Since Unleashing the Killer App was first published, the speed and the energy behind the development of the Internet economy have amazed us. At the same time, we have observed much motion mistaken for progress. As Nicholas Negroponte might say, hyperbole and understatement still walk hand in hand. Many features of the new landscape are evolving- some would say mutating- rapidly. The companies that illustrated our twelve killer app design principles have continued to adapt, some successfully and others not. Some have grown into household brands. Others have evaporated into the ether. Some have merged and morphed into whole new forms of e-business. And some, mere gleams in their founders' eyes when we finished our manuscript, have emerged as multibillion dollar enterprises, testaments to the fertile ground and the rapid pace of innovation. These realignments in some of our case studies led one reader to comment recently, "This book is so 1997." (He gave us only two stars.) Ouch. However, some elements- the most important ones- remain the same. The framework that we provide in this book will still help you develop a winning business strategy for the digital age. After all, Moore's Law of ever-cheaper computing continues apace: For example, an engineering student has developed a 49 cent World Wide Web server, and Sony's PlayStation II, a game computer, features a processor three times more powerful than a Pentium III. The digital economy's primary killer app effect continues to be its power to reduce transaction costs. Consider the rise of exchanges for trading everything from propane gas to energy credits, or the consumer-to-consumer auction house eBay, whose members now account for over 20 percent of all person-to-person package shipments in the U.S., up from 0 percent two years ago. Since publication, we have worked with dozens of traditional businesses trying to make the transition. We have learned a great deal about digital strategy in practice. Forming great ideas is easy, while finding and retaining the right kind of people to implement them is nearly impossible. Creating a Web site is also relatively simple, but designing a sustainable business behind it is not. Leveraging the assets of market leaders makes good business sense, but doing so from within the existing organization makes no sense whatsoever. To keep up with our latest thinking, be sure to visit us at www.killer-apps.com. And stay tuned. — Larry Downes & Chunka Mui, December 1, 1999