But most firms use the Net for more humdrum tasks—recruiting, advertising, attracting investors and so on.
Still, the online market is small -- a 1999 survey found that 11percentt of companies use the Net for gift-giving while 71percentt buy directly from a manufacturer.
In part, that's because I do use the Net for research even as I'm writing (to check facts, or so on).
I'm reminded here not just of people with real, debilitating illnesses but of those who use the Net for political purposes, like Afghan women protesting their treatment under the Taliban, members of the Zapatista movement in Mexico and Tibetan monks protesting China's rule of their homeland.
Already you can use the Net for voice mail and get better than CD-quality sound.
But people there say that the combination of a lack of information, and rampant hunger has led Africans to use the nets for other purposes, derailing activists efforts to curb malaria deaths.
This usually means using the Net as a substitute for the record store or the radio.
Although there are issues in using the Net Benefit when accounting for costs and benefits over a specific time period, there are also issues in the calculation of costs and benefits for the EFLY.
"It's an accurate reflection of the increasing number of people using the Net," said Scott Brown, a spokesman for Mr. Spitzer.
