actual numbers, however, it's a fact that webbots and spiders comprise a large amount of today's Internet traffic and that many developers are required to both maintain existing webbots and develop new ones. Webbots Are Fun to Write In addition to solving serious business problems, webbots are also fun to write. This should be welcome news to seasoned developers who no longer experience the thrill of solving a problem with software or using a technology for the first time. Without a little fun, it's easy for developers to get bored and conclude that software is simply a rote sequence of instructions that do the same thing every time a program runs. While predictability makes soft- ware dependable, repetitiveness also makes software tiresome to write. This is especially true for computer programmers who specialize in a specific indus- try that lacks a diversity of tasks. At some point in our careers, nearly all of us become burned-out, in spite of the fact that we still like to write computer programs or create innovative business models. Webbots, however, are almost like games, in that they can pleasantly surprise their developers with their unpredictability. This is because webbots perform based on their changing environments, and they respond slightly differently every time they run. As a result, webbots become capricious and lifelike. Unlike other software, webbots feel organic! Once you write a webbot that does something wonderfully unexpected, you'll have a hard time describ- ing the experience to those writing traditional software applications.