Unable to attend this year's Cyberposium because of the impending birth of his first child, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos delivered the February event's keynote address from Seattle. Appearing on a large video screen in Burden Auditorium, Bezos spoke with enthusiasm and humor to a full house of some one thousand participants. After attributing the giant bookseller's success to its focus on the customer, Bezos set out to debunk seven "big myths of the Internet."

Myth #1: The Internet changes everything. Not really, according to Bezos. Physical stores aren't going away any more than movie theaters did with the advent of television.

Myth #2: There are no barriers to entry on the Internet. What about the huge sums, asked Bezos, that Amazon and other e-commerce companies invest in their businesses? Barriers to entry are actually getting higher in the face of technological developments.

Myth #3: Intermediaries are dead. Intermediaries are a fact of life to some degree, Bezos asserted. The litmus test will be who adds value and who doesn't.

Myth #4: There are going to be only a few winners in the Internet economy. "The world of e-commerce will be as richly varied as the physical world," he said. "Probably more so because more business models are possible online."

Myth #5: It's easier for bricks-and-mortar retailers to extend their business. Using books as an example, Bezos noted that online sellers are essentially in the technology business, while offline operations are in the real-estate business. One group deals mainly with variable costs, the other with fixed costs.

Myth #6: Current market leaders can't fail. If they neglect the customer, Bezos said, they will. In addition, many business pioneers were good at risk taking until they became successful and had something to lose.

Myth #7: Every company needs an Internet strategy. Not according to Bezos. "The Internet is an enabling horizontal layer that is causing broad disruptions across a big part of the economy," said Bezos, but warned that "it's not for every industry."

Other Cyberposium keynoters included David Wetherell, chairman and CEO of CMGI, and Andreas Schmidt, president and CEO of AOL Europe. In all, sixty CEOs and founders, along with representatives from over three hundred companies, participated. For more information on the Cyberposium, which is sponsored by the HBS High Tech and New Media Club, visit the event's Web site at .

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