Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/06/04/headless_web_site_haunts_kona/

Headless Web site haunts Kona president

We dropped in to say aloha -- but there was nobody home

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 4th June 1999 14:38 GMT

Hawaiian-based Kona Systems has declared that its introduction of the world's first Web site with a live person on the home page was "an instant success". Employing its proprietary WebHeads product, the Kona Systems home page displays a real time, low demand video of a company representative. This allows visitors to interact directly with a person at Kona just as they would if they were meeting face-to-face. "It very much exceeded our expectations," said CJ Villa, president of Kona Systems. "I would definitely call it an instant success," he said adding that the company's operators were kept busy "virtually non-stop" providing information for visitors to their site. With no plug-in or lengthy download required such a system could revolutionise the way Net users interact with Web sites. "This proves what we have been saying all along -- that an ecommerce site without live people is like a store without a sales staff," said Villa. "When you go into a real store, you don't mail your questions to the store personnel -- you ask them right then and there." Quite right, CJ. Snag is, when The Register tried out this little hi-tech head-to-head, nothing happened. The lights of the store were but no one was at home. The Web site was... erm... headless. You don't think the head honcho got a bit head strong and sent a head-hunter after his WebHeads shouting "orf with his 'ead", do you? Answers on a postcard, please -- to the usual address. ®