We have the technology. So why do so many businesses crash and burn when it comes to launching successful e-business strategies? Why do flashy web sites send customers to a 1800 number that can be accessed only during "normal" business hours? Why do executives who market toys and games refuse to listen to their own children? According to IBM's Internet guru, John Patrick, it's all about attitude. Our inability to harness the full power of the Internet has much less to do with the technology itself than with the cultural and psychological barriers that straitjacket our thinking about it. In Net Attitude he reveals the strategies, and more important, the mindset, that will allow you and your company to flourish in the age of connectivity. Drawing from a wide range of examples from the worlds of business, technology, politics, education, and popular culture, Patrick explores the profound implications of adopting an Internet attitude and how it will transform you and your business.Net Attitude emanates from the grassroots thinking that was part of the evolution of the Internet itself. It is hard to describe but you will know it when you see it. Young people tend to have it but it is not really an age thing. An increasing number of seniors have it too. The masses of people in the middle layers of large organizations often don't have it. It is not that there is something wrong with them as people; it is just that the bureaucracies of large organizations have shielded them from the new way of thinking and in some cases Darwinian instincts have caused them to bring up their own shields." For any e-business strategy to succeed these days, says John Patrick, those behind it must take an informed and confident stance on the Internet and all it can accomplish. Such an attitude is probably more important now, in fact, than it was at the opening of the online revolution. And Patrick ought to know: as vice president of Internet Technology at IBM and a founding member of the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT, he's been involved in the cyberworld throughout its brief but heady existence. Net Attitude lays out his vision for the future of the medium, and offers suggestions for preparing "your organization and the people who are part of it, as well as all its systems and processes, to take advantage of everything the Internet has to offer." He attributes those vast possibilities to the emergence of seven characteristics (Fast, Always On, Everywhere, Natural, Intelligent, Easy, and Trusted), elaborates on them individually, and ties them to developments ranging from high-quality video transmission to vending-machine purchases initiated by cell phone. Some may find Patrick's unabashed optimism a bit much for even an avowed proselytizer, but maybe that's part of what net attitude is all about. -- Howard Rothman IBM's vice president of Internet technology, Patrick adds to the proliferation of Internet books but offers a different spin. His is about "attitude." Net attitude is abstract and hard to describe, but, according to Patrick, you will know it when you see it. If people in middle management in large organizations tend not to have it, the fault lies not with the individuals but with the organization's bureaucracy, which has not readily accepted this new mindset. Having a net attitude in business is about preparing your organization, as well as its systems and processes, to take advantage of everything the Internet has to offer. Patrick's optimism is evident throughout, despite the failures of dot-coms during 2000, which he attributes to businesses not being able to segment their markets. Patrick's breezy style makes his recommendations and ideas sound simple perhaps too simple. The title may appeal to the curious and small business owners who have not yet embraced Internet technology, but this is not a necessary purchase. Bellinda Wise, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Patrick, the senior technology officer of IBM, provides excellent advice on how to prepare an organization, its employees, and all of its systems and processes to get maximum benefit from the Internet's capabilities. The goal of the book is to offer background and insight needed to adopt a Net Attitude, which is an understanding of each of the seven emerging characteristics of the NGi (the next generation Internet). He devotes a chapter to each of these characteristics: being fast, always on, everywhere, natural, intelligent, easy, and trusted. Readers learn that a Net Attitude means thinking about all business relationships in a different way, and Patrick recommends that companies use the Internet as a giant focus group. The author's ideas for survival and flourishing on the Internet in the future include an emphasis on communication to all stakeholders and improved customer satisfaction, with a 24-7 handling of outside e-mail and an e-mail directory with the e-mail address of employees and departme