Evolution of Internet Essay

In the beginning information was limited to newspapers, magazines, later went on to the radio and then the television. As time passed by the one-dimensional approach of information changed into a multi-dimensional trend setting phenomenon thanks to the internet. The convergence of mediums threw up huge areas of possibilities for data management and readership. So now the prior print journalism had changed to broadcast and then now the latest cyber journalism. 5. 1. The Need Internet is used as an alternative for other means of technology such as, †¢ Need of communication †¢ Need for resources †¢ Needs for information and †¢ Need for selling and marketing products 5. 2. World Wide Web The internet led to the development of the World Wide Web for effective and efficient tool of information sharing and communications. This section explains the evolution. 5. 3. Arrival of the Web A Licklider research in 1962 led to the advent of the ARPANET within the next 10 years. The next few years saw the introduction of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, which allowed computers to communicate with each other. Later came the 80s, where the internet came formally into being. Hypertext language (Berners-Lee 1989, 1990) later became the language of the internet. The World Wide Web solved many of the issues faced and came forward with a lot of benefits such as online communities, learning opportunities, email, mailing lists, chat, news and newsgroups, sales, marketing, advertising, e-commerce, net telephony, television and many more. It all started of with the network between universities in 1969, till 1980 it catered to the needs of universities. In 1993, a software Mosaic allowed images and text to be displayed on the internet. This led to the beginning of a revolution of the World Wide Web. Journalism has drastically changed the face of reporting and information gathering. The World Wide Web gives an opportunity to use technology for the benefit of the writer as well as the reader. The need for tools and resources to improve the individual’s journalistic ambitions as well as the organization involved (Garrison, 1998). The steps for journalism are clearly explained in (Hausman, 1992). Some clear principles of web production for web developers (Whittaker) for users besides computer professionals are well explained. This gives an idea of what needs to be done and how it has to be done. Nielsen (1999) explains well the design concepts involved both which are page design, content design, site design and intranet design. According to Sundar (2000) the prime way of attracting readership to internet and print media is the level of interactivity goes beyond images. Internet is a medium in audio, visual, visual effects and animation, along with non-linear narrative structures (Grusin and Bolter, 1999). Online information is a place for data storage so that information can be accessed as and when required, these have become electronic libraries for storage (Koch). In one of the papers (Augustine and Greene, 2002) it is explained that in the case of a library, the students frequently use the search instead of browsing through the pages in the website. So in cases like this the website importance becomes more concentrated on the search factor. So the web designers will have to improve upon the metadata and search engine features to facilitate the students much better. Verlag (2005) gives a detailed description why people do not visit websites. The reasons may be varied but loosing a reader is not a good point for journalism. Information is so massive and so varied that if you search for a topic it will throw up a lot of relevant and irrelevant entries. The net is also a source for fraud, spoofs and indecent matter. It is important that information is filtered based on the search requirement (CNET). 5. 4. Designing the website Websites designed serve different purposes they can be introductory pages, brochures designs for sales and marketing, latest news coverage, online services, business applications and many more. To develop the right website what is required is, †¢ A plan for the site. This plan needs to contain the navigation style, the menu structure and other links. †¢ Layout of website. This refers to the positioning of the website which consists of images, texts, headers, footers and logo. †¢ Content. The information that is going to fill the website. The material such as images, audios and videos, everything needs to be decided. 5. 5. Websites for user-Interaction Most of the websites available allow for user interaction,, these websites can be classified as †¢ Websites for E-Commerce. Where sales and marketing are promoted through advertisements and online transactions. †¢ Website for business purposes. This keeps the users informed about the goings on of business organizations and institutions for B@B and B2C transactions. †¢ Website with user interaction. Forms that is available online for filling such as feedback, contact forms and so on. †¢ Information exchange. Online libraries, digital magazines, news papers, blogs that contain the latest information. 5. 6. Uses of Websites There are a lot of benefits that any industry can get from websites, some of them being †¢ Up-to-date information. The easy design makes updating very simple. †¢ Branding. A company, organisation, person can be put into the limelight by very good brand managing and websites have become a very strong tool for the purpose. †¢ Correspondence. Email, chat, net telephony has made geographical divisions and differences very small, cheap and easy. †¢ Online sales and services. Companies are using the internet to increase their sales and marketing. †¢ Client/Customer satisfaction. Customer relationship management has reached a new level with the internet making interaction personal and secure. 6. Similar Websites Websites are of different types such as business websites, personal websites, governmental websites, private organisation websites and informative websites. These websites provide various themes, such as employment, directory, games, politics and sports. Some websites are studied to analyse what the user is looking for when looking for information. The website results have been consolidated after the research methods used above. 6. 1. Study of website -1 The website being discussed has an exclusive theme of permit free training in the UK. The website voices opinions against the verdict given by the judiciary system. The website keeps doctors of Indian origin updated about rule and regulations regarding their welfare. The team aims to improve the skill of doctors so that their contribution to NHS and is note worthy. The website also helps in petitioning against injustices and atrocities against doctors. It also guides and supports doctors by way of financial assistance and employment assistance. The website assists in many ways and gives information of the organisation their objectives, goals and actions. The user can also subscribe for the newsletter that is available via email. The user can also publish their messages on the online message board. High points of the website – http://www. bapioaction. moonfruit. com/ †¢ Broken Links. There are no broken links. Each page goes to another page. †¢ Writing style. The written style is simple and easy to understand. †¢ Content overview. The website aims to be up-to-date, which is good. So anyone who visits the page is assured of the latest information. Low points of the website †¢ Design of the website. The design is simple but the formats and fonts are not consistent across the webpage. There is too much wastage of space. The alignment and consistency in the pages is missing. †¢ Layout of the website. The website layout is not regular throughout. There are buttons, messages and images all over the place. †¢ Navigation. It is not easy to navigate through the website as there are too many links all over the page. †¢ Time taken to load. The page takes time to load, it is very slow. †¢ Errors. Pages sometimes overload and it is difficult to read as two pages are overlapped. †¢ Download. It opens into another page and then into the download option, which is inconvenient. †¢ Browser compatibility. Mozilla Firefox an Internet Explorer has some problems while opening the pages and displaying contents. †¢ User-friendliness. The website is easy to use but not friendly enough as navigation, formats and all the above mentioned problems.