In Praise of Buying Information Online

OK, maybe you don’t want to admit it, but you recently purchased a Spice Girls CD from an online record store. Or perhaps a Stephen King novel reached your home recently by way of an online bookstore. In either case, you didn’t really buy anything online--you just ordered it there.

Buying means exchanging money for goods. The actual exchange isn’t complete until the delivery truck shows up. To truly buy something online, you have to order it online and receive the product online. Confusing?

Products that can actually be delivered to you over a telephone line are collectively known as information products. For example, a few months ago, I wrote about Electric Records (https://www .electricrecords.com) and Liquid Audio (https://www.liquidaudio.com).

These two companies have developed competing digital file formats that allow record producers to deliver full-length musical recordings over the Internet. If you come across an artist you’re unfamiliar with, you can usually listen to a sample online for free. Your favorite music can be delivered direct to your desktop with no need for vinyl, magnetic tape or compact disc.

Another information product whose popularity seems to be increasing steadily is the so-called electronic book, or e-book--a complete novel or work of nonfiction delivered digitally.

For example, if you visit Pulpless.Com (https://www.pulpless.com), you’ll find “Kings of the High Frontier,” the latest novel from award-winning sci-fi author Victor Koman. This novel is available only in digital format and only from this Web site.

While I’m not a big science-fiction fan, I am impressed that “Kings” has received praise from corners of the spectrum ranging from Ray Bradbury to Byte magazine. You can also read sample chapters online. Considering the cost is only $3.50 for the entire novel in HTML format, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to add this novel to your collection.

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If you’re not up for a full-length novel and would instead prefer to peruse some high-quality short fiction, you may want to take a look at Mind’s Eye Fiction (https://tale.com). This Web site offers short stories in a variety of genres.

One of the unique features of this site is the pricing structure. Each story is divided into two parts. Anyone who visits the site can read the first part of any story. To read the second part, you have to pay up. The cost is usually about half a buck or so.

But Mind’s Eye Fiction offers a payment option that doesn’t cost you a penny. Instead of paying to read the second part of the story, you can opt to read an advertisement and then answer a question about it. With this method, the advertiser picks up the cost and you can continue reading with no out-of-pocket expense.

What could be easier than going to a Web site, typing in your credit card number and downloading the software you need?

A number of online software stores offer this service, including e-Warehouse (https://www.e-warehouse.net). This virtual software seller offers both online purchases for fully functional downloadable software and online ordering for programs that are available only in traditional packaging. When you purchase software for download, e-Warehouse e-mails you a secret access code that allows you to come back and download software at your leisure.

While browsing through the e-Warehouse site recently, I discovered that I could buy Norton AntiVirus 4.0 for Windows 95 for less than $45, a competitive price. Buying in this manner offers two advantages: You get the software immediately, and you save shipping and handling charges.

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Another alternative to purchasing software products is renting applications online. The software resides on the publisher’s Web site, and you use it while connected to the Internet.

Intuit, for example, is making a slimmed-down version of its full-featured $39.95 TurboTax software available for rent at https://www.intuit.com/turbotax/ttonline/welcome.html.

U.S. taxpayers with simple to moderately complex returns can use the tax preparation software free online. However, you pay $9.95 when you want to print or file a federal return electronically, or $4.95 for a California tax return. Intuit files it for you electronically. You’ll need Netscape’s Navigator or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, versions 3.0 or higher, and Windows 95. (Intuit doesn’t have an online version of its MacInTax software.)

You can often find a trial version of a software program by visiting the publisher’s Web site. For example, Adobe (https://www.adobe.com) offers trial versions of many of its products directly from its site.

This trend toward online distribution will probably increase as people get faster connections in their homes. Imagine trying to download Microsoft Office over a 28.8-kbps modem--you’d tie up your line for days.

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A final benefit to buying information products online is the savings to our natural resources: no more plastic wrap sitting in a landfill long after your great-grandchildren have retired. No more trees being gobbled up to provide a big box for a tiny CD. You win and so does the environment.

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Kim Komando is a TV host, syndicated talk-radio host and author. You can visit her on the Internet at https://www.komando.com or e-mail her at komando@komando.com. Her national talk-radio program can be heard on Saturdays from 7 to 9 a.m. on 97.1 KLSX-FM.