IFWorks and 3DTextMaker are two neat programs for creating images to put on Web pages. But these programs also represent a fundamental change in the direction of desktop computing - a change that might ultimately make more software available at lower prices for everyone, while making them more annoying.
Then again, they could simply be momentary economic aberrations. It's really too early to tell.
GIFWorks and 3DTextMaker, developed by Andover.Net in Acton, are Web-based applications. Unlike normal applications, which you download and run on your computer, these two are run through a Web browser while you are connected to the Internet.
GIFWorks is the simpler program. It can rotate images, resize them, or apply a number of ''effects,'' such as embossing or sharpening. The program also has a number of features that are optimized for Web page creation.
3DTextMaker is a program for making buttons with text that go on Web pages. You choose a font, a color, and effect, and add text. Then you click a button and the Web site creates a button or a banner with the text you requested. Once you make a button, you can then save it to your hard drive, or you can click a link, take the program back into GIFWorks, and make changes to it there.
GIFWorks and 3DTextMaker are just two of the applications that Andover.Net has put together for building Web sites. Another application is ButtonMaker, which turns a GIF into a button. There also is HTMLWorks, a program that lets you edit the HTML code on your Web page, save it back to your Web server, and check it for errors.
Some of Andover's programs are a bit buggy - for example, I couldn't get the ''sharpen'' feature in GIFWorks to work properly. Others are somewhat limited. But fortunately, since these are Web-based applications, all Andover has to do is fix the program. Unlike a traditional software publisher, Andover doesn't have take the time or spend the money to distribute the fixed program.
But the biggest difference between the Andover Web-based applications and traditional computer apps is the advertising. Andover.Net is a network of advertiser-supported Web sites. Every time you click a button on the GIFWorks or 3DTextMaker Web page, a new banner advertisement appears at the top of the screen. According to the company's rate card, these ads cost $42 to $70 for every thousand impressions. Those rates may seem rather high; Andover justifies them by saying 41 percent of its Web site visitors work in information technology, and 69 percent are responsible for purchasing computer products for their firms.
Ad revenue adds up quickly. For example, a typical session with GIFWorks might involve clicking 50 menu items, which translates to roughly $2 in revenue. Use the program to design even a small site and you might earn $20 or more for the company. Use Andover's tools religiously for a few months, and you could earn them hundreds.
These economics stand in stark contrast to the way traditional application programs are sold. Consider Adobe ImageStyler, which is far more sophisticated than Andover's Web-based applications. ImageStyler has a retail price of $130, of which Adobe probably sees less than $100. So while Andover's programs may be ''free,'' they ultimately cost far more than the alternative. The cost is hidden because the user doesn't pay - the advertiser does.
I don't think this situation can be stable for very long. Something has to give. One possibility is that Andover's advertisements are overpriced. Andover's claims its Web site visitors are decision-makers may be true, but most of the ads I have seen on the 3DTextMaker Web site are for instant-win sweepstakes, low-cost telephone cards, Web-based email services, and the Women's World Wrestling Federation. Ultimately, the company may not be able to justify the cost of its ads.
But there is another way the economics could work out. We might start seeing advertisements in other applications as well.
For example, my copy of Quicken '99 shows me ads when I download stock quotes and news stories from the Internet. Another program that comes prewired to display ads is the new ''G2 Player'' from RealNetworks. A few years from now, paid advertisements might be a standard part of most desktop applications.
There might be two versions of Adobe's ImageStyler program in the future: a low-cost version that shows ads, and a high-cost version that doesn't. Ultimately, our computer screens might have a few rectangles devoted to the actual business of desktop computing, and the rest of the rectangles devoted to advertising.
It's not a future that I eagerly await.
You can find GIFWorks on line at www.gifworks.com, 3DTextMaker at www.3dtextmaker.com, and ButtonMaker at www.buttonmaker.com.
Two weeks ago we erroneously reported that Andover.Net's Internet Traffic report is at www.internettraffic.com; the actual address is www.internettrafficreport.
com.
Simson L. Garfinkel can be reached at plugged-in
@simson.net.
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