Wally Bowen, who runs a small Internet company in Asheville, N.

NPR: Will Obama's FCC Push For Internet Access For All?

Those on the front lines of networking, such as the telcos, Internet service providers, competitive local exchange companies and wireless operators, still prefer time-tested Unix as the operating system for networks. (Prediction: Cisco and Lucent may become the biggest threats to Microsoft over the next five years.) n Thanks to the Internet, small niche companies can reach mass markets in a heartbeat.

FORBES: Digital Rules: How Microsoft could blow it

The telecommunications giant is off to a good start, launching a low-cost, Internet-based voice service called Connect 'N Save just last month.

FORBES: Beyond WorldNet

It is a long way from the original dream of click 'n borrow, but then the Internet was never going to change business in predictable ways.

ECONOMIST: The hollow promise of Internet banking