IF was recently reviewed by DORAS and awarded 4 Shamrocks. Here's what they said:
IF: Ireland's Internet Future
Boasting a variety of well-known and well-respected names within the Irish Internet Industry, this site has the potential to be a highly credible and influential force. Focusing upon the various issues concerning the future of this industry, the necessity of a forum such as this is self-evident. Publications can be mailed to your desktop.
From a design perspective, this site is professional and clear in its presentation. The top and sub level navigation structures work well within a tight frames-based format. At a sub-level, graphics are kept to the minimum allowing you to download with ease.
Doras Abú for December 9th, 1999 was:
IF - Ireland's Internet Future
Holy gigantic picnic tables, Batman! This Net thing has gone completely mad! But where is the Cyber Caped Crusader when you need him to save us from the clutches of Net befuddlement and clarify the whole thing for us? What the web needs is a super-hero who will explain the sticky parts and maybe even search and destroy every villain that tries to ruin your Net experience. Banner ads - POW! Cookies - BOFF! Frames - BAM! Spam - POP! Convergence, divergence, connectivity - ZLOP! Alas, this saviour has yet to emerge. In the meantime, we must be satisfied with wonderful zines, like IF, this week's Doras Abú, which gives you plenty of ammunition to deal with the technological future.
IF is published monthly and its concise mission statement declares that it aims to question Ireland's connected future and portray a clear picture of the evolving techie landscape. A combination of heavyweight contributors, succinct, intelligent articles and a clear orderly layout creates a very pleasant Net experience. In its six-month existence, IF has covered topics such as online radio, WAP-enabled mobile phones, and the implications of controlling the Net; all written in an incisive, opinionated way and all archived. You can also have it sent straight to your desktop. With so much proselytising and theorising about Internet culture, we need more publications like this.
Scared that technology and Net development has exploded your understanding? BIFF! Rest assured that IF is saving the day...
Claire O'Mahony
Ireland Online featured IF as TODAY'S Feature in March 2000, and had this to say:
In existence since February 1999, IF the ezine is the brainchild of Andrew Lovatt, founder of redmoonmedia.
Lovatt became involved in the Internet in the mid-80s in the U.S., where he lived for 17 years. He experimented with early bulletin board systems using a graphical user interface and began working with the web as soon as html appeared, in the days when the Internet was still an academic free zone. Lovatt returned to Europe in mid-90s and worked in Greece on some ground-breaking dynamic websites, including instant-result election sites which are now used all over the country, and FashionBox, one of the first e-commerce sites in Germany. Lovatt returned to Ireland in 1997 to continue working with redmoonmedia http://www.redmoonmedia.com and IF.
IF focuses on the issues concerning the future of the industry and provides a necessary forum for discussion and ideas.
The short-term aim of the site is to continue amassing articles and opinions from some of the best-known and well-respected names in the Internet industry in Ireland. Some of the names that lend their weight (and writing skills) to IF are IIA CEO Frank Cronin, Amarach analyst Mark Henry, technology journalists David D'Arcy and John Costello.
The long-term aim of the zine is to reflect the diversity of Ireland's Internet future as seen by people inside and apart from the industry.
What IF provides is an intelligent and interesting forum for those interested in discussing further Irelands connected future. A place to step away from the hyped view of Internet usually found in traditional media and read about the issues that actually concern the industry professionals. If what you're looking for is an informative read that looks as much towards the future as the past then IF is for you.
"If you monitor mainstream media's coverage of the Internet it predominately centres around pornography, pedophiles, hackers and stalkers. The Internet, or any similar future global network, is going to have immense social impacts. Not only on the way we work and transact business, but also in the way we live and interact with family and friends", says John Costello, editor Comms Today http://www.cpg.ie/commstod_main.html. "Mainstream media seems to miss the point. Publications such as IF view the Internet future beyond the hype. It investigates it and questions it. It is important that there is debate about where all this is heading, and IF gives a platform for this discussion".
IF is published monthly and the combination of heavyweight contributors and easily navigable site makes for a very interesting net experience. Read it direct from the website (where you can also find author bio's) or subscribe to the list to have it sent straight to your mailbox!
To contact a human at IF, email to if@redmoonmedia.com
Please let us know if you mention or review IF so we can update this page.