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Just 2 nights ago I reviewed all the hot post on the net11 discussion board and came up with 9 questions been debated. Not even 48 hours now and I would say there are 6 more issues have come under debate. This unit is more a social studies unit than Internet Fundamentals and with 2 great tutors on board that loves to fuel the debate makes this one of the greatest learning experience.
How much has changed over the years. I remember some years ago going to a lecture at the University of Tasmania about the Internet and the presenters seem to had a very poor understanding of the Internet. I Started one of the first Internet Cafes in Tasmania in 1997 and with observation of customers and my own experiences I was very adapt to the Internet. The real change came with Web2 applications and the new wave of social networking that placed a whole new dimension on the Internet. One of the main things that is fascinating me is the change in the dynamics.
In 1997
- Google did not exist
- Everyone had a Hotmail Account
- ICQ was the hot Chat Client
- Yahoo was the search engine of choice
- Email and news groups where the main collaboration tools
- Netscape Navigator (@$59.00au) was the the browser of choice and Eudora was the email client to use
- OS was Windows 95 ( 16 bit)
- No one had a Mac unless you had been to University or Just wanted to do graphics. You could only buy one of a mac dealer.
- Laptops where a dream (About $4000 for the cheapest)
- The Internet was evil
- 200 mhz processor with 16 mb of ram, 2 meg video card 1 gig hardrive
- 56K dial up modem where the hot item
- Car Phone that never worked
IN 2009
- Google is the fastest growing IT company in the world
- The market for Free email account is now shared with Google, Hotmail and Yahoo
- Facebook, My Space, Twitter, MSN, Yahoo Chat, and Blogs
- Google is the leading search engine
- Blogging and Twitter, Facebook, My Space, YouTube and the leaders in Coloration and social networking
- Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera, and now Google Chrome are the choice of browses. ( Netscape gave way to to the open source Firefox)
- OS is Windows XP( 32 bit and 64 bit version available), Windows Vista(64 bit), The many distro's of Linux, Some wild animal from Macintosh (64 bit)
- Macs are sold in most retail outlets and more people are turning to them as the alternative to Windows
- Laptops from $699
- The Internet is as important as clean underwear
- 4 ghz processors with 1 gig video, 4 gb RAM 1 terabyte hard drive
- High speed Broadband with home networks
- High tech Mobile phones with full Internet features , Video camera, 5 mega pixel camera, music player(MP3) and web cams
Most importantly is the change in the way we do business on the Internet. Communications though the Internet with asynchronous tools and the recording of our daily activities. Over the last 12 years there has been some highs and lows with the doing business on the Internet as we seen the dot com boom and bust but there is a new wave coming down the lines with blogger's and social networking giving business a whole new way of communications. Don't let your business miss this one.
Some Interesting observations Chris. I wish I could say that its all new too me, but 1997 is not that long ago. You could also add the mobile phone explosion and PDAs.
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