Internet Continued

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Today's lecture I'm going to go over some more Internet Technologies and chapter 8. You need to read this chapter for the test, and the quiz next week. Some things that  aren't talked about much in the book I have elaborated on in this lecture.  
Most of the Internet technologies such as VRML I will  show examples of in class, so if you don't go to class make sure you check these out for yourself.. Here is a list of the technologies I will be covering in class::

• VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language), and the Cosmo Browser to view it.
• Streaming Audio/Video - RealPlayer for example
• Macromedia products  - Flash and Shockwave players, allow many forms of multimedia over the Internet
• Webcasting - preloading content to your computer so it can be viewed later and you don't have to wait for it to download.
• Telnet
• FTP
• Email
• Network Computers - These will be talked about later in the semester, but they are also mentioned at the end of chapter 7.
• Data encryption, what does the padlock mean?

A Revolution in Merchandising (page 8.17)

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) - is business activity that takes place over an electronic network, thus includes commercial activities involving email, an online information service, a bulletin board system, and electronic data interchange system. The most well known and most powerful medium for e-commerce is the Internet.

Most Universities are about to adopt a programming class in e-Commerce. Montana State University is talking about teaching a class starting next Fall or Spring. It is such a new thing, and such a hot thing that most Universities haven't adopted an e-commerce curriculm yet.

The Growth of E-commerce

Improvements with communications and computing channels has helped e-commerce develop.
The first form of e-commerce was the ATM. I remember when I took this class ten years ago or so, the teacher said someday they will have cards that you can just use as a debit card at the grocery store instead of writing checks. I've been living off my debit visa card for about two years now. I never write checks anymore.
The following is a list of some of the advantages of doing business on the Internet:

• No geographical boundaries, global market.
• Customers have access to multiple suppliers and prices.
• Internet is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Interactive environment minimizes delays.
• Feedback from customers is immediate.
• Changing information is available quickly, with short turnaround time.
• Provides customer support and answers - FAQ pages.
• Cost effective one-to-one marketing.
• New and traditional approaches to generating revenue.
• Manufacturers sell and buy directly, avoiding the cost of middleman.
• Distribution costs for information are reduced or eliminated.
• Reduces cost of paperwork, with savings in human resource hours.

 

Ecommerce Issues

• Security - Fraud is hard to guard against on the Internet. Merchants are legally responsible for ensuring security at their sites.
• Taxes - Should sales tax be charged for Internet sales? Currently United States law requires that Web businesses pay sales taxes in states where the business has a physical presence. What happens when the business doesn't have a physical presence? Companies that have an actual office building or storefront have a disadvantage against strictly online companies.
• Privacy - This is a very hot topic right now, and there is an enormous potential for abuse.
• Cybersquatting - The practice of domain name speculation. Cybersquatters register domain names they think will be popular, and then attempt to resell the rights to each name to the highest bidder. I've run into several Cybersquatters lately, some want $5000 for a name some want $50,000 a name. I told them all to get lost.
• Attention - With global access to millions of Internet sits, people now are bombarded with information. A major challenge for a businesses success is the capability of attracting consumer attention.  "Attention is the hard currencty of cyberspace".

Cookies - A file small file stored by a Web server on a user's computer that contains data about the user, used to track information, surfing preferences.
There are many ways Web sites use cookies listed in your book, here is an example how many companies use cookies that is not listed in the book.
Here is an example of how www.doubleclick.com works:

Many companies are members of Doubleclick. For my example I'll say USATODAY, and ESPN. If you go to ESPN's web site first you get directed to Doubleclick and they write a cookie to your computer that says you've gone to ESPN and then ESPN's web site shows up on your computer. You never knew you were redirected through doubleclick on the way to ESPN. Then when you go to USATODAY later in the day you get redirected to Doubleclick again before you get the USATODAY's web site. Doubleclick reads the cookie and sees earlier you went to the ESPN web site and then it tells the USATODAY server that you like sports. Then you get your USATODAY web page and USATODAY can change it's advertising to sports advertisers to better meet your surfing preferences.

That is a way cookies are used and companies like DoubleClick that you've never heard of are making huge amounts of money.