The Internet and New Technologies:

The Media Converge

Chapter 2

The Internet and Cell Phones

“A fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry will help shape a new computer environment that will change the way people access and share information in the future.”

— Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman

The Internet’s History

Begun by the Defense Department’s ARPA (Advanced Research Project’s Agency)

Survivable communications in a post— nuclear war world

Nicknamed the “Net” No central authority, therefore no way to decapitate in wartime

This effort gave birth to the Internet.

Figure 2.1

Bulletin Boards Bulletin boards listed information.

Health issues Computer programs Employment services

As Internet use proliferated, entrepreneurs took notice.

The Net Widens

Microprocessors—miniature circuits that could process and store electronic signals—were the first signal of the Net’s marketability. Using microprocessors, the first personal

computers were created. By the mid-1980s, fiber optic cables were the

standard for speedy data transmission. By the time ARPAnet ended in the 1980s, the

foundation was laid for a new mass medium.

The World Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web at CERN in the late 1980s.

HTML (HypterText Markup Language): Allows computers to communicate

With Web browsers, users can navigate the Web.

Internet Structure Today Internet Service Providers (ISP) = big

business Connecting users to their proprietary Web

system Interpersonal communication

E-mail Search engine reliability varies.

Direct marketing dream come true

Media Convergence Internet offers unprecedented

communication opportunities: Interactive content Hub for converging media Participatory media: People become producers

rather than just consumers of content.

• What are the positive and negative aspects of a decentralized, unhierarchical Internet?

Web 2.0

Web 2.0: a rapid and robust environment that has become a place where music, television shows, radio stations, newspapers, and movies coexist

Has moved toward being an interactive and collaborative medium Instant messaging (IM) Blogs Wiki Web sites Social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook)

Dividing Up the Web

Four companies dominate Web 2.0. AOL: Once the industry leader, suffered setbacks

from merging with Time Warner in 2000 Microsoft: Dominated the Internet with the merger

of its Windows and Internet Explorer programs Yahoo!: Established in 1994 as the main Internet

search engine, now best known for its popular sites.

Google: Established breakthrough search engine in 1998, currently dominates search market

What Google OwnsSearch• Google Web Search• Google Blog Search• Google News• Google Book Search• Google Scholar• Google Finance• Google Maps• Google Images• Google Video• Google Earth• Google Sky• Ganji (Chinese languagesearch)

Web Sites and Services• Blogger• Gmail• Postini (security and anti-spam service)• iGoogle• YouTube• Knol• Picasa/Panoramio

Advertising• Adwords• Adsense• Doubleclick• Feedburner (ads for blogsand RSS feeds)

Software and Apps• Google Docs• Google Calendar• Google Checkout• Google Desktop• Google Glossary• Google Groups• Google Talk• Gapminder’s TrendalyzerSoftware (visualizationgraphics)

Mobile• Google Mobile• Google SMS• Google Maps Mobile• GrandCentralCommunications(Web-based voicemailintegration)• Zipdash (navigationassistance)

Radio• dMarc Broadcasting(digital audio systems)• Maestro (digital audiorecording)

Regulatory Issues

Little regulation on the Web In a world where information rules

Merger mania with telecoms Everybody wants to dominate Staggering amounts of money involved Google dominates advertising

Online Alternatives Open-source software

Linux

Digital archiving Open Content Alliance

What are the potential benefits and dangers of user-created Web content?

The Challenge to Keep Personal Information Private

Everything you buy with a credit card Every Web site you search Every form you fill out All can be combined into a database about

you. Modern marketing relies on such data.

E-commerce’s popularity despite the risks Cookies Spyware Opt-in, opt-out policies

Digital Divide

Digital divide The growing contrast between “information

haves” and “information have-nots” The reality of the digital divide

In the United States Between the U.S. and the rest of the world

Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 laptop project

Will the Internet’s promise be crowded out by commercial interests?

How has mass customization changed the way users interact with the

Internet?