CLICK AND DOUBLE CLICK: INTERNET PROVIDES GLIMPSE OF LIFE IN 2000 AND BEYOND AT VARIOUS SITES

What does the future hold for the Internet?

The dawn of 2000 will bring some incredible things both online and off. No doubt the Web will power new conveniences and services this year. What's in the Web's crystal ball?

How about on-demand home movie rentals over the Internet? Actually, it's not very far away. Check out MeTV.

www.metv.com

In December, MeTV.com introduced the first Internet direct to PC/TV pay-per-view movies. It will stream full-length, full-screen movies to PCs. They plan to have more than 40,000 titles.

As you might suspect, it will only work for people with broadband Internet access. At a minimum, you need a cable modem, T1/T3 or DSl line.

The projected consumer launch is June 2000, so perhaps they think consumers will have greater access to broadband Internet access by that time. Keep your fingers crossed.

There are a limited selection of 10-minute movie clips available for free now if you'd like to test it out. It appears you can run the tests with 56K access, which is more prevalent at home.

Have you ever wanted to go to the North American International Auto Show but didn't want to pay for the airline ticket? Here's your chance, thanks to the Internet.

gm.com

The show began Jan. 15 and runs through this Sunday. To fully experience the GM Experience Live at the show you need QuickTime and Flash.

You can check the live events and auctions, the concepts and show vehicles or take a virtual tour of the show.

In the division area, you can visit Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn. On the international floor, you can tour Holden, Opel and Vauxhall.

There are also lots of Web cams, so you can see exactly what's going on at the show.

How about concept vehicles? GM offers two interesting ones: a five-passenger electric car called Precept that can achieve speeds of 80 mph or the new civilian Hummer 2.

I'm sorry. I can't see families loading up the groceries in these very wide, souped-up military vehicles. But perhaps this is the future of transportation. Want to learn more about Hummers? Anything you ever wanted to know, you can find at

hummer.com

The Hummer first began making its mark on the U.S. military about 20 years ago. The Army wanted a "High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle" or HMMWV, which eventually became Hummer. The specs were that these vehicles could go anywhere and last a minimum of 12 years in the most unforgiving conditions.

I'm sure families would benefit from a vehicle that was designed to be dropped by parachute and picked up by helicopter. Maybe that means it's kidproof.

There's even a list of celebrity owners. Hey, if Bruce Willis and Ted Turner own one, why not you? Well, perhaps because you're not a millionaire. If you want a closer look, you'll find 3-D spins and screensavers in the gallery.

What else is ahead in the future of the Internet? We talked a few weeks ago about places that offer free storage on the Internet. The newest trend are places that offer a free virtual desktop. This way you have instant access, via the Internet, to facts and files back at the office.

www.zxmail.com

ZXMail offers you a virtual desktop while you're on the road. Its free services include 10 megs of mail storage and a virtual hard drive. Along with your e-mail account, you get a personal planner calendar, a private journal and e-mail autoresponder, which they describe as a private secretary that keeps in touch with all your contacts when you are not available.

You can also store and access all your favorite Web bookmarks from this site, just in case your computer crashes. They also offer mail scheduling for future delivery and e-mail autoreminders. Is this virtual online office the office of the future?

Another similar site is called Visto. You can find it at

www.visto.com

It bills itself as the premier Webtop organizer that helps busy people manage their professional and personal lives. It too is free and offers e-mail, address book, calendar, photos, tasks, files, bookmarks and events. It offers 15 megs of storage for data.

What other glimpses into the future does the Internet hold? How about cybermoney? Most of us are familiar with the saying: "Beam me up, Scotty" from the old Star Trek series. Well, James Doohan, Star Trek's Scotty, is helping to promote PayPal to beam money to your friends.

www.paypal.com

You can "beam" money to anyone with an e-mail address or mobile-phone number. If your friend owes half of lunch but forgets his checkbook, there may no longer be an excuse.

You can also request payment from someone who owes you money, collect money for hosting an event or party, or send or receive payments for online auctions. You can even beam money with your Palm organizer.

Registration is free. There are lots of online-payment systems on the Internet that haven't proved popular with consumers -- mostly because of concern over sharing credit card numbers.

This one differs from the others, but it's hard to say whether consumers are ready.

Here's another twist on the popular auction sites: Swap what you've got for what you really want. A new site called Web Swap allows users to buy, sell or swap their stuff. The latter is an interesting notion.

www.webswap.com

The site is divided into have and want lists. You list the stuff you have and the stuff you want. Then WebSwap compares your haves and wants lists with those of other traders.

The site offers up possible matches. Then you make an offer.

You can also view all the listings.

This site is relatively new and has "Beta" prominent on its main page. But, hey, even the future had a test run in our past.

What's your favorite new site on the Internet? E-mail me at click@semissourian.com.

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams is managing editor of the Southeast Missourian.