Unit 61
Web Feats
Here is a look at six ways the internet has made an impact on us in the past decade. There's no going back!
Everybody can get information if they learn how to look for it. Irritated at the half-remembered lyrics of a song? Need a recipe for cassoulet? In pre-Internet days, finding the answer would have involved looking through reference books, scanning a newspaper or even making a trip to the library -- all with no guarantee of finding the information. Now, Google, the Internet search engine, can deliver even the most obscure bits of information to your desktop computer within a matter of seconds. Spend a little time on the help pages at google.com to hone your search skills and the vast information warehouse that is the web will soon be at your fingertips.
Cheap near-instant communication. To those who have grown up in the era of the ubiquitous @ symbol, it's easy to take electronic mail for granted, but the ability to flash messages around the globe with documents or images attached is revolutionary. Of course, with email you cannot ignore the spam problem -- the inconvenience of having an inbox flooded with offers of cheap drugs and get-rich-quick schemes.
No one is anonymous anymore. Try a search on your best friends names in Google, and chances are they will be somewhere on the Internet, especially those who are under 30. From websites to chatrooms, most Internet users leave a trail easy to pick up.
Everyone can be a publisher. Publishing used to be concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy people and organizations that could afford the expensive infrastructure to print and distribute newspapers and magazines. Now everyone can play for next to nothing through personal websites or, more likely these days, by joining the Blogging phenomenon. Try blogger.com for a taste of Blog power. How you make people read your Blog, however, is a different question.
Everyone can get breaking news. Previously, the average person had to wait until the media decided what information supplied by the wire services or their own reporters they would pass on via television news, radio bulletins and the next day's newspaper. Now you have direct access to news via the web: try reuters.com or cnn.com for starters.
The world market comes to your doorstep. The Internet has turned the connected world into a huge market place. This is primarily through the online eBay, but there are many others -- Google lists hundreds of different auction sites. These sites have evolved into an incredibly efficient marketplace, with people coming together from all parts f the globe. Huge numbers of conventional retail outlets are also online. Get the cheapest price for an item online -- then, armed with a printout, head to the shopping mall to do the battle. You won't make many friends among the shopkeepers, but you'll certainly save some money. |