How the Internet Has Changed the Way We Live - Essay Example

IMPACT OF THE INTERNET "In the beginning, ARPA created the ARPANET. And the ARPANET was without form and void. And darkness was upon the deep. And the spirit of ARPA moved upon the face of the network and ARPA said, 'let there be a protocol,' and there was a protocol. And ARPA saw that it was good. And ARPA said, 'Let there be more protocols,' and it was so. And ARPA saw that it was good. And ARPA said,' Let there be more networks,' and it was so". -Danny Cohen Evolution of the Internet The Internet timeline commences in 1962, before the word internet was developed. The Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense gave birth to ARPANET which later became the internet. The visionaries who saw great potential in using computers to share information on research in scientific and military fields laid the spark of internet's birth. In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider of MIT proposed a global network of computers. Leonard Kleinrock developed the packet switching which is the basis of internet connections. In 1965, Lawrence Roberts connected a Massachusetts computer with a Californian one over dial-up telephone lines. The ARPANET, first brought online in 1969, initially connected four computers at universities in southwestern US. Ray Tomlinson, in 1972, brought e-mail to ARPANET. He was the one who introduced the symbol-@- to connect the username and address. The internet was designed to provide a communication network that would resist nuclear attacks. The early users were computer experts, engineers, scientists and librarians. During the '60s and '70s, Frederick G. Kilgour of the Ohio College Library Center led networking of Ohio libraries. In the mid 1970s, New England, the southwest states, Mid Atlantic states, etc. joined it to form national, later, international networks. The ARPANET matured in the '70s due to the TCP/IP architecture proposed and developed by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf. USENET was born in 1979 with the Unix to Unix Protocol invention. Newsgroups were introduced to exchange information throughout the world. Though it was not a significant part of the Internet (due to the lack of TCP/IP), it played a vital role in the development of the Internet. BITNET appeared in1981 and it connected the mainframes of IBM and also provided mail services. SCNET, developed in 1984, grew into NSFNet, the backbone of Internet. In 1986, when it was developed, it gave access to a number of super computing centers. More departments started making use of the Internet. Hence, more tools and resources were needed. More universities, organizations and libraries got connected and Internet became harder to track. In 1991, the first friendly interface to the Internet was developed. In July, 1992, Delphi, the first national commercial online service offered Internet access to its subscribers. In 1993, Microsoft Internet Explorer was developed. With the release of Windows 98 which the browser well integrated in the desktop, Bill Gates capitalized on the Internet. The Internet Boom The impact of the Internet is too enormous that it takes a lifetime to elaborate on it. Business entered the Internet arena. Advertising showed up to attract consumers. Online shopping entered a faster pace. Consumers found it easy when they could compare prices. Delphi's free offer of web pages, chat rooms, community building centers, etc. made the Internet more and more on demand. High-speed connections spread. Cable modems and digital subscriber lines replaced the older, slower ones. Wireless access bloomed. Now, we even have small, portable devices that can be used to access the Internet like, the pocket PC, game machines, GPS devices, etc. Let us discuss how Internet affects the various fields of our day to day lives. IMPACTS ON BUSINESS In the beginning, the use of Internet remained to searching and mailing. With the rise of more innovations, people started applying technology to various fields. Business is one such field which was rewritten by the entry of Internet. ECONOMY We saw the days when anything was impossible for the many. There was a time when capital and skilled labor played significantly in the implementation of a business. Internet has the capacity to change everything. The very interesting aspect about Internet is that it is faster than any other technology. It changed the lives of the ordinary people. Companies have started to use Internet to make direct contacts with their customers, secure Internet connections to deepen the relations with their trading partners. The buyers and sellers are brought under one roof with the help of the Internet. Before a few years these were completely out of thought. The increased numbers of connected users, the tremendous speed and the irrelevance of distance have made business very easy. Business owners no longer are worried about accessing the potential customers. Internet has made everything a piece of cake. "The Internet is the backbone of greater service trade", so says Joseph Quinlan, a Senior Economist. There was a time when name and fame concentrated to a lucky few. Monopoly no more has its existence. Internet has helped everyone to be equals. There was a time when the business owners had to depend on foreign sources to move their project beyond their home country. It is no longer required, since Internet has made the national borders porous. Wonderful transformation from nothing to everything! That is what the Internet has given to the world of Business. The advantages are pretty pleasing and inspiring. Every invention comes with its defects as well. Internet too is not an exception. Websites are said to be vulnerable. Rayman and Steiner jot down," The cost to restore a damaged or defaced website can be significant, and the revenue lost during website downtime can equal or exceed the revenue lost from damage to physical assets". This is one problem which never existed in the traditional ways. Viruses are other threats to the world of the Internet. Once they corrupt the files, the computers, even the company may face severe breakdowns. Security is often at risk which makes cash transactions tougher. This is because Internet is an open medium. The business owners need to be efficient in computer know-how. Though he may have a technical person, it is up to the owner as to how to run the business. Apart from these, Internet has indeed made business a putty in our hands. MARKETING AND SUPPORT FOR CUSTOMERS Whether done via Internet, or directly, Marketing is the process that increases the sales and profits. The age of marketing through media such as newspaper, magazines, posters, banners, have all been replaced by the entry of Internet. Online marketing encompasses a wide range of services such as display advertising, text-based advertising, search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, newsletter marketing, Customer Relationship Management Marketing, web press releases, online market research, and so on. These help the marketers to reach the customer in smaller prices. You can directly fish where there is swarm. All you need to do is be there when you are searched. This was not the case in a traditional one. Marketers had to go hunting for customers. Now the painful old days have passed. Of course, marketing involves money. The costs of the softwares and hardwares that are involved have to be paid. Considering human psychology, we all like to purchase in person. Everyone prefers to be careful when there is money involved. This nullifies the effect of online. Lack of technological know-how, low speed internet connections, heavy web pages, etc. may act as barriers for the advertisement to reach many customers. Customer support is no longer a front office person attending your queries. This is also possible via Internet. Customers throughout the world can be attended through Internet. This is indeed a great change from the traditional customer support. It is possible for the customers to seek help 24*7 a day. Online customer support makes regular contacts with the customers. Live chats make it more possible. Giving and taking feedbacks are done regularly. Internet branding is another tool that helps the customers to reach the correct destination. It eases message delivery system. Helpdesk is no longer a matter of headache for the customers. Internet customer support is always at the service of the customers. One issue of concern is that, it is not possible to directly deal with the customers and that there is no sense in personal identity. We have seen how tremendously Internet has changed the whole concept of the various aspects of Business in our modern lives. PERSONAL IMPACTS SOCIAL NETWORKING From the beginning, Internet aimed at connecting not only computers but people also. Social network has become quite a buzzword. A social network is a network of communities of people with common interests and activities. Some of the many examples are- Orkut, Facebook, Bebo, My Space, etc. there are content sharing websites too, which allow social networking such as- Youtube and Flicker. It gives various methods for users to interact- e-mail, chat, blogging, voice chat, sharing of files, discussion forums, commenting, and so on. This has captured the attention of millions of users millions of dollars from venture capitalists. The world is made in to a smaller place with the widening of the contacts. Emailing and chatting help us to maintain friendships in the easiest manner. The several communities available have taken our friendship overseas. Internet act as the messenger swans which existed only in the enchanted stories. Passing of information, photos, files, videos and what not Internet has made it all at the doorsteps. Social networks can be used for business and medical applications. It helps in connectivity between the customer and the management at a low cost. Firms can advertise in various sites in the form of banners and text ads. Medical professionals can use networks as a means to manage institutional knowledge, distribute knowledge, highlight individual services, etc. The negatives of social networking in the Internet are many. Usually surfers have the habit of giving away too much personal details. It reduces privacy, because there are many people browse others' profiles for curiosity sake. This results in meaningless connectivity. Increased rape is a major concern. The surfers who are ignorant of data theft and the attack of cyber viruses often welcome risks. Thus we see that social networking is not that cool as it seems to be. However, before Internet, parents did not have to concern too much about the safety of their kids. FINDING INFORMATION Internet has become an effective tool in the hunting of information. Searching and finding are made easy with the help of the Internet. These are merely a single click away. It takes not more than a few seconds to fill us with the adequate information we need to know, under or above the Sun. News, movie reviews, sports, air fares, encyclopedias, etc. are all incorporated in your PC. The time when you waited in long queues to get information about something is long gone. All you need to do is to visit the needed web site. You no longer need to hunt endlessly for books in the library. You name it, internet has it. Making reservations no longer consume your time. Banking, shopping, etc. are other miracles. EBay and Amazon ease shopping. Online tutoring is readily available these days. It is possible to get a degree without having to attend a regular college and that too from anywhere in the world. Not one of the afore mentioned was possible before Internet stepped into our computers. However, the misleading done by Internet is a serious issue and worth concern. Internet is a mixture of various kinds of people and organizations. Some people are well-behaving and decent while some are not. Accordingly, there are decent as well as exploitative websites too like those containing pornographic, violent and immoral elements. Even if we try to make the best out of the Internet, there are chances that we can be misled. Thus the users can be the targets of exploitation. We may come across, or, we may be confronted with disturbing materials in the websites. Not just viewing these websites pose a threat to us, but sometimes downloading information from an apparently regular website may contain virus and could damage the computer itself. Encounters with hackers may ruin the privacy of the family. Not every websites that demand credit card details are sincere ones. The risks involved in these sensitive details being stolen are many. It is often in the hands of the users to protect them from the misleading. Crimes continue to happen in the cyber world, but avoiding is not a solution. All it takes is just a bit of carefulness from the side of the users. We have seen the different impacts- positive and negative- of the Internet. Seems like it is pretty hard to imagine life without these advancements. Experts have already finished discussing the future of the Internet. Some say that Internet is highly vulnerable and there is a likelihood of an attack within the next decade. There will be radical changes in news, publishing, educational institutions, work places, health care units, etc. Government will be accessible over the Internet. Everyone may become famous, at least for fifteen minutes, through their own reality shows. The more the data posted, the less the information will be. Ever wondered what would it be like to have a next generation Internet During the incubation period of the Internet, there were doubts whether this would succeed or not. However, now, Internet has a command that nothing else has. Our age saw the transformation of Internet from personal computers to hand held mobiles and other portable tiny devices. Will there be a day when we do not have to use any medium at all Will there be a day when we can directly see a far-away person and talk Will there be a day when we can fly to the location in a few micro seconds and gather knowledge All that we can do is, to wait. Sources Business Week. "The Internet Economy: the World's Next Growth Engine". Business week online. October 4, 1999. April 16, 2008. http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_40/b3649004.htm. Magid, Lawrence. "Child Safety on the Information Highway". Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 16 April. 2008. http://safekids.com/child_safety.htm. Susannah Fox, Janna Quitney Anderson, Lee Rainie. "The Future of the Internet". Pew Internet & American Line Project. Jan 9. 2005. April 16, 2008. http://209.85.175.104/searchq=cache:RLLU-i1Y2WcJ:www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/pip_future_of_internet.pdf+future+of+internet&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=in. Read More