History, Security, dvntges and Disdvntges of the Internet - Essay Example

The Internet Outline Definition of the Internet 2. History of the Internet 10. Censorship 9. Internet nd the workplce 8. Lnguge 7. Leisure 6. Mrketing 5. Disdvntges of the Internet 4. dvntges of the Internet 3. Security on the Internet 1. Definition of the Internet The Internet is the worldwide, publicly ccessible network of interconnected computer networks tht trnsmit dt by pcket switching using the stndrd Internet Protocol (IP). It is "network of networks" tht consists of millions of smller domestic, cdemic, business, nd government networks, which together crry vrious informtion nd services, such s electronic mil, online cht, file trnsfer, nd the interlinked Web pges nd other documents of the World Wide Web. Contrry to some common usge, the Internet nd the World Wide Web re not synonymous: the Internet is collection of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cbles, wireless connections, etc.; the Web is collection of interconnected documents, linked by hyperlinks nd URLs. The World Wide Web is ccessible vi the Internet, s re mny other services including e-mil, file shring, nd others described below. 2. History of the Internet The Internet hs evolved during this period from being robust nd effective wy of exchnging informtion to providing delivery mechnism for mssive mounts of multimedi informtion to globl udience. Virtully ll of the services nd products relted to the Internet were originlly defined to stisfy demnds emnting from the cdemic nd reserch world. We re only just entering into the er where the min driving force for new developments is coming from the commercil sector. The originl users of the Internet were drwn from nrrow segment of the populce. They hve recently been joined by the new genertion of users with wider rnge of bckgrounds thn cdemi nd reserch. The club-like nture of the Internet is fst disppering s the ese nd cost of ccess mkes it ccessible to much greter udience. (John, 2001) The two Internet pplictions tht re most likely, in the short term, to hve n impct on the non-IT mnger re e-mil nd the world wide web (WWW). E-mil provides very simple nd effective wy of sending both simple text messges nd computer files (for exmple spredsheets nd word processed documents) to one or number of recipients. The WWW enbles individuls nd orgnistions to provide globl udience with full gmut of multimedi informtion tht cn be ccessed esily. The benefits of ll of these Internet services re vilble t locl telecommunictions chrge rtes. The Internet's potentil to chnge the wy we conduct business is only just beginning to be understood. lredy it is cler tht mngers must orientte their thinking to dpt to the opportunities (nd threts) tht re being creted. 3. Security on the Internet Internet security, or more ccurtely the lck of it, is one of the topics most likely to generte concerned comment from the press. The volume of medi coverge given to computer hckers nd the potentil dmge they cn cuse, tends to be out of proportion to the relity of the sitution. This not to suggest tht the issue of security is not extremely importnt. When breches occur they cn cuse finncil loss nd severe embrrssment. The British Lbour Prty, currently forming the UK government, ws forced to close its WWW site temporrily becuse of mlicious tmpering with the contents. (Hrtmn, ckermnn, 2005) n inventive mind hd chnged both the text nd grphics with the im of cusing severe embrrssment. There hve lso been mny instnces where finncil institutions hve suffered finncil loss due to their security being compromised, lthough losses re very smll when compred to other sources of frud. 4. dvntges of the Internet The Internet hs the potentil to deliver unique set of business benefits over nd bove existing IT technologies. There re number of resons for this: 1. It is simple to use compred to most of the ppliction softwre tht we normlly encounter in the business environment. This ese of use spns the different types of computer nd operting system which n orgnistion my be using. 2. It hs bredth of ccess both geogrphiclly nd in terms of the rnge of people who re now ble to connect nd use its services. This huge increse in the number of users hs been fuelled by the chrging model, which is both time nd distnce independent, nd the wy in which it hs become service imed t consumers s much s to the business community. 3. It hs synergistic effect when supporting existing pper, rdio nd TV medi formts. While there will lwys be chnges in the reltive populrity of vrious medi delivery methods the evidence to dte shows the Internet extending rther thn substituting for existing technologies. This fctor will chnge if orgnistions cn completely bndon other types of medi. For most businesses this is not possible lterntive. 4. It exhibits low reltive cost when compred with the other electronic nd physicl lterntives. The min technology components of the Internet re still experiencing steep price erosion which shows no sign of bting. 5. Its interfce to existing IT systems hs the potentil to reduce user lerning time by providing common interfce to pplic tion softwre. Incresingly, the min softwre vendors re relesing versions of their products with WWW browser front- end. SP nd Orcle (mjor suppliers of core process softwre) hve stted it is mjor requirement tht they provide WWW browser comptibility. 6. It hs the bility to enhnce communictions between individuls irrespective of their loction. Incresingly the Internet provides the fcilities for the whole spectrum of communictions to tke plce, from simple e-mil to voice nd video conferencing. 5. Disdvntges of the Internet It must be sid tht there re potentil downsides to using this form of communiction, mny of which re the obverse of the benefits previously mentioned. Becuse it is so esy to send e-mils to multiple ddresses, there is tendency for users to widen the distribution list of their messges. In the extreme cse this cn cuse geometric increse in the volume of messges tht re generted. I send messge with five copies, ech of the recipients nswers sending copy to ll of the others on the distribution list - very quickly torrent of electronic messges is creted. very well-intentioned employee of mjor UK computer compny sent short messge to everyone on the compny's e-mil ddress list sking for dontions to very respectble chrity. Some recipients nswered this messge, gin sending copies to ll of the ddresses on the distribution list. Within n hour from the first messge, the whole of the compny's communiction network filed due to the volume of trffic creted by this simple request. This is n extreme exmple but the problem is very rel one. nother problem is cused by the expecttion tht n e-mil messge will receive rpid response. Some compnies, who hve encourged their customers to communicte with them by e-mil, rther thn fx or letter, hve found their customer service stff feel under pressure to nswer the electronic messges before those of other medi, irrespective of the priority of the item. 6. Mrketing The Internet hs lso become lrge mrket for compnies; some of the biggest compnies tody hve grown by tking dvntge of the efficient nture of low-cost dvertising nd commerce through the Internet; lso known s e-commerce. It is the fstest wy to spred informtion to vst mount of people simultneously. The Internet hs lso subsequently revolutionized shopping-for exmple; person cn order CD online nd receive it in the mil within couple of dys, or downlod it directly in some cses. The Internet hs lso gretly fcilitted personlized mrketing which llows compny to mrket product to specific person or specific group of people more so thn ny other dvertising medium. Exmples of personlized mrketing include online communities such s Myspce, Friendster, nd others which thousnds of Internet users join to dvertise themselves nd mke friends online. Mny of these users re young teens nd dolescents rnging from 13 to 25 yers old. In turn, when they dvertise themselves they dvertise interests nd hobbies, which online mrketing compnies cn use s informtion s to wht those users will purchse online, nd dvertise their own compnies' products to those users. 7. Leisure The Internet hs been mjor source of leisure since before the World Wide Web, with entertining socil experiments such s MUDs nd MOOs being conducted on university servers, nd humor-relted Usenet groups receiving much of the min trffic. Tody, mny Internet forums hve sections devoted to gmes nd funny videos; short crtoons in the form of Flsh movies re lso populr. The pornogrphy nd gmbling industries hve both tken full dvntge of the World Wide Web, nd often provide significnt source of dvertising revenue for other Web sites. lthough mny governments hve ttempted to put restrictions on both industries' use of the Internet, this hs generlly filed to stop their widespred populrity. song in the Brodwy musicl show venue Q is titled "The Internet is for Porn" nd refers to the populrity of this spect of the internet. (Susnne, 2002) One min re of leisure on the Internet is multiplyer gming. This form of leisure cretes communities, bringing people of ll ges nd origins to enjoy the fst-pced world of multiplyer gmes. These rnge from MMORPG to first-person shooters, from role-plying gmes to online gmbling. This hs revolutionized the wy mny people interct nd spend their free time on the Internet. Mny use the Internet to ccess nd downlod music, movies nd other works for their enjoyment nd relxtion. s discussed bove, there re pid nd unpid sources for ll of these, using centrlised servers nd distributed, peer-to-peer technologies. Discretion is needed s some of these sources tke more cre over the originl rtists' rights nd over copyright lws thn others. People use cht, messging nd emil to mke nd sty in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the sme wy s some previously hd pen pls. Socil networking Web sites like Friends Reunited nd mny others like them lso put nd keep people in contct for their enjoyment. 8. Lnguge The most prevlent lnguge for communiction on the Internet is English. fter English (30% of Web visitors) the most-requested lnguges on the World Wide Web re Chinese 14%, Jpnese 8%, Spnish 8%, Germn 6%, nd French 4% (from Internet World Stts, updted June 30, 2006). (Hrtmn, ckermnn, 2005) 9. Internet nd the workplce The Internet is llowing greter flexibility in working hours nd loction, especilly with the spred of unmetered high-speed connections nd Web pplictions. The Internet hs given employees forum from which to voice their opinions bout their jobs, employers nd co-workers, creting mssive mount of informtion nd dt on work tht is currently being collected by the Worklifewizrd.org project run by Hrvrd Lw School's Lbor & Worklife Progrm. 10. Censorship Some governments, such s in Irn nd Chin restrict wht people in their countries cn ccess on the Internet, especilly politicl nd religious content, through softwre tht filters domins nd content, so tht they my not be esily ccessed or obtined without elborte circumvention. Mny countries hve encted lws mking the possession or distribution of certin mteril, such s child pornogrphy, illegl, but do not use filtering softwre. There re mny free nd commercilly vilble softwre progrms with which user cn choose to block offensive Web sites on individul computers or networks, such s to limit child's ccess to pornogrphy or violence. See Content-control softwre. Bibliogrphy: 1. Consumer WebWtch. How Do People Evlute Web Site's Credibility Results from Lrge Study. Consumer WebWtch report prepred by Stnford Persusive Technology Lb, Stnford University. Published October 29, 2005. 2. December, John. "Chllenges for Web Informtion Providers." Computer-Medited Communiction Mgzine vol 1, no.6 (2001) pg. 13. http://sunsite.unc.edu/cmc/mg/1994/oct/webip.html [5 December 1995] 3. Hrtmn, Kren nd Ernest ckermnn. (2005) "Meeting the Chllenge of Criticlly Evluting Informtion on the Internet nd the World Wide Web." http://users.mwc.edu/khrtmn/educom98.html Presented t Educom 98 on October 15, 1998 nd regulrly updted. [29 October 2001]. 4. Hsulo, Susnne. "Defining Informtion Litercy." Informtion Highwys Mgzine 9(5) July - ugust 2002. 5. Memoril University, Newfoundlnd, Cnd. "Internet Source Vlidtion Project."http://www.stemnet.nf.c/dfurey/vlidte/vlidte.html [05 July 1996] Read More