© Baron Tayler, Editor/Publisher/Head Cook/Bottle Washer
Vol. 1, Issue 1, March 1997
Welcome to the first issue of The International Cyberfarriers Sentinal. This newsletter is intended as a source of information, humor, and other odds and ends. It's primary focus will be to assist you in making the most of your time on the Web, and maximize the usefulness of the resources available to you in The Farrier & Hoofcare Resource Center.
Before this goes any further, I would like to apologize to you if you consider this newsletter to unwanted or undesired e-mail. I certainly do not want to bother or annoy you. If you wish to be taken off the e-mail list, please send a letter back, and write "No ICF newsletter" in the subject box. Your name will be taken off immediately.
A short update on The Resource Center: It is now receiving over 10,000 visitors a month, from an average of 60 countries. Approximately 40% of the visits are from farriers such as yourself, the remaining 60% from horseowners interested in hoofcare. Although no one keeps track officially, we now believe it to be the largest equine related Web site in the world, well over 2,000 pages in content. Pretty amazing for a site devoted to hooves.
****** Question of the month: "Why do I occasionally receive an error message telling me The Resource Center (or any other Web site for that matter) doesn't exist or can't be found, when I know it's there?" ******
I usually spend between 6 and 12 hours a day on the Web, so I see this error message quite often. 99% of the time it is the result of "Web Gridlock." Simply put, there's so much traffic on the Web that the system becomes overloaded. At some point, as your inquiry makes a "hop" from one Internet switching node to another, it hits a "wall" because the node will not accept any additional traffic at that moment. At that point your browser displays the error message. You best bet is to try again, and if you receive the same message, give it a rest for a while. It's not something any of us can control. As the infra-structure of the Internet is enlarged, hopefully these type of messages will decrease.
****** It was the year 1886...
and Richard Sears, 24 years old, had the notion that people living in rural areas of America, which at the time was the majority of the population, would rather shop for household goods, supplies, and other merchandise by mail, instead of having to hitch up the buggy and make the arduous trip into town. (That was assuming they lived close enough to a town to go there and return in one day.) Most everyone thought the young Sears was crazy. Why would a farm wife, located on a farm in the middle of Kansas, send money to some man in Chicago whom she'd never met? Did that woman really expect to receive the merchandise she ordered? No, everyone told Sears, it would never work. He would go broke mailing out his catalogues to strangers.
Of course we all know the results of Mr. Sears "craziness." Within 10 years he had established the largest mail-order company in the world, and became a multimillionaire. Why? Because he literally changed the way American shopped. He offered them something that no one had offered before: The convenience of ordering merchandise while sitting in the comfort of their own homes, and having the merchandise delivered right to their door. It was the largest single change to be made in the way Americans purchase things since the country was founded.
Until now. The Web, through the use of modern telecommunucations and secure encrypted technology, is going to revolutionize the way people, all people, go about their business. There will not be a single commercial transaction that will not be effected by the Web within the next 10 years. From banking to buying groceries, commerce has already started to move onto the Web. Already more used automobiles are sold on the Web than any other method. What is a relative trickle of online commerce now will transform into a veritable tidal wave within 5 years.
Even one of the oldest businesses on earth, farriery, is moving onto the Web. I'm going to concentrate right now on the Marketplace. Have you been into the Marketplace recently? Of the 15 manufacturers and suppliers currently in the Marketplace (a number that will most likely almost double by the end of the year), 5 of them are offering their merchandise to you directly, for purchase online. In terms of added convenience and use, shopping on the Web is as large an advance as the Sears catalogue of 100 years ago. You can now order practically all your supplies by simply pointing and clicking. The days of finding where the catalogue is kept, filling out order forms, faxing or mailing them in, or telephoning the order in, are going the way of spats and rotary phones. Time is money. If you have to take time out of your schedule to drive to the supply store, it means you're not spending that time earning money. Plus the cost of fuel, etc....
The beauty of online shopping is that the merchandise is there, 24 hours a day, ready to be ordered at your convenience. And most of the time you can receive a 5% discount. Security is no longer an issue. Despite what you may hear on the evening newscasts, (who have to try to report something that will catch your attention and raise their ratings), the secure commerce servers now being used, including the one in The Resource Center, are so secure that the NSA has issued an order forbidding the export of the encryption technology used in these servers. You have a much better chance of having your credit card number stolen by the waiter at a restaurant than you do by using it in a Web site with a bona fide secure commerce server installed.
****** Tired of slow download times? ****** I highly recommend that you visit the URL www.isn.com. I purchase most of my hardware through this online computer mall. Occasionally I'll find lower prices somewhere else, but in general their prices are rock-bottom, and the selection is unbelievable. Plus they're always running weekly specials. Their selection of modems is great. If you are not using at least a 28.8 modem, it's time for you to pop on over and check them out. For under $100 you can put one of these into your machine and spend less time waiting for the pages to appear.
************** Commercials ***************
DAYVON SUPPLY
Carrying a full
selection of farrier supplies
"If you don't see it, ask. We'll get it."
Visit us in the Marketplace
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THORO'BRED, INC.
Offering you our
full line of shoes and supplies, both on display and available for purchase
online.
Please check out our ad in the Marketplace.
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HORSESHOES 2000
Bringing you the
latest advance in horseshoes, the ATM (aluminum, titanium, magnesium) line of
shoes.
As light as aluminum, as strong as steel.
Visit us in the
Marketplace.
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FARRIER'S CHOICE HORSESHOES
We now have pre-clipped shoes available in sizes 0 and 1.
Packed in 25 pound quarter kegs, only $39 delivered.
Available soon: Rim
shoes and a shoe you will really like, the new "Performer."
A shoe
very similar in most respects to the St. Croix Eventer, except for its much
lower price.
The rims and Performers will be available in 25 pound quarter
kegs.
Visit us in the Marketplace.
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SIMONDS
A tradition of quality.
Providing
you the best farrier rasps on the market.
Please visit our display ad in the
Marketplace,
nd purchase our rasps in either DAYVON SUPPLY or THORO'BRED
online catalogues.
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I hope you have enjoyed the first issue. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please don't hesitate to E-mail me.
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