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
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Begun by the Defense Department’s ARPA
(Advanced Research Project’s Agency)
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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
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Bulletin boards listed information.
 Health issues
 Computer programs
 Employment services
As Internet use proliferated, entrepreneurs
took notice.
The Net Widens
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Microprocessors—miniature circuits that
could process and store electronic signals—
were the first signal of the Net’s marketability.
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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
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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
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Interpersonal communication
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Connecting users to their proprietary Web
system
E-mail
Search engine reliability varies.
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Direct marketing dream come true
Media Convergence
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Internet offers unprecedented
communication opportunities:
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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

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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
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Instant messaging (IM)
Blogs
Wiki Web sites
Social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook)
Dividing Up the Web
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Four companies dominate Web 2.0.
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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 Owns
Search
• 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 language
search)
Web Sites and Services
• Blogger
• Gmail
• Postini (security and
anti-spam service)
• iGoogle
• YouTube
• Knol
• Picasa/Panoramio
Advertising
• Adwords
• Adsense
• Doubleclick
• Feedburner (ads for blogs
and RSS feeds)
Software and Apps
• Google Docs
• Google Calendar
• Google Checkout
• Google Desktop
• Google Glossary
• Google Groups
• Google Talk
• Gapminder’s Trendalyzer
Software (visualization
graphics)
Mobile
• Google Mobile
• Google SMS
• Google Maps
Mobile
• GrandCentral
Communications
(Web-based
voicemail
integration)
• Zipdash
(navigation
assistance)
Radio
• dMarc
Broadcasting
(digital audio
systems)
• Maestro (digital
audio
recording)
Regulatory Issues
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Little regulation on the Web
In a world where information rules
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Merger mania with telecoms
Everybody wants to dominate
Staggering amounts of money involved
Google dominates advertising
Online Alternatives
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Open-source software
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Digital archiving
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Linux
Open Content Alliance
What are the potential benefits and
dangers of user-created Web content?
The Challenge to Keep Personal
Information Private
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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.
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Modern marketing relies on such data.
 E-commerce’s popularity despite the risks
 Cookies
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Spyware
Opt-in, opt-out policies
Digital Divide
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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?