article was supposed to be about local providers (which I am not), not local sites (which I am). I told her that the article had not left that impression with me or with my concerned advertisers, especially since "URLs of the Hamptons" listed only one provider, but listed 14 sites which were not providers. She then suggested that I write this letter to clarify the situation.
The Hamptons Web is located in Amagansett. It is not an access provider because it does not provide a telephone number for home or business computers to dial in. For dial-up access, Peconic Online in East Hampton and Hamptons Online in Southampton should certainly be the services of choice for anyone in the Hamptons because they are not subject to the intense traffic which prevails on national services, such as America Online or Compuserve.
However, the Hamptons Web is a site provider. This means that we, as well as Peconic Online and Hamptons Online, can host sites for other companies, stores, and services. And, in spite of Irene Silverman's statement that "no one to date has figured out how to profit from the Inter-net. . . ," the Hamptons Web and its counterparts make money doing it.
Anyone using Alta Vista or Lycos (major "search engines") to search the Internet for the word "Hamptons" will find that the first listing is the Hamptons Web. If they useWebcrawler, the first 40 listings are pages which are part of the Hamptons Web.
The Hamptons Web offers information about the Hamptons which other local services do not. Our Dining Page not only lists local restaurants, it reviews and rates them. No other local site gives access not only to local papers, but to other U.S. and international newspapers and magazines. We offer links to most universities in the United States. We have pages on local beaches, boating, fishing, galleries, local government, accommodations, nature, nightlife, real estate services, shops, activities, weather, and wineries.
Anyone with access to the Internet can see our site at http.//www.hamptonsweb.com/ . In describing the local sites, Irene Silverman says, ". . . the majority of their sites are static." We will let others judge whether this is accurate. I am disappointed that we were omitted, and I fear it will be a long time before The Star features another Internet article on its front page.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM R. SAGAL
Webmaster, The Hamptons Web
By E-mail
In Tern Language
Springs
September 27, 1996
To The Editor,
While I did admit that I was probably crazy to talk to the tern I was rescuing, I really didn't expect him to talk back to me! What I wrote was "he couldn't walk, couldn't fly" - doubtless he had a huge vocabulary . . . in tern language.
Sincerely,
EMILY COBB