Another difference between the possibilities of Internet and ecommerce business models at the end of 90's and today, is in the number of people who had an Internet connection at that time compared with those of nowadays.
And more important that just having the connection, the number of people who have assumed Internet as a part of their lives, as a working tool, for searching information, in order to buy, or even to publish a blog in which they spread their thoughts and reflections.
We are getting to the point that most of the population use Internet in some way, whereas five years ago the network was a strange thing for the great majority, and for an important number of those already connected, it was just the beginning of their experience with the Net.
Another important fact to analyze to find differences between 2000 and 2006 is the type of Internet connection. If five or six years ago most were low speed connections, currently an increasing portion of people have access to broadband connections, through cable or DSL lines. This is important, because these kind of connections allow to support functionalities that were impossible with slow connections, as rich Internet applications, video, etc.
All these factors are the reason why some business ideas that years ago seemed the result of foolish visionaries, and that underestimated the timing in which the described evolution would take place, now make sense as the maturation of the potential market is already taking place.

Reference: innovationthink.com