Time Digital Reboots . Time Inc. is revamping and re-naming its five-year-old technology title, Time Digital. The newly-launched On, (which is on
newsstands now) is billing itself as a "where-to-go, how-to-do-it guide to being connected." The debut issue explores an array of matters affecting the modern wired consumer,
from email etiquette to the hippest in hardware and home entertainment, according to deputy editor Elizabeth Gleick. Also look for an increased focus on the Web: the March issue
reveals prime sites to find cars, accountants, and even dates. The magazine's site, http://www.on-magazine.com, will offer archives of
previous issues as well as communities for readers and edit staff to chat. "We want our readers to interact with us," says Gleick.
(send email to [email protected])
ECountries.com Closes Borders
eCountries.com is yet another site tumbling out of existence as the dotcom economy shakes out. The six-month-old source for international business news was hoping to find
profits through partnerships with big-name providers of legal, accounting, and placement services. President John Schmidt attributed the site's demise to Web-based advertisements
being not nearly as effective as their counterparts in the print world. "If you flip through a magazine, you can understand [a company's] brand, and it's very hard to do that in a
banner ad," he says. "As broadband increases so that we can provide more complex, content-rich messages, then advertisers will see it as a viable medium." Nearly all of
eCountries' 30 employees in its New York, London, and Dublin offices have been let go.
(Schmidt, 646/613-8000)
If at First Your Web Site Doesn't Succeed, Write About it Online
John Schmidt of eCountrie is among hundreds of dotcom CEOs with valuable lessons to impart on the changing tides of business, and now there's a place for them. San Francisco-
based eCompany Now, published out of the FORTUNE Group and Time Inc., has rolled out an interactive forum for war stories - good and bad - about business in the New
Economy. Post yours at ecompany.com/whatworks, and if editors like it they will assign a reporter to write it up to appear in print and on the Web. The forum's first winner, about
a Colorado-based company's online food supply ordering system, was submitted by a PR agency.
(Matt Maier, [email protected])
Fortune Small Business Gets Bigger
Fortune Small Business is increasing its frequency from eight to 10 issues a year, and has hired nine new editorial staffers. The New York-based Time Inc. title has also
revamped its look, which includes thicker paper stock and a new logo. Look for beefed-up coverage of technology, management, and raising capital.
(Caroline Plauche, 212/522-2134)