The concept of the internet was developed in the late 50’s during the Cold war. The U.S. Department of Defense needed a computer network that wouldn’t be disrupted easily in the event of an attack. The internet was created to provide a secure form of communication between computers. Modern internet evolved from a U.S. government funded project called Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). ARPANET began as a four node network involving a computer at UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, one at the University of California Santa Barbara and a fourth at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The first communication between these computers occurred in 1969 between the computer at Stanford and the computer at UCLA. Many people were involved in creating ARPANET but Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn are acknowledged as the “fathers” of the internet. They earned that name because in the 1970’s they were primarily responsible for developing communication standards still used today for the internet.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which is why we see an http:// in the beginning of any web address. The web began in 1991. It was based on a protocol developed by Tim Berners-Lee, a physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. He wanted to create a way for linking his research documents together so that other researchers could access them easily. Robert Cailliau, developed with Berners-Lee the basic structure of the web and first web browser. The first browser could handle only text. In 1993, the Mosaic browser was released and could read graphics and text. Netscape Navigator evolved from Mosaic and was the first popular web browser. This development increased the web’s growth.
Since our web has evolved we can now not only browse the internet but we can also share pictures, video, and any other web content with others. Social networking sites such as Facebook have become a very popular way of communicating with other friends and family. Other examples of social networking sites are Pinterest and YouTube. LinkedIn is a social networking site for business purposes and allows employers to look for employees and vice versa.
Email is still the primary method of electronic communication because it is fast and convenient. Users can send and respond to messages at their convenience. Documents and other files can also be attached and sent to other recipients. Although email communication is not as public as social networking it is still not completely private. Emails can be printed and forwarded to someone else. This is a big reason why personal information should never be shared thru an email. It can lead to identity theft. Employers can still access all emails sent thru a work computer even after they have been deleted.
Wikis are web applications that users add, remove, or edit its contents. Wikis content can be continually updated by other users. Wikis can also be used as a tool to collaborate with others. Google Docs is Wiki like because documents can be shared and edited by others.
Blogs are personal journal postings on the web usually written by one author. Blogs can be just text or contain pictures and videos as well. Blogs can be about one topic or multiple topics. Anyone can create a blog thru free sites such as WordPress or blogger.com because they host the blog for free.
A podcast is a form of digital media comprised of a series of audio or video files that are distributed over the internet. Radio shows, audiobooks, and magazines all play audio files thru a podcast. Podcast delivers content using Really Simple Syndication or RSS. RSS is a format that sends the latest content of the podcast series automatically to an aggregator such as ITunes or Feed Spot. If you are subscribed to that Podcast the aggregator automatically downloads the latest content for the user to listen to at their convenience. This makes it simple for them to get the content they enjoy. Anyone can create a podcast by simply having a microphone and computer.
A webcast is like a podcast only its usually live video and audio content shared over the internet. There are many webcasts available. There are study groups that use a webcast to come together and study a specific topic interactively. Some webcasts are on RSS feeds but most used a continuous audio and video feed. This lets you view and download large audio and video files at the same time. Webcasts can be interactive which allows for responses from a live group audience. Webcasts can be used for many different purposes.
Streaming media is multimedia (audio and video) that is continuously fed to your browser so you avoid having to wait for the entire file to download completely before watching or viewing it. Netflix or On Demand content from a cable provider is an example of streaming media. Pandora is a streaming radio provider. These service also personalize content by what the user watches and listened to previously. Some streaming media require a plug in.
A plugin is a special software component that adds a specific feature to an existing software program. Popular plugins are Adobe and Microsoft Silverlight. Modern computers come with plugins already installed but if a website requires a plug not already installed the user will be directed to the site that allows us to download that plugin.
Ecommerce has gained popularity since its first appearance. Today you can purchase nearly everything online. Ecommerce is short for electronic commerce which is the process of conducting business online. There are three different types of e-commerce business. One is commerce between businesses and consumers such as Amazon.com or Target.com. Next is business to business commerce. An example would be Omaha Paper Company which supplies products to other businesses. The third is consumer to consumer commerce. Examples of consumer to consumer would be Ebay or Etsy.
Businesses also promote their services thru social media such as Facebook and network new customers thru these sites. Ecommerce can also include banking and bill management thru the internet. Security measures should be taken to ensure secure transactions on these sites.
M-commerce is any business done thru our phone. For example, Google wallet allows users to use this app as a method of payment without actually taking out our credit card. M-commerce applications also offer coupons and barcodes can be scanned thru the retailers app for more information on a product. The use of m-commerce is newer but is just as secure as making purchases thru our computers.
References:
Evans, A., Martin, K., Poatsy, M. A. (2014-03-01). Technology In Action, Introductory, 11th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from http://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323028339/
