A fellow runner friend of mine has occasional leg cramps. The other day I happened to see a story about leg cramps in the newspaper that I passed on to him. At the end of the story it said “Crampers can benefit from the leg cramp report. To obtain a copy, write to Dr. Donohu No. 20, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped (57 cents), No. 10 envelope and a check or money order for $3. Please allow four weeks for delivery.”

Four weeks? Isn’t this the 21rst century? I went to my Google search box at the top of my browser and entered “leg cramps”. There were 33,700 matches — the first ten looked quite useful. I copied and pasted the page of links to my friend via email. The email was $3.57 cheaper and the search took .19 seconds!

In my book I suggest we are maybe 3-5% of the way into what the Internet has to offer. Some days I think that estimate is high. There are many great resources and services available via the Internet but when you see examples like the above you realize how far we have to go. Someone sent me an email the other day with a link to the Roots merchandise web site for U.S. Olympic Team Gear. The web page has three steps clearly labeld…

1. Print order form
2. Choose your Roots U.S. Olympic Team Gear
3. Call to order at 1-800-208-0521

Click #3 and the page says “After completing your Order Form, you are now ready to call Roots Direct Toll Free 1-800-208-0521, or fax your completed order form to 1-877-998-6669 to place your order to anywhere in the United States.”

Click here to call? Call a U.S.-only 800 #. Doesn’t the Net make us global?

We have a long way to go!