Assignment #1
Short Q & A
Title:
Short Q & A
Name: Kylie O’Connor
Student Number: 15236900
Unit Name: WEB101 – Web Communications
Email Address: Kylie.t.oconnor@curtin.edu.au
Date Submitted: 22/6/13
Word Count: 753
URL (if applicable):
By submitting this assignment, I declare that I have retained a suitable copy of this assignment,
have not previously submitted this work for assessment and have ensured that it complies with
university and school regulations, especially concerning plagiarism and copyright.
__________Kylie O’Connor__22/6/13_____
(Date/Signature)
(Typing your name in the space provided is sufficient when
submitting online via FLECS-Blackboard.)
Kylie O’Connor [Student No. 15236900]
Assignment 1: WEB101
Page 1
In Brief:
This assignment is worth 15% of your mark for this unit.
Please refer to the calendar in your Unit Outline for the due date.
Instructions:
Please answer all of the following questions. Each answer should be a paragraph in length, and
the maximum total word length for the assignment is 750 words.
1. What is the Internet?
The internet was originally a “process that began its preliminary planning in 1957”, as a
concept for time-sharing to enable programmers to continue to improve computer
systems. (Bilgil, 2009) Computers were firstly only able to be used as individual units;
store in large cooled rooms, causing problems for programmers needing to work on
them. (Bilgil, 2009) This process was improved creating a network of computers
connected to servers. In essence the internet is large number of different computers
“connected via cables, phone lines, power lines, and radio or satellite links.” (Wydea
Wonders, 2007) These computers are linked either directly or indirectly to a server,
commercial or public; which connect to other servers forming more networks. When
each network connects with others this creates an internet. (Wydea Wonders, 2007)
Each computer connecting to the internet has a unique address, called and Internet
Protocol (IP) address, ensuring the information is transmitted to the correct address. The
Internet ensures information flowing between different addresses reaches its destination
as quickly as possible. (Bilgil, 2009)
2. What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web is essentially a storage system for a series of ‘hypertext’
documents “linked to each other to form a ‘web’ of information”; which is then accessible
through web browsers. (Berners-Lee & Cailliau, 1990) A ‘Hypertext’ is simply a way of
connecting all documents and files easily for users to be able to access them. The idea
of the Web was first touched on by Vannever Bush in an article, although his idea was
limited by available technologies. Bush (1945) understood that information stored on the
Web would need to work in a way the human mind could understand. “It operates by
association” and so any process would need to “equal the speed and flexibility with
which the mind follows an associative trail”. (Bush, 1945) Thankfully technology
developed to the stage of this being possible, and in “1968 researcher Doug Engelbart,
Kylie O’Connor [Student No. 15236900]
Assignment 1: WEB101
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had developed the first working mouse, bit-mapped computer screens and, most
importantly for the development of the Web, 'Hypertext'.” (2007)
3. What is the relationship between the World Wide Web and the Internet?
While it is common for the Internet and the World Wide Web to be referred to as one,
they are essentially two different things. The Internet is a system of hardware and
software enabling the connection of multiple computers and servers. The World Wide
Web is an application which uses this network in much the same way as email, and is a
many to many communications medium. A basic explanation would be the “World Wide
Web is the public face of the Internet” and this filters our “perception and cultural
understanding of it”. (Curtin University, 2013). In the 1990’s the use of the Internet and
World Wide Web became easier to understand and use, meaning more and more
people began to use them for both personal and business use. This massive growth has
meant the World Wide Web has rapidly expanded and in 2008 Google reported an
amazing “1 trillion (as in 1,000,000,000,000) unique URLs on the web at once.”(Alpert &
Hajaj, 2008)
4. What are three purported differences between the World Wide Web as it
first emerged, and the more recent Web 2.0?
Static pages were a feature of Web 1.0, used to present information to be simply read by
the user and unable to be edited unless the user had access to web design software
such as FrontPage. Web 2.0 allows for easy updating of webpages without using HTML.
(McAfee, 2006)
Web 2.0 allows for greater user participation with a growing number of people being able
to be a part of the web experiences with user-created content (UCC). Some UCC sites
include Wordpress, Flicker and YouTube, with some being free to use they rely on
participation for their ongoing success. (Wikis and Social Networking, 2007).
Web 2.0 provides a rich user experience, providing better interactivity to the user. Social
interaction is easier with participation and collaboration possible through a number of
human sectors; as well as immediate response to user enquiries and needs. Searching
is easier and updates are often automatic. (Kim, Kwok-Bun, Hall & Gates, 2009)
Kylie O’Connor [Student No. 15236900]
Assignment 1: WEB101
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5. What is RSS and why is it significant to Web 2.0?
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) allows users to subscribe to information from a number
of web pages. RSS sends new information from each web page to the user via email or
own web page rather than the user having to click on each webpage to check for
updates. (Education.au, 2007) RSS feeds are significant to Web 2.0 because of these
updates being able to be delivered via web or mobile, depending on the user’s
preferences. HTML was specific to Web 1.0 but was limiting due to the level of
knowledge required to access, while RSS is easily and freely available to everyone.
(Education.au, 2007)
Kylie O’Connor [Student No. 15236900]
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References
(2007). Doug Engelbart 1968 Demo - 3 of 9. Retrieved April 1st, 2009, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYCMlMidvTM.
Alpert, J. & Hajaj, N. (2008). We knew the web was big..... Retrieved from Google
Official Blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com.au/2008/07/we-knew-web-wasbig.html
Berners-Lee, T. & Cailliau, R. (1990). WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a Hypertext Project.
Retrieved from w3: http://www.w3.org/Proposal.html
Bilgil, M. (2009). History of the Internet. Retrieved May 7th, 2009, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4.
Bush, V. (1945). As We May Think. Retrieved from The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/07/as-we-may-think/303881/
Curtin University. (2013). and what is the World Wide Web? [Course notes] Retrieved
from BlackBoard:
https://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%
2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Fcontent%2Ffile%3Fcmd%3Dview%2
6content_id%3D_2183079_1%26course_id%3D_35148_1%26framesetWrapped
%3Dtrue
Education.au (2006) Blogs, Wikis, RSS and there’s more? Web 2.0 on the march
Retrieved from http://www.educationau.edu.au/2006-web2
Kim, D., Kwok-Bun. Y., Hall, S., Gates, T. (2009). Global Diffusion of the Internet XV:
Web 2.0 Technologies, Principles, and Applications, A Conceptual Framework
from Technology Push and Demand Pull Perspective, 2009(25), 657-672,
Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/
McAfee A P (2006) Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration Retrieved from
http://www.wikiservice.at/upload/ChristopheDucamp/McAfeeEntrepriseDeux.pdf
Wikis and Social Networking (2007) Participative Web and User-Created Content Web
2.0, 2007(15), 1-128, Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/
Wydea Wonders (2007). Wydea - Science and Technology [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.wydea.com/topic/internet
Kylie O’Connor [Student No. 15236900]
Assignment 1: WEB101
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