Rosenschein brings the information to you
By David Shamah

(November 28) - Years ago, I had a conversation with an acquaintance about aliya and life in Israel � specifically, my future life in Israel. -

My acquaintance's reaction was quite pointed: �Israel? They have nothing � nothing but debt! What's their biggest export? Potash!� And potash work was not on his list of viable career options. But somehow, in between the wars, political intrigue, and potash mining that Israel was best known for, this country has managed to build itself into one of the world's leaders in computer technology, and perhaps the world's most important Internet application development center. In the face of Arab boycotts and UN complaints about settlements, refugees, and who knows how many other features of modern Israel, local programmers and marketers have made a name for themselves in computer and Internet organizations and media all over the world � especially in the place that spawned the computer revolution, Silicon Valley. Many of us may gasp in awe at this seemingly miraculous turn of events. But according to Bob Rosenschein, founder and chairman of Jerusalem-based Gurunet Corp., it's more like a case of what goes around, comes around.

�What used to be a disadvantage, our small scale and lack of resources, is now an advantage. In a world where information is more important than natural resources, all of a sudden, our ability to solve information problems has value,� he says. That kind of insight is typical for Rosenschein, perhaps because he's what one could call an information guru. His company's product, Gurunet, puts a new spin on Web information gathering. Most Web sessions spent looking for information follow a certain pattern: First, you load a search engine page and type in the combination of words that (you hope) will most likely get you the search results you're looking for. Once the results are returned, you start surfing to those pages. If the information is useful, you use the links on the page to surf to other pages which may or may not supply you with supplemental information. Otherwise, you go back to the search results and try again on another page.

Gurunet's idea is a bit different: Instead of you searching for the information, the information comes to you. Clicking on a word or phrase in your browser � any one, not just a link � will return you all kinds of information about the term or phrase, including a definition, links appropriate to the term (for example, a medical site about heart disease). �In a sense, we're turning the Web upside down,� Rosenschein says. �Every word becomes a link, so you're no longer browsing through browsers � e-mail, programs, Palm Pilot. Just click on a word and get somewhere from it.�

Gurunet, which was released as a beta program in September, has already garnered praise from computer publications and from organs like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times of London. It counts among its investors John Sculley, former head of Apple Computers and Pepsico; Mort Myerson, former chief executive officer of EDS, Ross Perot's company; and Guy Kawasaki, of Garage.com. With the popularity his company has, maybe someone should nominate Rosenschein as Israel's next UN representative. Why has the world seemingly planted itself at Gurunet's door? Obviously, Rosenschein has discovered the elusive better mousetrap. Gurunet, according to Rosenschein, is about the future, and the future is about information: �The future is about user empowerment and disintermediation, meaning the user gets to make lot of the choices today. It's a buyer's market.�

It's as if the trends in the last 300 years or so of Western culture � especially democracy and greater human social and economic freedom � have converged to bring us to the point where every person can truly be his own master � where there is no need for experts. With the Internet, everyone has the ability to discover and interpret information on his or her own. The Internet has helped break down barriers between people and information by making information more accessible to people, and now they can be free to use information the way they see fit, and not as some expert tells them to use it. This trend toward democratization of information, according to Rosenschein, will hurt � perhaps even kill � some industries, and help others. �Middlemen who add little value are going to disappear,� he says. If your job is to provide information to others that they can easily access on the Web, better start training for a new job. Note the Encyclopaedia Britannica salesperson, whose job has been edged out by Britannica.com's recent decision to allow free access to its on-line content.

�Unless an information agent can add a lot of value to what people know, they will be under tremendous pressure in years to come. It's a do-it-yourself world, and the Internet only enables that,� Rosenschein says. That's why Gurunet and other programs like it (for example, Babylon, another Israeli start-up application which translates text on the fly into seven different languages) are part of the building blocks of the information future; any program or utility that makes finding and using information on the Internet easier is going to be wildly popular. �The best business solutions are where you solve someone's pain,� Rosenschein says.

The problem with Internet information today is information overload; there's just too much to wade through. Commercial considerations are, in fact, often driving the inefficiency. Banner ads (those flashing ads you see every time you load up a Web page) are sold on the basis of a site's popularity, which in turn depends on the number of hits its gets. When an Internet portal or search engine wants to impress advertisers, it comes armed with statistics of how many clicks the site has received. �You go to a portal, start clicking, and five screens later you get what you're looking for � maybe,� says Rosenschein. As far as the portal is concerned, you visited their site five times, which looks good on their statistics page but doesn't help you find what you're looking for. The Internet is a bit messy, and Gurunet is designed to help point people directly to the information they need, immediately, without having to go through tens or even hundreds of Web pages. When the annals of Internet revolution are written, Rosenschein intends to be listed as an Israeli. �I'm a very strong Zionist,� he says. �We have important work to do, as Israelis, not just as capitalists or businesspeople.� And what does he think the next �big thing� to come out of Israel will be? He doesn't know, he says, but he does have advice for whoever plans on developing it: �Have fun and work hard.� Technology is important, but the customer is too. And don't forget marketing and the competition. �Selling is hard; business is hard,� Rosenschein says. And so it is. Every Internet success is practically a miracle. But, hey � this is the land of Internet miracles, isn't it?

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