Uses of the Internet
Content
Uses of the Internet 10.9.1 Information The Internet was created initially to share information and programs and it is still very much used today as a source of information. This has increased even more so with the advent of the WWW since information is presented better and it is easier to use search engines to look for information. People can use the Internet to search for almost any kind of information. Someone interested in gardening can visit millions of websites related to gardening on the Internet. Someone else who is interested in cooking can use the WWW to look for recipes or can learn to cook. There is information for everyone on the Internet, whatever the person’s age and interests. Most major newspapers and news channels are also online these days. Therefore anyone who wants to know the latest news simply has to visit any one of these websites and since these are updated many times a day, they are even more up-to-date than newspapers. 10.9.2 Communication One of the major uses of the Internet today is for communication purposes. It is much faster to send an email to someone than to send a letter and the response can be as rapid. There are various means of communication on the Internet. [See Section 10.10 for more information on communicating on the Internet] Communication can also be in terms of sharing information. As mentioned previously, most major newspapers and news channels are online these days and news are communicated in real time (as they happen). 10.9.3 Education More and more the Internet is being used for education purposes. Students use the Internet to look for information when they have some coursework or assignment to submit or they use it as a learning aide.
But many people are also following courses online, meaning they register for a course and instead of going to a classroom at a university or training centre, they sit in front of a computer at home or at the office and follow their courses by reading the lecture notes online or by viewing a video of their lecturer delivering a course. This mode of learning known as e-learning has the added advantage of taking place at home or at the office and at a time that is convenient to the learner. 10.9.4 Business More and more businesses are going online either for marketing purposes or for conducting business directly. Ecommerce and eBusiness are two terms that almost everyone has heard of. Electronic business, or "e-business", is any business process that is empowered by information
technology. Electronic commerce, e-commerce or ecommerce consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
EBusiness is more than just e-commerce. It covers business processes along the whole value chain: electronic purchasing ("e-procurement") and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, customer service and cooperation with business partners. 10.9.5 Entertainment A lot of people use the Internet for entertainment purposes. People listen to music and watch movies on the Internet – they can either do these in real time (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/) or they can download them and use later. People also play games on the Internet (e.g. http://games.yahoo.com/games/front), either alone or with other people who are connected to the Internet. 10.10 Communicating on the Internet
10.10.1 Email 10.10.1.1 What is Email? Electronic mail, abbreviated e-mail or email, is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. The electronic communication system can be either over the Internet or can be in an intranet.
The term e-mail applies both to the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and to intranet systems allowing users within one company or organization to send messages to each other.
Intranet email predates the Internet. Email came into existence in 1965 as a way for multiple users to communicate. But the invention of the Internet brought about web based email. Electronic mail can be used to:
Send a single message to many recipients Send a message that has attachments, these include text, audio, video, graphics or some other documents like a PowerPoint presentation Send a message to which a computer program responds
Email addresses have a specific format. They are made of two parts separated by the “at” sign character, @. The prefix of the email address identifies the user and the suffix gives the domain name of the mail server.
But many people are also following courses online, meaning they register for a course and instead of going to a classroom at a university or training centre, they sit in front of a computer at home or at the office and follow their courses by reading the lecture notes online or by viewing a video of their lecturer delivering a course. This mode of learning known as e-learning has the added advantage of taking place at home or at the office and at a time that is convenient to the learner. 10.9.4 Business More and more businesses are going online either for marketing purposes or for conducting business directly. Ecommerce and eBusiness are two terms that almost everyone has heard of. Electronic business, or "e-business", is any business process that is empowered by information
technology. Electronic commerce, e-commerce or ecommerce consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
EBusiness is more than just e-commerce. It covers business processes along the whole value chain: electronic purchasing ("e-procurement") and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, customer service and cooperation with business partners. 10.9.5 Entertainment A lot of people use the Internet for entertainment purposes. People listen to music and watch movies on the Internet – they can either do these in real time (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/) or they can download them and use later. People also play games on the Internet (e.g. http://games.yahoo.com/games/front), either alone or with other people who are connected to the Internet. 10.10 Communicating on the Internet
10.10.1 Email 10.10.1.1 What is Email? Electronic mail, abbreviated e-mail or email, is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. The electronic communication system can be either over the Internet or can be in an intranet.
The term e-mail applies both to the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and to intranet systems allowing users within one company or organization to send messages to each other.
Intranet email predates the Internet. Email came into existence in 1965 as a way for multiple users to communicate. But the invention of the Internet brought about web based email. Electronic mail can be used to:
Send a single message to many recipients Send a message that has attachments, these include text, audio, video, graphics or some other documents like a PowerPoint presentation Send a message to which a computer program responds
Email addresses have a specific format. They are made of two parts separated by the “at” sign character, @. The prefix of the email address identifies the user and the suffix gives the domain name of the mail server.
