NAVIGATING THE WEB

                                          PART ONE -   NAVIGATION

1. What are the four main points Michael Rappa makes about search?

The first point that Michael Rappa (2006) makes about search is that the search engine is a data base. Vast amount of about data generated as a result of ordinary things we do each day. There are about 800 megabytes of recorded data produced per person annually. This is equilavent to a shelf of books of 30 feet long. The amount of data produced each year is estimated to grow at a rate of about 30 percentage. 

The second point that Michael Rappa (2006) makes about search is that it is a collection mechanism for adding data into that database.The task of collecting, transmitting, and storing data is costly and time consuming. Users are not aware of the ways to search to their best and how to narrow their search which would result in more accurate results. We should understand how to find out the information more accurately.

The third point that Michael Rappa (2006) makes about search is that It is a search protocol that enables users to query the database. Rappa describes a database of URL's and associated key words, text and images which get compiled through some kind of collection mechanism. The popularity of sites  like Google and Yahoo has given them a unique status because they serve users as a point of entry to the web. Knowing how they work is key to understanding how to search and how to be found on the web.

The fourth point that Michael Rappa (2006) makes about search is the ranking algorithm for listing the results. A simple search of a major web directory can give hundreds of resultant links.

Rappa Michael. (2006). Managing the Digital Enterprise. Retrieved March 29, 2013 from http://digitalenterprise.org/navigation/nav.html



2. Watch or read the Marissa Mayer interview. Write a paragraph or two, on four points made by Marissa Mayer, that you think were the most interesting or significant for business. There are no right or wrong answers here, I just want your opinion.

First point I found interesting is that Google generate ideas from everywhere. Google draws opinions from a range of people including users, executives and results of strategic analysis. They respond to issues people have with their product by listening and then acting on those issues. By using her experience at Google Mayer talked about how they created the prototype. She discussed how they used the feedback and information gathered from users of the prototype to see if it satisfied their needs. They also used this information to see where they need to improve. Mayer believes that there are a lot of different elements of the culture that have really fostered innovation. The main point of this is that they work with really small teams which lead to a sense of empowerment.

Mayer significantly talks that voice is far more advanced then images.  When talking about what was actually possible in terms of technology and what the limits was she said that Google was looking to make advancement on both voice and image recognition.  She also said that they were closer to being able to allow people to search for voices in videos by text then finding similar images to another. She also declared that competition is fruitful for business. She said that the competition between Yahoo and Google is good because people were always enduring foremost products and everyone was asking what is going to be built next. Competition also makes quality of products better.

Arrington. M (2009) Marissa Mayer on Charlie Rose: The Future of Google, Future of Search. Retrieved march 30, 2013 from
http://techcrunch.com/2009/03/06/marissa-mayer-on-charlie-rose-the-future-of-google/

              

                 PART TWO - HISTORY OF THE INTERNET

Please watch the Bill Joy video, and it will give you a good background to the Internet and particularly to the emergence of the World Wide Web.

From the video - please answer (on your blog page) - 

A. So what are the 6 webs?

1.The Near web- This is the Internet that you see when you lean over a screen - like a laptop.

2. The Here web- Personal device where the web comes with you .Smartphone is an example of Here web.

3. The Far web- Corporate entertainment which makes use of the web. For an example television or a kiosk.

4. The Weird web- The Weird Web. This is the Internet you access through your voice and which you listen to - say when you are in your car, or when you talk to an intelligent system on your phone, or when you ask your camera a question. Joy concedes that this Web does not yet fully exist.

5. B2B web- Business computers using the web to communicate with each other to improve business processes and transactions.

6. D2D web- This is the Internet of sensors deployed in meshes networks, adjusting urban systems for maximum efficiency. This Web also does not yet exist. Joy says that it will embed machine intelligence in ordinary, daily life. 

B.  Could there be more?

The 20 year period set by Bill Joy’s team is almost over but the Internet is still growing and more new aspects of web are being innovated. It could be predicted that there can be more webs in near future.

C. What does it mean for business?

If businesses have a good understanding of the current aspects of the Internet that fall in the six webs, they will have better opportunities to advertise and sell their products and services. It also means that businesses can do better care for customer needs more efficiently and effectively. This also provides challenges as they need to keep updated with the development of the Internet and how customers use it on a day-to-day basis.

INTRODUCTION TO E-BUSINESS

1. Internet risks – give examples of four things that can go wrong with a transactional    site?

Transactional website is a type of website where we can buy and sell products and   services, for example; eBay, Amazon. There are many internet risks associated with transactional websites. Some of the examples are:

• Fraud is one of the risk of transactional sites. If website is not authentic credit card details could be misused. 
• Website could be hacked and financial information and identity can be stolen and misused.
• If system doesn't work as expected, this will cause negative public reaction.
• Problems with fulfillment of goods ordered online. Ordered goods could be missed or delayed. 

Introduction to e-business and e-commerce. Retrieved March 23, 2012 from
psut.edu.jo/sites/raad/ebusiness_notes/Chapter01.pdf    

            
2. Write down the definition for each:

• E-business
• E-commerce

E-business: "The process of using web technology to help businesses streamline processes, improves productivity and increase efficiency. Enables companies to easily communicate with partners, vendors and customers; to connect back -end data systems; and to transact commerce in a secure manner." ( Smith et al, 2001 p 1).

E-commerce: "E- commerce is the act of selling products and sevices on the internet. It is one element of e-business, the primary element. it concerns itself with the business-to-business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) selling of products and services. E-commerce is typically implemented as some form of an electronic store (e-store)." (Smith et al, 2001, p 6).

Reference:
Smith B, Chatfield V, Uemera O (2001) IBM e server i series e-business Handbook: A V5R1 Technology and Product Reference. IBM CORP.
ibm.com/redbooks.

3. What is the difference between sell side and buy side e-commerce?
According to Dave Chaffey (2009) sell side e-commerce refers to transactions involved with selling products to organization customers. Buy side e-commerce refers to transactions to procure resources needed by an organization from its suppliers.

                                                                                         Chaffey D. 2009 

 

  Reference:

Chaffey D. (2009). E-Business and E-Commerce Management, Prentice Hall.

4. Describe the types of e-business.

    Types of e- business are as follows:

• Business- to- Consumer (B2C) - Commercial transactions between an organization and consumers (Chaffey D, 2009). An example of B2C is Amazon.com.
• Business-to-Business (B2B) - Commercial transactions between an organization to other organization (Chaffey D, 2009). Cisco is an example for B2B.
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)- Informational or financial transactions between consumers, but usually mediated through a business site. eBay is an example of C2C (Chaffey D, 2009).
• Consumer-to-Business (C2B) - In this business consumer demand specific products and services from respective businesses by representing themselves as a buyer group.
• Business-to-Government (B2G) -  B2G is the online exchange of information and transaction between businesses and government agencies.  Electronic tax filing is an example of B2G.

                                                                                              Chaffey D.2009

References:

Chaffey D (2009) E-Business and E-Commerce Management , Prentice Hall.

Ebusiness types .(2009). Retrieved March 3, 2013 from http://www.alt-team.com/e-commerce-types.html?sl=EN 

5. Which digital technology has the highest penetration rate? Explain and source your answer.

Digital technology which has highest penetration rate is mobile phones. Mobile phones have the highest penetration rate because population ages is increasing and the number of people using one or more mobile subscriptions. Mobile subscription numbers continue to increase and by late 2012 there are more than seven million more mobile phones in Australia. Telstra continues to be the market leader with more than 14 million subscribers, Optus has around 9.5 million subscribers and vodafone has more than 6 million subscribers. From the figure we can see the top 10 countries in terms of smartphones penetration (Alexendar A, 2012).

Source:

Alexander A (2012) Smartphone Usage Statistics 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2013, from
http://ansonalex.com/infographics/smartphone-usage-statistics-2012-infographic 

Reference:

Budde P (2012) Australia - Mobile Communications - Subscriber Statistics. Retrieved March 24, 2013, from

 http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Australia-Mobile-Communications-Subscriber-Statistics.html

6. List: Four drivers to adoption of sell-side e-commerce by business.

• Reduced costs
• Increase reach to new markets
• Customer demand
• Competitive threats

Chaffey D (2009) E-Business and E-Commerce Management , Prentice Hall.

7. Four barriers to adoption of sell-side e-commerce by business.

• Security- It is a major barrier for the adoption of sell-side e-commerce by business.
• No need - Some of the business doesn't required.
• Costs - For some of the business it will be costly.
• Skills- People should have good computer skills and understanding of internet for e-commerce.

Chaffey D (2009) E-Business and E-Commerce Management , Prentice Hall.

 8. What are some examples of Digital information?

Some of the examples of Digital information are:

• Cd's
• DVD's
• Mobile phones
• Internet
• Digital television

Digital. Retrived March 26, 2013 from  http://www.techterms.com/definition/digital

9. What is the semantic web? Are we there yet?

The Semantic Web is a Web that includes documents, or portions of documents, describing explicit relationships between things and containing semantic information intended for automated processing by our machines. It is a mesh of information linked up in such a way as to be easily process able by machines, on a global scale. You can think of it as being an efficient way of representing data on the World Wide Web, or as a globally linked database. Semantic web improves search engine results.The Semantic Web was thought up by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the WWW, URIs, HTTP, and HTML. (Palmer S, 2009. Semnatic Web Group, 2007)

Palmer S (2009) The Semantic Web: An Introduction. Retrieved March 26, 2013 from

http://infomesh.net/2001/swintro/ 

Semnatic Web Group (2007) What is Semnatic Web? Retrieved March 26, 2013 from

http://swag.webns.net/whatIsSW 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

WELCOME

Welcome to my e-business blog. This is my first blog. I will be posting information related to e-business in coming weeks as a part of assessment of unit eBusiness Fundamentals of my Bachelors Degree at the University of Ballarat.