One such site is a joint venture between Microsoft and media giant NBC. Located at http://www.msnbc.com, the service is a compilation of a variety of news sources, organized in a manner similar to a Sunday edition newspaper. topical divisions follow the traditional newspaper outline with news, local news, commerce, sports, entertainment, technology, opinion and weather as the major headings. The site is updated numerous times daily, ensuring the most current information. The cover page is geometrically sectioned, with the biggest stories contained in their own static boxes and other boxes, which rotate through selections approximately every six seconds. The page design is straightforward, but a bit cluttered. The altering images and lack of just one or two predominant headlines make it difficult to remain focused on one segment alone. Also lacking is a unity of purpose that might perhaps pull through a thread of cohesiveness. Across the page bottom is a horizontal listing of more than fifteen other content areas, providing simple access to general sections. Clicking on the "Living" section brings up another page front, again with both static and changing boxes providing visual links. Below the complex visuals is an in-depth listing of all the texts linked to the "Living" section, subcategorized under headings from entertainment to health. This section is visually uninteresting, resembling a non-numeric table of contents. Each item is bullet-pointed and identified by a general overview sentence. Page after page of sentences, almost too many to be worthwhile. Unlike a newspaper or magazine with a finite number of articles, the MSNBC web site has unending links to other sites and sources, eliminating the very notion of completion. Each section of the site is structured in the same fashion although every heading and related subtext appears under the "News" category.

Recognized as the number one news web site, it is interesting to find such a middle-of-the-road approach to design. The headings for each section are placed in a banner somewhere near the top of the page, while graphics, text and photos are assembled in linear pattern within the rectangular framework of the page. The page layout strongly resembles that of a daily newspaper. Within the relatively new medium of the web to is surprising to find how readily adapted are the patterns of older technology. Perhaps the familiarity of presentation is part of the master plan; a way to lure newspaper readers and avid ten o'clock news watchers into another realm of the media onslaught.

The content of the site is a conglomeration of topics and issues covering an extremely wide scope. The inclusion of paid advertisements and interactive quizzes gives the site a crossbred newsmagazine quality. Not surprisingly, the predominant ads are for computing and electronic equipment for companies like Toshiba and Hewlett Packard. Unfortunately by including topics that appeal to such a broad range of demographic groups, MSNBC is likely to miss the mark with all of them. Sorting through topic after topic and story after story to locate those of particular personal interest is cumbersome and time consuming. General sites such as this one will likely be bypassed as the novelty of the Internet wears off and more topic specific sites rise to meet users needs.