The early Intranet promised to be an empowering technology like no other. With just a few lines of markup language and a server, we could use the network to communicate with anyone in the organization. We didn't need IS's help, and in most cases we didn't even have to beg for their permission.
With HTML, all information access could be reduced to a single mouse click. The old process of finding a server, logging on, starting applications, opening files, and using the Find dialog was suddenly, laughingly obsolete. Hyperlinks collapsed the entire process into a single URL, so that data access became extremely simple and totally transparent, even across large complex networks. The consistent Web interface promised that we might train people to use the browser once, then possibly never have to train them again.
It's that simplicity and consistency we are in danger of losing. The true promise of the Intranet is that it might someday enable massive collaboration across the entire enterprise; that it might become the lingua franca and the conduit through which all knowledge flows. But to have enterprise-wide collaboration requires participation from every sector of the organization, including many people who don't have a clue about Java or even HTML.
If the Intranet becomes too complicated for ordinary people, then they will re-adopt the phone, fax, copier and mail room as their ultimate, long-standing "network solution" of choice. Not because these tools are so efficient, but because they are so simple to use. Surely by now, we understand the cost of doing business in these old but simple ways.

Yes, the Intranet is ripe for developers. There are many great uses for network-enabled object-oriented programming languages. But there are many simple things you can do with an Intranet that shouldn't require a lot of high-tech wizardry. Isn't it enough that I get the information I need? Does it have to bark in my face and roll over, too?
To provide simplicity, we need a new generation of software that cuts to the heart of how people do their jobs, organize knowledge, and communicate. We need software that will do for Websites, databases, and multimedia what Mosaic did for the Internet, and what the window-and-mouse interfaces did for DOS and UNIX. Developers should strive for simplicity in everything they do, making it as easy as possible for ordinary people to participate and actually run the Intranet. The grass roots should never die.
Above all, we need to make sure that the Intranet remains open to all; that it remains a way to cut through the administrator-laden bureaucracy of the old client-server networks. This should be an occasion to tear down internal firewalls, not build more of them. The word co-opt comes to mind as IS types finally wake up and grab for the steering wheel. Be wary of those who would mold the Intranet into the shape of the same old IT.
Finally, even as much as the big consulting groups need to justify their massive cash flows, what we don't need right now is a lot of IT overkill. Let's not stuff everyone's bloated third-party product into the browser's tiny cavity. Some people are shooting gnats with elephant guns and using Java for Java's sake. Let's keep our eye on the goal and give everyone a way to participate. The dividends we reap may be enormous.