Given the clutter on the Internet, "how will people find it?" said Tom Beeby, creative director at Modem Media in Connecticut, an agency that specializes in Internet advertising. "They are trying to generate word-of-mouse, but I am skeptical."

The history of the Internet so far has shown that cyberspace is a bottom-up phenomenon. Trends are passed along by word of mouse — not passed down from summits.

You really need to look beyond the mice to decide which product is best for you. And although we sometimes like to feel that we're the last word on the subject, we encourage you to check out other sources of information about the products you're interested in; seek out word of mouth to complement word of mouse.