One such article by Ilana DeBare, "Earth to Internet Marketers: Time to tone down the type," featured in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on May 1, is not fully justified by the body of the story.
For instance, one source in the article, Craig Settles of Successful Marketing Strategists, proports that companies are shelling out large amounts of cash to establish elaborate web sites and not getting their expected return on investment.
However another industry sage, Larry Ellison, predicted that by the end of the century there will be more network computers sold than personal computers.
"Once you get to 90 percent penetration, lots of things change - the way we manage health care, our postal system, our economy and culture," said Oracle Corp.'s respected chairman.
Network computers are nothing more than dumb terminals that use the Internet to access large host computers with infinite memory and computing power.
Many of us, including Bill Gates, think that Ellison's prediction is closer to reality than Settles and the headline in the Star-Bulletin.
Assume for a moment that the so-called electronic revolution is a period of history more significant than the French Revolution. Can we ignore or dismiss such an event as hype?
Both telephones and televisions have virtually saturated the market. Imagine the profound social, economic, political and cultural impacts of having information appliances or network computers at home and the office that are as easy to use as telephones, televisions and VCRs (exclude the time-delayed recording function).
And if this is the reality of the 21st century, how will Hawaii fair on the Internet autobahn?
The recent acquisition of Aspect Consulting Co. by Microsoft for millions of dollars is evidence that Hawaii has what it takes to compete in the global marketplace by way of electronic commerce.
In addition, other mainland and foreign companies are gobbling up our talent and lucrative markets, another strong indication that Hawaii has what it takes to build a sustainable Internet industry here and to finally fulfill our promise, if not our destiny, to become the information hub of the Pacific.
To that end, "Building business between East and West" is a catch phrase or tag line that may now be fully implemented due to the realities, not the hype, of the Internet and WWW.
Diversifying Hawaii's economy by building high tech on top of tourism is our highest probability growth strategy for obtaining meaningful jobs for our citizens.
I can see this glimmer of hope in the eyes of many of my students, who have produced class projects that far exceeded my humble expectations.
It is fact, not fiction, that our famed Kalakaua Avenue is now the richest retail strip on the planet. Our hospitality industry is limited by the airlift in and out of the state; however, a super cyber mall spanning from Waikiki to Waikele has virtually unlimited retailing potential. This vision is repeatedly articulated by Randy Yeager and other leaders in the retail community.
Knowledgeable and successful marketers such as Ala Moana's Dexter Suzuki have not yet been hyping the Net, but rather providing similar advice to local merchants - i.e., first use the Web as a cost-effective branding machine, later on experiment with online sales and the many other applications that Oracle's CEO predicted will become commonplace and conducted with financial peace of mind.
Was it hype when John F. Kennedy pointed at the moon? I think that the Internet's growth rate of 10 percent a month, depending on the source, demonstrates that Hawaii can only dismiss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at its own peril.
If we do not unite and rise to this occasion, our children will be economically challenged for seven generations. Singapore, Silicon Valley, Southern India and many other locations will be turning the hype into vibrant realities, thriving communities and prospering careers.
THE Net is not going to go away. So we might as well use it to our best advantage by utilizing our world-class multi-lingual and intercultural retailing knowledge, skills and aloha spirit.
Electronic commerce is also easy on our beautiful environment, so we truly can do well by doing good.
As any worthy economist will tell you, there are always pros like virtual communities and cons like online alienation and isolation. Nonetheless, with our home and future in the balance, I hope the people of Hawaii will rally together for this worthwhile cause as they have done recently for our spectacular vollyball teams.