Durability

Apart from the immediate availability of information, another strength of Internet is its durability. In the physical world, the fastest means of announcing a product of an event is probably television or radio, by the daily press. But this information doesn't last, it is transmitted in a moment and disappears almost instantaneously. On the other hand, on Internet it is immediately accessible and can stay there for years, according to the site author's wishes.

Finally, information assumes a continuous aspect : you can stay almost permanently in contact with
your clients. Federal Express immediately realised how to take advantage of this characteristic : customers who have decided to use the company to send documents can consult its Website whenever and as frequently as they like to find out exactly where their parcel is. Banking and insurance services are two sectors where customers complain bitterly about a lack of information. On a bank's Website, a customer can request an online account statement in a few seconds, whereas previously he had to go to his bank and queue up to find out. In the same way, he can manage his investment portfolio efficiently and track its performance at the same time as his stockbroker (sometimes he will even receive the results faster : in May 1998, for example, the French Post Office's...