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Only a few years ago, the high-tech industry was afire with talk of "network computing" and "push technology." Then "PC-TV convergence" came into vogue, only to give way to "B2B" and "ASPs," which in turn were trumped by promises of "P2P" communities that would change the world.

After enduring a steady diet of next big things that have failed to live up to promises, Hp laptop battery technology companies can hardly blame businesses and consumers if they are skeptical. Yet software executives and industry analysts insist that the latest trend–dubbed "Web services"–has the staying power to fundamentally change the way software companies do business and how people use the Internet.

"It’s already happening," said Dan Bricklin, founder of Web software maker Trellix, who has seen many generations of high technology come and go since he helped to create the first PC spreadsheet, VisiCalc, in 1979. "This particular architecture, everyone knows, is very fertile. But all of the business models have not been worked out yet. There is a lot of wishful thinking going on in this area, just like there was on the Web initially."

Regardless of its prospects, the Web services concept deserves examination if only because its most vocal evangelist is Microsoft, whose marketing prowess alone can turn an obscure idea into an entire industry. Although the notion of Web services has been bandied about for years, the software giant has given the idea new popularity with its grand .Net strategy, which is taking its first steps in the marketplace with the release of the Windows XP operating system. Microsoft is selling software that companies can use to build services while also offering a set of hosted services to businesses and consumers for a fee.

At first glance, Web services appears to be just the latest turn for an industry that has been historically dependent on aggressive marketing strategies to generate interest in products that are only at the drawing-board stage. But the burgeoning business has taken on particular urgency as the entire high-tech sector struggles for ways to survive the dot-com bust and a global economy that is on the verge of recession.

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