On 15 Oct 98 at 10:58, Mark Rode wrote:

> However in this context portal is used to convey < web access >.

  There's a sense in which a browser and an ISP connection each
contribute components of "web access", too....

  Have you ever wondered about the term "home page"?  Sure, I can
create a *personal* page, but in what sense is it "home"?
  In the very earliest days of the web, a question that appeared to
be useful was something like "When you first start up the browser,
what do you see?"  The answer that seemed natural at the time was
that you see some page that is part of the current user account's
"home directory" (like much else on the net, the web kind of started
out assuming Unix...), usually local or on a nearby server.  Those
"links" pages you see around were the first attempt at a "favourites"
or "bookmarks" concept -- keep your favourite links on your home
page, or on a page linked to it.
  While the term "home page" has come to refer to a personal page,
most people have the "home" button on their browser configured to go
somewhere else (if only because there are more browser users without
personal pages than with...).  In fact, popular browsers come
configured with "home" set to a site provided by the browser
manufacturer, not the user.

  "Portals" are web-business-speak for sites that are designed to be
linked to the "home" button, to be the site you first see when you
launch the browser.  The theory is that if such a site offers a good
mix of search engine(s), services, custom content, etc, users will
*want* to start there every time they launch their browser -- and
this becomes an audience that advertisers will pay big bucks for
access to.
  That's the theory this season, any way.  I bet you won't hear the
word "portal" much past Christmas.

David G

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