THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING

By JOSHUA QUITTNER

Online, they used to say, content is king. But anyone who visited the Internet World trade show in New York City last week could see that's a lie. Downstairs, in the peasant quarters of the Javits Convention Center, lots of struggling Web publishers huddled in drab booths and unadorned stalls, lonely as Maytag repairmen. Who among them could afford to rent a place on the ground floor?

Upstairs, the digital aristocracy was on parade. IBM, Compaq, the company formerly known as Bell Labs. There was Microsoft in a sprawling "pavilion," surrounded by legions of loyal affiliates. Next door, Sun Microsystems occupied a comparable fortress, flanked by scores of its own Java-fueled, death-to-Microsoft freedom fighters.

They dominated the ground floor, these fat companies that have made fortunes in the information industry. And everywhere you heard the same story: thanks to "E-commerce"--selling goods and services on the Web--their business is exceeding the rosiest expectations.

Now, I don't mean to whine, but what about me? Lots of people used to believe that the Net would be a renaissance for writers and artists and even journalists. But what it really is, it turns out, is an electronic Yellow Pages, an interactive card catalog, a mall without a parking lot.

So I sought out Michael Dell, the 32-year-old founder of Dell Computers, to find out if there was any hope for us content folks. Surely he would know: his company sells an astonishing $3 million worth of PCs over the Web every day. "We've had days in the heat of Christmas rush that hit $6 million," he says, without a hint of shame. He estimates his $12 billion company will sell $1 billion worth of machines over the Net by year's end, half of them to home users.

Which isn't to say that only computer stuff is selling online. Millions of people are buying airplane tickets and books and cars and all manner of CDs. iQVC, the online arm of the home-shopping channel, moves $100,000 worth of tchotchkes a day over the Web. International Data Corp. estimates that shoppers will spend $8.5 billion online this year (and $155 billion by 2001.) But Dell tops the pack.

This should be unsurprising to anyone who has followed the career of the richest billionaire in Texas. Since he founded his company in a college dorm room, Dell has made a habit of spotting trends when they are still mere suggestions. Maybe that's why his company's stock has jumped 20,000% since 1990. Four years ago, when the Web was just a strand, Dell made his first online purchase (a T shirt). The idea of selling computers online was his.

So what about content, I ask him. When will content be king? "Maybe," Dell suggested gently, "the content is commerce." The king is dead. Long live the king.

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