Will the Web Ever Really Work?

Final lesson: The Net has become invaluable, but it's far from foolproof.

One day I grew tired of receiving paper statements from my stockbroker, so I signed up to receive e-statements. Two months later, my physical mailbox was still clogged and I hadn't received a single e-statement. When I called my stockbroker, however, the man who answered said, "Looks like everything is okay." So why was I staring at yet another paper statement instead of reading it online?

There was no ready explanation. Some statements started appearing online shortly after I made that phone call, but another service I signed up for, e-mail notification of online trades, has yet to function. Overall, I'm not surprised--and what does that say about the Web?

Accept Mediocrity?

The Web is essentially one huge software application. When was the last time you used software that was bug-free and never crashed? (Microsoft Word just suggested that I replace the word does in the previous paragraph with doe.)

Ever since the first time a credit card number was inadvertently revealed online, we've known the Web is prone to errors. And I don't envision a day when the Web works perfectly.

But is near-perfection too much to ask for? If the Web were a one-way medium like cable TV, I could overlook the occasional glitch. But the Web is two-way. I hand over everything from my address to my credit card number in return for goods and services. The systems behind these exchanges had better work as advertised, or I'm going to stop using them.

People use the Web as a tool in their daily lives. Since the tool isn't perfect, they must use it carefully and learn from their experiences. Here are some of mine:

I've started to pay bills with Yahoo's BillPay, and I've been moving my bills online slowly because I fully expect more occurrences like last month's: My online utility bill never showed up. BillPay was still researching the problem after the due date had passed. Fortunately, the utility company won't stop mailing bills to me, so my credit rating is still intact.

My poor father. All he wanted to do was download McAfee VirusScan to get rid of an infection, but the site kept telling him to enable cookies. We made sure that cookies were enabled, but the file still wouldn't download. That didn't stop the company from charging my dad's credit card three times, however. I told him to go to the CompUSA store up the street.

I signed up for Yahoo Alerts to get news flashes. It was an invaluable service for about five months. Then alerts started mysteriously disappearing for weeks at a time. I had to sign up for alerts from CNN.com to keep my bases covered.

I love Upromise to death (see October 2001's Web Savvy, "One Web Freebie That Could Pay Off Big"). I have saved hundreds of bucks for my boys' college education through Upromise's rebate program. But the system doesn't always work. I've occasionally had to e-mail the company and produce receipts showing that I deserved a cash rebate. I'll never give up on this service, but I'm tired of monitoring my account to make sure I get my contributions.

The Web is a terrific invention--one I'll always use. It is also very young and still needs years to develop. Heck, I've got offline companies that continue to bill me for services I paid for months ago. Nothing is perfect, but here's hoping the Web comes closer to fulfilling its promise of being a faster, easier, more convenient, and more private way of doing things.

Brad Grimes is a contributing editor for PC World. Click here to see past Web Savvy columns.

Farewell: Gimme a Ticket Home

It's time to take a bow and bid so long to Web Savvy readers. It's been a pleasure navigating the Web with you, but this is the last time this column will appear in this magazine. Although Web Savvy is going away, rest assured that PC World will continue covering new, cool, and useful sites throughout its pages. Stay savvy.