ICT can be very over powering however it can also be very cost effective. Putting a community IT centre ore kiosk in a central point of a village will cause a lot of the to be taught about IT resulting in lots of people having access to information and communication on the internet therefore changing their lives. In Bolivia, these identical internet centres are used to check information on crops, markets and regulations that might effect them.
Broadcasting
Digital broadcasting is a good example of technology and political barriers eliminating the gap in the divide. Villages in rural Asia used to rely on low-quality broadcasts given by low quality equipment. Nowadays they have access to high quality images and sounds that given at a range that was at one point unimaginable. Rivers, jungles and densely populated cities are all more fortunate with wireless technology. In the Middle East and North Africa they consider digital TV as a bad thing because they think it is a bad thing to have access to western values and norms because it is seen as corrupting as in some religions. Community radio stations in Africa have been used to provide health warnings, agricultural information and weather disaster warnings.
Governance
A major challenge is often associated with the governments of under-served nations. Most of the time there are high tariffs on importing high technology, occasionally there are large amounts of red tape or regulations that have to be cleared before goods can be imported. Successful strategies have been adopted in Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Internet City has been set up to act as a free trade zone. This is to encourage investment in ICT through the Middle East.
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Net Books
An e-book is an electronic book. It is nothing more than an electronic file that contains the text of an existing book. One of the most confusing aspects to the e-book is the fact that they come in such a variety of formats. The purpose of an e-book is to be able to carry a library of books on something the size of the paperback book. A more complex e-book can show a film or play a music file.
Text e-books
A text e-book is the most simplistic form and all that needs to be done is write the text into a text editor or scan the text from paper using a text converter. The file format is simple and is in the standard linear form in the document. This has been used extensively for computer manuals in the past before Adobe invented their Portable Document Format (PDF). With it's simplicity it also has the advantage of being very easily searchable and portable to any platform.
Word e-books
Word documents can be made into books and are stored under the same document name. Having hyperlinks within a document allows there to be a presence of multimedia content. Multimedia files can be large especially when images are included. This means that this format is only most effective when everyone has the Microsoft Office software and where different author have to work together.
Adobe PDF e-books
The Portable Document Format books are stored in a PDF file. This type of e-book has been a massive success, as proof almost all computer and software manuals are in PDF format. This is even starting to take off well as a full e-books. However to create this it is probable that you will need specialised program such as Adobe Acrobat. With this said some operating systems can allow PDF files to be directly printed from a document.
The PDF format itself has a number of features that allows it to be useful for the presentation and layout of textual material. These features allow a PDF file to be very small compared to a similar word document. Another good prospect is that you can impliment multimedia and sucurity features such as passwords and even digital signatures. It is possible to lend e-books for a period of time and deactivate them when this time period is up.
Reader e-books
This is designed to give the reader a feeling that they are reading a normal book. It is quite unique because it allows you to bookmark pages, make notes and also give you the option for the e-book to read to you. These formats are ususally made from a word document and have had a convertion software added to make it a single incrypted file. You can access any of your books from microsoft reader. This sort of format works well on pocket PC's and Personal Digital Assistants. It's best attribute is that it makes a good simulation of the total paperbook reading experience.
Website e-books
The most important and felxible format is created as a website in HTML or XHTML format. All the pages are linked together to create an e-book feel. It is argued that this type of e-book is the best because it allows images, animations and sound files to be added. Typically this format offers the richest multimedia experience of them all. There are simple text based websites/e-books with page to page navigation.
As a website is a collection of files it is hard to control so some website e-books have put the site into .exe format. However if this is done then it makes to process of creating an e-book longer and as a whole the resulting file could be quite large.
An e-book good or bad
There are both good and bad things about e-books here are some examples of both.
E-books are good because it allows people to carry around a vast amount of books with them on something that is the size of a small paperback. Another good thing about e-books are that most formats actually resemble a paperback book with added extras to make reading more fun and exciting.
E-books might not be liked or used by people because of the fact that however much it is made to seem like a paperback, it will never be one. Some people just like the feeling of having a real book in their hands.
The PDF format itself has a number of features that allows it to be useful for the presentation and layout of textual material. These features allow a PDF file to be very small compared to a similar word document. Another good prospect is that you can impliment multimedia and sucurity features such as passwords and even digital signatures. It is possible to lend e-books for a period of time and deactivate them when this time period is up.
Reader e-books
This is designed to give the reader a feeling that they are reading a normal book. It is quite unique because it allows you to bookmark pages, make notes and also give you the option for the e-book to read to you. These formats are ususally made from a word document and have had a convertion software added to make it a single incrypted file. You can access any of your books from microsoft reader. This sort of format works well on pocket PC's and Personal Digital Assistants. It's best attribute is that it makes a good simulation of the total paperbook reading experience.
Website e-books
The most important and felxible format is created as a website in HTML or XHTML format. All the pages are linked together to create an e-book feel. It is argued that this type of e-book is the best because it allows images, animations and sound files to be added. Typically this format offers the richest multimedia experience of them all. There are simple text based websites/e-books with page to page navigation.
As a website is a collection of files it is hard to control so some website e-books have put the site into .exe format. However if this is done then it makes to process of creating an e-book longer and as a whole the resulting file could be quite large.
An e-book good or bad
There are both good and bad things about e-books here are some examples of both.
E-books are good because it allows people to carry around a vast amount of books with them on something that is the size of a small paperback. Another good thing about e-books are that most formats actually resemble a paperback book with added extras to make reading more fun and exciting.
E-books might not be liked or used by people because of the fact that however much it is made to seem like a paperback, it will never be one. Some people just like the feeling of having a real book in their hands.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Decision Making
An obvious effect of the Information Age is the amount of information sources available. People nowadays are bombarded with data and freedom of choice in a way they never used to be. A major impact of this is the fact that people can feel stress and a sense of hopelessness because of the overload of information. This is particularly correct if the information is not straight forward or clear about the subject it talks about.
My Grandmother does not know a lot about technology and therefore already I would suggest a cell phone over a smartphone. The difference between the two is that a cell phone cannot really do a lot of the things a smartphone does. With this said a smartphone is like a mini computer as it runs an operating system that allows them to do everything that a computer does. My grandmother is not good with technology as I have already mentioned so a cell phone will be more than perfect for her. I would however suggest that she gets a cell phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard so if she does decide to start using computers then she will at least be familiar with the keyboard setup.
She is ok with her eye sight which is a god send because a lot of these cell phones are quite small which means the keys on these phones are small. I have seen a Nokia 201 Charcoal in Tesco for £45.00. This is a good price to pay for a cell phone. It fits the criteria for my grandmother, this is because she wants a mobile phone that isn't too expensive and is fairly simple.
Managing the Information Overload
A spreadsheet can help with decision making because it filters out information and puts it into catagories. This makes the information more digestible or in some cases makes it somewhat easier to make a decision due to less clouded judgement from the overload of irrelevant information.
Simulation software can help with decision making because it takes something that is something great and quite complicated and simplifies it using mathematical formulas. This is also all without an individual actually performing a single operation. This would help because a machine would calculate the right outcome to make decisions easier.
My Grandmother does not know a lot about technology and therefore already I would suggest a cell phone over a smartphone. The difference between the two is that a cell phone cannot really do a lot of the things a smartphone does. With this said a smartphone is like a mini computer as it runs an operating system that allows them to do everything that a computer does. My grandmother is not good with technology as I have already mentioned so a cell phone will be more than perfect for her. I would however suggest that she gets a cell phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard so if she does decide to start using computers then she will at least be familiar with the keyboard setup.
She is ok with her eye sight which is a god send because a lot of these cell phones are quite small which means the keys on these phones are small. I have seen a Nokia 201 Charcoal in Tesco for £45.00. This is a good price to pay for a cell phone. It fits the criteria for my grandmother, this is because she wants a mobile phone that isn't too expensive and is fairly simple.
Managing the Information Overload
A spreadsheet can help with decision making because it filters out information and puts it into catagories. This makes the information more digestible or in some cases makes it somewhat easier to make a decision due to less clouded judgement from the overload of irrelevant information.
Simulation software can help with decision making because it takes something that is something great and quite complicated and simplifies it using mathematical formulas. This is also all without an individual actually performing a single operation. This would help because a machine would calculate the right outcome to make decisions easier.
Bridging the Gap
There are vast amounts of initiatives to bridge the gap of the Digital Divide and they are all sponsored by the government. There is a list of the range of initiatives offered in the UK, however it is not intended to be exhausted. It keeps track of what has been done and also the amount of investment that has been put into an area.
UK Online - This is a government project that aims to give computer access to those people in the community who do not know about computers. The idea is to teach them new ICT skills and it has taken off well. There is now over 6,000 UK centres that are located in lots of libraries and schools. This seems like a very good program for people who lack ICT skills, with Digital Technologies becoming more predominant is many people's lives it is very relevant for more people to use computers. If it has only been running 7 years and they have 6,000 centres that function on a regular basis this means that there is a high demand for this service. I can also see how this would help to close the gap in the divide. This would be by widening skills in ICT for people who don't know and understand so the gap will get smaller.
University for Industry (UFI) - This is a partnership between the government and private industries. It is in place to improve job prospects for individuals who are not confident in ICT and making them more competitive for businesses. Working as a public-private partnership, UFI aims to put people into better positions to get jobs and improve career prospects. This seems like a good initiative as it allows people who are unemployable due to lack of education in ICT to obtain enough skills to allow them to become employable. This reduces unemployment in the UK and this is how the government benefits from the scheme. As for the business side of things, having a person who is competent in ICT will allow them to promote and offer better jobs within the company to the person so they can feel motivated from making progress in their job.
Wired up Communities Initiative - £10 million funding was provided by this initiative to connect 7 of the most disadvantaged communities to the internet to see what effect this would have. In east London 750 households and one school was connected to the internet, this was in the hope that it would make education better and improve job opportunities. I can vastly see how this could improve the current state of the divide. A lot of activity occurs on the internet and giving internet to that many homes and a school widens that activity to them. this now means that potentially 750 more people can apply for jobs online. This is apparent considering that most job applications are done over the internet. As for the school, the teachers can set homework on the computer for the child to do when they go home. This will allow them to not only see if the child has done it or not but also allows them to give online help to that child.
People's Network Project (Hertfordshire) - This initiative was designed to give free access to 400 computers with internet, Microsoft Office software and even photo editing software, these resources would be available in most of the libraries in Hertfordshire. Even the smallest of their libraries have at least one computer in for people to use. This is good for bridging the divide because as it offers everybody in the community an opportunity to get on the internet. This can be for whatever reason like applying for a job, putting together a CV for a job application or even just researching and looking for information. This closes the gap as it allows people without a computer and internet at home to be able to do this they wouldn't be able to do on their own.
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Download Services
When different types of media are in digital form then it makes sense to use the internet itself. This stops a person needing to go to a shop or even wait for a distribution company to deliver it to your address. Since anything in digital form can be transferred through the internet it allows users to download a massive variety of items from the internet just with a click of a button.
Software
Most software nowadays uses the internet to transfer upgrades and virus definition updates are all now done over the internet. Downloading over the internet have gone as far as being able to be download and install in the background without the user needing to intervene. As well as that it allows them to use the computer while the software is being downloaded and installed. Most new programs and program upgrades are usually downloaded off of the internet. The good point about this is that updates are usually free because the cost of them is so low but also they can be used strait away and most of the time automatically. All software should be transferred in this way but the reason they are not is because of the size of the file, typically it takes a while to download even a small file. Another reason is because no matter the size of the application the user generally would want a physical copy of the the software and manuals.
Music and Video
Music downloads have become very popular, originally it was downloaded and put onto an MP3 in the relevant format. The reason for the large popularity growth was because to the vast number of peer-to-peer file sharing services provided where they could get expensive music for next to no money. This caused legal action to arise from the industry and has reduced the peer-to-peer activity, causing legal download services to really become more popular than anything else. Apple Inc. was one of the first to launch this idea and it has allowed them to sell millions if not billions of songs and albums legally on it's iTunes service. Apple does not tend to use MP3 anymore, they use MPEG-4 advanced audio coding (AAC) which is a high quality format that contends with CD quality.
Video is starting to follow in Audio's footsteps in the way that there are numerous sites where it is possible to download films while breaking the law. Like audio the film and video industries are starting to provide legal downloadable content. The issue with video's is that the size of files a very large compared to audio files, even in compressed form a quality video can use up many gigabytes per hour. Video's are able to be streamed on the internet to enable people to watch videos when enough data has been buffered. The effectiveness of this method depends on how quickly the video is buffered, if it takes too long to buffer then you will have to wait a long time for the video to start.
Books
Many books have been transferred into electronic form, these can be downloaded quite easily because of their small size. There is another section explaining this... see 'Net Books'.
Downloading Goods and Services
There is quite a long list of items that I have downloaded off of the internet but i am only going to keep the list fairly short.
Downloading Music on iTunes
Downloaded Software from Adobe
Downloaded Software from Microsoft.
This is a short list of some of the items that I have downloaded off of the internet. The reason I downloaded these off the internet was because they were easy to find and very convenient in the way that I did not have to leave the comfort of my own home. Also after downloading I did not have to wait around to receive the software and I could apply it straight to my PC or in the audio's case I could listen to my music straight away.
The problems you could face from downloading software off the internet is that you will not have any proof of where you bought the product just in case you are asked under serious circumstances and also if something goes wrong then there will be a problem in the fact that there will be no instruction manuals to help with the found problem.
Software
Most software nowadays uses the internet to transfer upgrades and virus definition updates are all now done over the internet. Downloading over the internet have gone as far as being able to be download and install in the background without the user needing to intervene. As well as that it allows them to use the computer while the software is being downloaded and installed. Most new programs and program upgrades are usually downloaded off of the internet. The good point about this is that updates are usually free because the cost of them is so low but also they can be used strait away and most of the time automatically. All software should be transferred in this way but the reason they are not is because of the size of the file, typically it takes a while to download even a small file. Another reason is because no matter the size of the application the user generally would want a physical copy of the the software and manuals.
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| http://www.thebrowserdownload.com/ |
Music downloads have become very popular, originally it was downloaded and put onto an MP3 in the relevant format. The reason for the large popularity growth was because to the vast number of peer-to-peer file sharing services provided where they could get expensive music for next to no money. This caused legal action to arise from the industry and has reduced the peer-to-peer activity, causing legal download services to really become more popular than anything else. Apple Inc. was one of the first to launch this idea and it has allowed them to sell millions if not billions of songs and albums legally on it's iTunes service. Apple does not tend to use MP3 anymore, they use MPEG-4 advanced audio coding (AAC) which is a high quality format that contends with CD quality.
Video is starting to follow in Audio's footsteps in the way that there are numerous sites where it is possible to download films while breaking the law. Like audio the film and video industries are starting to provide legal downloadable content. The issue with video's is that the size of files a very large compared to audio files, even in compressed form a quality video can use up many gigabytes per hour. Video's are able to be streamed on the internet to enable people to watch videos when enough data has been buffered. The effectiveness of this method depends on how quickly the video is buffered, if it takes too long to buffer then you will have to wait a long time for the video to start.
Books
Many books have been transferred into electronic form, these can be downloaded quite easily because of their small size. There is another section explaining this... see 'Net Books'.
Downloading Goods and Services
There is quite a long list of items that I have downloaded off of the internet but i am only going to keep the list fairly short.
Downloading Music on iTunes
Downloaded Software from Adobe
Downloaded Software from Microsoft.
This is a short list of some of the items that I have downloaded off of the internet. The reason I downloaded these off the internet was because they were easy to find and very convenient in the way that I did not have to leave the comfort of my own home. Also after downloading I did not have to wait around to receive the software and I could apply it straight to my PC or in the audio's case I could listen to my music straight away.
The problems you could face from downloading software off the internet is that you will not have any proof of where you bought the product just in case you are asked under serious circumstances and also if something goes wrong then there will be a problem in the fact that there will be no instruction manuals to help with the found problem.
Monday, 22 April 2013
E-commerce and Social Networking
E-bay
E-commerce is simply an online shop. Sellers set up online shops, this is a specialised type or website and will typically have a payment processing interface. In the online shop there is usually web pages with pictures of products with product descriptions. They way it works is exactly as if you were to shop within a literal store, shop for the products that you want to buy and place them in their virtual basket. Once all desired products have been placed in the virtual basket they can then pay for them. Items are payed for usually on a separate page.
The major purpose of ebay is to allow people to buy and sell items nationally or even internationally. This website however is an online auctions which means random people sell their second hand goods to other people. This means that it is not ebay that is directly selling all the products. As a result of anyone being able to sell anything on ebay then it means that it has a very broad target audience, buyers and sellers ages can range from 18 up. There are 2 ways of buying good from a seller on ebay, one is by buying the object instantly or by having the winning bid in an auction. The auction allows someone to place a bit on an object and this sets a benchmark for all bidders bidding on that item, this benchmark must be exceeds for another person to win the bid. There is a time lapse for when bidding must end and the winning bidder has bought the item.
This website does do quite well to achieve it's purpose as it does use quite simple and efficient techniques to allow all age groups to use it with ease. Unfortunately sometimes with an online auction something doesn't get sold to the winning bidder and therefore the person is unsuccessful at selling their item. However this is not a fault on ebay's behalf as it is just lack of interest on the particular item. This can also be a major disadvantage to selling something on ebay. But on a good note it is easy to advertise an object for sale on ebay as long as you have an account.
Snoox
This is a new type of website that works via a new concept. Snoox is the first website of it's kind that allows people to socially recommend different forms of entertainment and shops. It is truly unique because instead of asking strangers it allows you to see reviews and recommendations that your friends and family have given. The idea behind this website is based on the fact that most businesses and ventures exist and rely heavily on word of mouth through people that have tried their products or services. This means that, for example, if individuals want to see how good a restaurant is then they can log onto Snoox and see what their friends and family say about it. After all you are more likely to trust what a friend says then a complete stranger.
This idea has existed of a long time but it did not get much recognition because it ran through Facebook and therefore it couldn't make it's break because in theory it was a sub app for Facebook. Now that it has been separated from Facebook it has been very successful. Within 5 days of it becoming independent it gained 10,000 users.
E-commerce linked to Social Networking
Social Networking websites are being used more and more by businesses as a method of advertisement and also recognition. This is because businesses have realised that a lot of people nowadays use social networking sites on a daily basis and so and advert would be seen by most people at some point. Just to hammer this point home here are some facts and figures about facebook in general:
-Today, Facebook is valued at over $10 billion and it has over 400 million active users and 70% of them actually live outside of the USA.
-An average user spends more than 55 minutes each day on Facebook.
With these facts listed you can see why businesses have opted to use Facebook as a means for occasional advertisement. Really you would be silly not to use social networking sites with them sort of statistics.
Why Businesses Should Use Social Networking Websites
-Facebook is a very good way for a business to expose their brand and also obtain some recognition as a business. This can be performed through making pages, setting up events and heading up groups. All of this contributes towards getting the business recognised.
-Another reason businesses should use Facebook is because it is a good way to engage with customers that are both existing and potential. This is usually done by sharing industry news and updating customers on new and great offers from the business.
-Lastly, Facebook is a great way for customers of a business to give feedback on what they think about the business but not only that they could give potential improvements. This is good as it allows the customer to speak their mind via the comment window.
Why Businesses Should Not Use Social Networking Websites
-Way too often businesses become reliant on Facebook as a direct form of advertising and this can have a major negative effect on Facebook users in relation to the business. Users do not want to constantly be bombarded with business offers and other advertisements after all they are on Facebook to socialise. So constant adverts will just make them want to stop being a fan and so the business will get negative views and people will not want to consume what the business has to offer.
-A rarer occurrence is how some businesses make the mistake of using Facebook as predominantly a website for their business. This is bad because all of a sudden it instantly narrows your customer base because a lot of people still don't use Facebook within their daily lives, so not having an individual website will cloud the business' existence. In essence the business would want to use Facebook as a means to enhance their web presence.
-Lastly a complete no go area would be using Facebook as another email list. This would be because it could get confusing for the customer and they could become intolerant. It is also bad because it will cloud the business' distinction for the customers and this could become a permanent thing if they were to pass on business to their friends through word of mouth. Besides Email is still a lot more professional and effective.
E-commerce is simply an online shop. Sellers set up online shops, this is a specialised type or website and will typically have a payment processing interface. In the online shop there is usually web pages with pictures of products with product descriptions. They way it works is exactly as if you were to shop within a literal store, shop for the products that you want to buy and place them in their virtual basket. Once all desired products have been placed in the virtual basket they can then pay for them. Items are payed for usually on a separate page.
This website does do quite well to achieve it's purpose as it does use quite simple and efficient techniques to allow all age groups to use it with ease. Unfortunately sometimes with an online auction something doesn't get sold to the winning bidder and therefore the person is unsuccessful at selling their item. However this is not a fault on ebay's behalf as it is just lack of interest on the particular item. This can also be a major disadvantage to selling something on ebay. But on a good note it is easy to advertise an object for sale on ebay as long as you have an account.
Snoox
This idea has existed of a long time but it did not get much recognition because it ran through Facebook and therefore it couldn't make it's break because in theory it was a sub app for Facebook. Now that it has been separated from Facebook it has been very successful. Within 5 days of it becoming independent it gained 10,000 users.
E-commerce linked to Social Networking
Social Networking websites are being used more and more by businesses as a method of advertisement and also recognition. This is because businesses have realised that a lot of people nowadays use social networking sites on a daily basis and so and advert would be seen by most people at some point. Just to hammer this point home here are some facts and figures about facebook in general:
-Today, Facebook is valued at over $10 billion and it has over 400 million active users and 70% of them actually live outside of the USA.
-An average user spends more than 55 minutes each day on Facebook.
With these facts listed you can see why businesses have opted to use Facebook as a means for occasional advertisement. Really you would be silly not to use social networking sites with them sort of statistics.
Why Businesses Should Use Social Networking Websites
-Facebook is a very good way for a business to expose their brand and also obtain some recognition as a business. This can be performed through making pages, setting up events and heading up groups. All of this contributes towards getting the business recognised.
-Another reason businesses should use Facebook is because it is a good way to engage with customers that are both existing and potential. This is usually done by sharing industry news and updating customers on new and great offers from the business.
-Lastly, Facebook is a great way for customers of a business to give feedback on what they think about the business but not only that they could give potential improvements. This is good as it allows the customer to speak their mind via the comment window.
Why Businesses Should Not Use Social Networking Websites
-Way too often businesses become reliant on Facebook as a direct form of advertising and this can have a major negative effect on Facebook users in relation to the business. Users do not want to constantly be bombarded with business offers and other advertisements after all they are on Facebook to socialise. So constant adverts will just make them want to stop being a fan and so the business will get negative views and people will not want to consume what the business has to offer.
-A rarer occurrence is how some businesses make the mistake of using Facebook as predominantly a website for their business. This is bad because all of a sudden it instantly narrows your customer base because a lot of people still don't use Facebook within their daily lives, so not having an individual website will cloud the business' existence. In essence the business would want to use Facebook as a means to enhance their web presence.
-Lastly a complete no go area would be using Facebook as another email list. This would be because it could get confusing for the customer and they could become intolerant. It is also bad because it will cloud the business' distinction for the customers and this could become a permanent thing if they were to pass on business to their friends through word of mouth. Besides Email is still a lot more professional and effective.
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Blogs
What is a Blog?
A Blog is a specialised form of website that allows people to keep a online journal. In order to keep blogs up to date and interesting a system has been evolved by which makes it easier for people using blog sites to post material. The blog editor interface is connected to a database system that can manage posts and allows links to other articles/websites. Also allowing comments to made on posts and interlinked with that allows the mechanics of HTML to be used fluidly. This allows the 'journalist' to concentrate more on the content rather than the actual blog.
Blogs are now considered to be very important in a wider context, eg. group blogs are a big part of it because it is usually the central focus of discussing or promoting events, ideas and concepts.
My Example Blog
This is an example blog that I made specifically for this post to allow you to understand the functionality and ease of creating a blog using Blogger. There are many different blog sites that exist but my exam board require me to use Blogger.
First thing you want to be doing is going to the Blogger website by typing 'blogger' into Google and clicking on the top link that is highlighted in red on the screenshot below.
Once you have clicked on the link Highlighted in red it will take you onto the Blogger web page that allows you to either sign in or sign up. The sign up button is in the top left of the screen and on the screen shot it is circled in blue.
Once you have clicked on the sign up button it will take you to a page that will ask you create a Google account, this is because Google owns Blogger. You need to enter all your details and click on the blue button saying 'Next Step' in the bottom right corner of the grey box on the right where you entered your details. for my example I have made an account using the name Joey Cazzari.
Once you have clicked the blue button and created a Google account then it will take you to a page that resembles the screenshot below. From this page you can create a new blog, you do this by simply clicking the 'New Blog' button that is contained in the screenshot's blue circle.
Immediately on clicking the 'New Blog' button a square window will pop up in the middle of the screen that looks like the screenshot on the left and this is where you will enter basic details about your blog. Once you have entered relevant details then click the button circled by a blue ring to create your blog.
Upon being clicked Blogger will take you to the page that looks like the screenshot below. To confirm that you have created a new blog there should be a little message that appears that states exactly that and is circled in the screenshot with a blue ring. Then you want to click on 'Start posting' that is next to the confirmatory message.
Once you have clicked on 'Start posting' then you will be forwarded to a page that resembles the screenshot below, this where you write your posts. I have given the post a title and written relevant information in there that is related to my ICT course but you can write your preferred subject in this area. When satisfied that you post is ready you click the orange box that says 'Publish' that is in a blue circle in the screenshot.
When you have published your post you can then view it on your blog page by pressing 'View blog' that is circled in the above screenshot with a red ring.
Immediately on pressing 'View blog' it will take you to your blog page. Depending on what template you chose to begin with, it will appear and might look like the screenshot below. Nonetheless your post should be presented on your blog page as demonstrated below.
A Blog is a specialised form of website that allows people to keep a online journal. In order to keep blogs up to date and interesting a system has been evolved by which makes it easier for people using blog sites to post material. The blog editor interface is connected to a database system that can manage posts and allows links to other articles/websites. Also allowing comments to made on posts and interlinked with that allows the mechanics of HTML to be used fluidly. This allows the 'journalist' to concentrate more on the content rather than the actual blog.Blogs are now considered to be very important in a wider context, eg. group blogs are a big part of it because it is usually the central focus of discussing or promoting events, ideas and concepts.
My Example Blog
This is an example blog that I made specifically for this post to allow you to understand the functionality and ease of creating a blog using Blogger. There are many different blog sites that exist but my exam board require me to use Blogger.
First thing you want to be doing is going to the Blogger website by typing 'blogger' into Google and clicking on the top link that is highlighted in red on the screenshot below.
Once you have clicked on the link Highlighted in red it will take you onto the Blogger web page that allows you to either sign in or sign up. The sign up button is in the top left of the screen and on the screen shot it is circled in blue.
Once you have clicked the blue button and created a Google account then it will take you to a page that resembles the screenshot below. From this page you can create a new blog, you do this by simply clicking the 'New Blog' button that is contained in the screenshot's blue circle.
Upon being clicked Blogger will take you to the page that looks like the screenshot below. To confirm that you have created a new blog there should be a little message that appears that states exactly that and is circled in the screenshot with a blue ring. Then you want to click on 'Start posting' that is next to the confirmatory message.
Once you have clicked on 'Start posting' then you will be forwarded to a page that resembles the screenshot below, this where you write your posts. I have given the post a title and written relevant information in there that is related to my ICT course but you can write your preferred subject in this area. When satisfied that you post is ready you click the orange box that says 'Publish' that is in a blue circle in the screenshot.
When you have published your post you can then view it on your blog page by pressing 'View blog' that is circled in the above screenshot with a red ring.
Immediately on pressing 'View blog' it will take you to your blog page. Depending on what template you chose to begin with, it will appear and might look like the screenshot below. Nonetheless your post should be presented on your blog page as demonstrated below.
Open Universtity
History of the Open University
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| http://www.wessexscene.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/open-university.jpg |
Why it is Different from other Universities
'Through academic research, pedagogic innovation and collaborative partnership we seek to be a world leader in the design, content and delivery of supported open learning.' This was quoted from the OU website: http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/the-ou-explained/the-ous-mission. This demonstrates and explains exactly what the Open University does. With supported open learning it allows people studying at the OU to be able to study for their degree whilst also fitting it around their normal life, this could be around their job or even for their job. It also specifies on a different page how they have always supported open learning, they tend to have online forum that you can refer to if you need help with a certain part of the degree study and there are always OU tutors at hand to help. They deliver supported open learning by providing high quality teaching materials and use professional logistics to deliver it to the students, there is also a locally based support centre in most towns and cities in the UK.
Students that The Open University has Taught
They claim to be the largest academic institution in the whole of the UK, they support their argument by saying they currently have around 240,000 students currently studying at the OU and to support these students there are 7,000 tutors, 1,100 full time academic staff accompanied by more that 3,500 support staff. The OU has 16,125 students that are studying directly with them oversees and they have 15 curriculum partnerships in 23 countries. 45% of students had one A level or lower at entry level. 31,000 students are under the age of 25 and they claim to be the largest provider of higher education for people with disabilities, the figure being around 17,000. Over 71% of OU students work full-time or part-time during their study time. No wonder they are so successful!
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
SMS - Has it's Time Passed
SMS was originally used in times of where long phone transmissions were slack so they were used as a form of short bursts of textual data but nowadays it is more a communication medium. The messages were meant to be kept short but made to be meaningful and as a result an SMS language has developed and evolved from this.
Here are some examples of SMS language, including some classic cell phone abbreviations:
1) My smmr hols wr CWOT
2) I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again
These SMS examples were taken from an English essay submitted by a 13 year old British teenager... At school... Seriously! And their meaning, of course is...
1) My summer holidays were a complete waste of time
2) I wanted to go home as soon as possible, to see my mates again
I could easily make up an SMS example or two, by removing vowels and shortening words as much as possible - lk ths, u c! - but I believe this genuine SMS example is of more educational value.
Information Copied From:http://ezinearticles.com/?SMS-Language---Some-Examples-of-Text-Messages-Including-Txt-Abbreviations&id=5812010
Niel Papworth was the first person ever to send a text message around this time 20 years ago. After that between then and now Billions of text messages have been sent around the world. Girls in general send around 221 text messages in a week compare to the average user. The age of users of mobile phones are becoming younger and younger, the average 8-11year old sends 41 texts a week and that is more than double over last years figures. Overall figures of text messages being sent has fallen from last year to this, this could be said to be caused by the fact that people tend to use other forms of communication opposed to texts like direct messaging on Facebook and Whatsapp.
Here are some examples of SMS language, including some classic cell phone abbreviations:
1) My smmr hols wr CWOT
2) I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again
These SMS examples were taken from an English essay submitted by a 13 year old British teenager... At school... Seriously! And their meaning, of course is...1) My summer holidays were a complete waste of time
2) I wanted to go home as soon as possible, to see my mates again
I could easily make up an SMS example or two, by removing vowels and shortening words as much as possible - lk ths, u c! - but I believe this genuine SMS example is of more educational value.
Information Copied From:http://ezinearticles.com/?SMS-Language---Some-Examples-of-Text-Messages-Including-Txt-Abbreviations&id=5812010
Niel Papworth was the first person ever to send a text message around this time 20 years ago. After that between then and now Billions of text messages have been sent around the world. Girls in general send around 221 text messages in a week compare to the average user. The age of users of mobile phones are becoming younger and younger, the average 8-11year old sends 41 texts a week and that is more than double over last years figures. Overall figures of text messages being sent has fallen from last year to this, this could be said to be caused by the fact that people tend to use other forms of communication opposed to texts like direct messaging on Facebook and Whatsapp.
Database Screenshots
Screenshot of the
whole database with no restrictions or refinements.
Screenshot of the a
refined search of finding records in the ‘Anglia/East’
Refined search for
records of entry costs that are ‘£8.50 and less’ as well as the last
refinement.
Search refined to the
category ‘LA’ which is leisure category, this is as well as the other two
refinements.
Screenshot of a search
for Locations in ‘Bedford’ as well as the last 3 refinements.
Screenshot of the
highlighted venue in which I picked.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Instant Messaging MS-End
MSN - Skype
This is the end of the long and bendy road of MSN Messenger. It is a shame to see the death of MSN as I myself once was a user, however Microsoft displayed nothing but common sense when they shut the MSN server down. A difference of 180 million users is a good enough reason to shut the live messenger down in favour of Skype regardless of if it angers many people.
The users of MSN will not be able to sign into Messenger after March 15th 2013 giving them time to upgrade to Skype. When they migrate to Skype, all of their contacts will continue to work as before, and they will be able to use all the features Skype has. The president of Microsoft's Skype division Tony Bates said "We want to focus our efforts on making things simpler for users while continuing to improve the overall experience." MSN Messenger had a web-cam capable section to it where you could perform video calls and with transferring to Skype Microsoft has bettered its service.
Chat and Instant Messaging
Instant messaging has proved to be similar to email and the World Wide Web in that it's implementation for use as a form of business communication. It was driven primarily by individual employees using their own software at work, rather than it delivery by corporate IT departments. Tens of millions of the consumer IM accounts in use are being used for business purposes by employees of companies and other organisations. Instant messaging is a service where you can interact with others that you are speaking to in real time, this is much more private than a chat room as you are talking directly to the individual opposed to posting a comment that everyone can see as well as the person you are talking to. This stops people from seeing private conversations that you would like to have with an individual. Simple instant messaging services only allow a maximum of 2 people to chat with each other, otherwise more advanced services allow a group of people to chat, share images and files with each other. An example of this for now but will not be present in the future is MSN Messenger.
Instant messaging requires people to to be online to be able to speak to each other hence the fundamental part of it being in real time. The beauty about it being in real time but over a computer is it allows shy people to interact in a conversation in their own time and put their feelings and views in about it. However there is a downside to this real time instant messaging, one of them being that you cannot see the person you are talking to so as a result it means that the person could lie about their identity to cover up their real identity. This real identity could be a dangerous person like a paedophile which means it is easy for them to target a particular person. This identity cover up could cause these dangerous people to man make situations to encourage the individual to meet them. Also in the short time it takes to write a message it doesn't encourage long reflection which means an inevitable answer for the dangerous individual.
Voice Over Internet Protocol
VOIP is very similar to instant messaging but instead of typing a conversation it is possible for a person to speak as they would on a telephone and have the option to stream a video. A lot of money can be saved on international phone calls if you use skype, this is because you are not charged to use the telephone service. However like IM the other person needs to be online for it to work because of the real time factor. VOIP can be used through both computers and smartphones, this means that you can do it at any time if the other person is online. To use it on the computer you will need a headset/speakers and a microphone to talk through, also if you want to stream a video between you both then you will require a web-cam. It is the same for a smartphone but you will need 3G Internet coverage. Last bust not least, if you are using a house phone then you will need to plug the phone into a router.
However there could be some potential drawbacks from using this usually free service, the main one being some of them do actually charge a monthly subscription to use their service. Another is that if you have a bad Internet connection then it can typically be slow to bring through the sound of the people speaking better known as Latency, this could cause frustration due to the possible misunderstanding of the person receiving. In relation to that if there is not an Internet connection due to the servers being down then it means no Internet calls can be made and equally if the VOIP server goes down then the same will happen.
This is the end of the long and bendy road of MSN Messenger. It is a shame to see the death of MSN as I myself once was a user, however Microsoft displayed nothing but common sense when they shut the MSN server down. A difference of 180 million users is a good enough reason to shut the live messenger down in favour of Skype regardless of if it angers many people.
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| http://www.nextpowerup.com/news/489/microsoft-shuts-down-msn-messenger-on-march-15.html |
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| http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/msn-com-down-including-hotmail/ |
Instant messaging has proved to be similar to email and the World Wide Web in that it's implementation for use as a form of business communication. It was driven primarily by individual employees using their own software at work, rather than it delivery by corporate IT departments. Tens of millions of the consumer IM accounts in use are being used for business purposes by employees of companies and other organisations. Instant messaging is a service where you can interact with others that you are speaking to in real time, this is much more private than a chat room as you are talking directly to the individual opposed to posting a comment that everyone can see as well as the person you are talking to. This stops people from seeing private conversations that you would like to have with an individual. Simple instant messaging services only allow a maximum of 2 people to chat with each other, otherwise more advanced services allow a group of people to chat, share images and files with each other. An example of this for now but will not be present in the future is MSN Messenger.
Instant messaging requires people to to be online to be able to speak to each other hence the fundamental part of it being in real time. The beauty about it being in real time but over a computer is it allows shy people to interact in a conversation in their own time and put their feelings and views in about it. However there is a downside to this real time instant messaging, one of them being that you cannot see the person you are talking to so as a result it means that the person could lie about their identity to cover up their real identity. This real identity could be a dangerous person like a paedophile which means it is easy for them to target a particular person. This identity cover up could cause these dangerous people to man make situations to encourage the individual to meet them. Also in the short time it takes to write a message it doesn't encourage long reflection which means an inevitable answer for the dangerous individual.
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| http://bgr.com/tag/skype/ |
VOIP is very similar to instant messaging but instead of typing a conversation it is possible for a person to speak as they would on a telephone and have the option to stream a video. A lot of money can be saved on international phone calls if you use skype, this is because you are not charged to use the telephone service. However like IM the other person needs to be online for it to work because of the real time factor. VOIP can be used through both computers and smartphones, this means that you can do it at any time if the other person is online. To use it on the computer you will need a headset/speakers and a microphone to talk through, also if you want to stream a video between you both then you will require a web-cam. It is the same for a smartphone but you will need 3G Internet coverage. Last bust not least, if you are using a house phone then you will need to plug the phone into a router.
However there could be some potential drawbacks from using this usually free service, the main one being some of them do actually charge a monthly subscription to use their service. Another is that if you have a bad Internet connection then it can typically be slow to bring through the sound of the people speaking better known as Latency, this could cause frustration due to the possible misunderstanding of the person receiving. In relation to that if there is not an Internet connection due to the servers being down then it means no Internet calls can be made and equally if the VOIP server goes down then the same will happen.
Working Styles - Tool Man
John is a sales representative selling tools to garden centres and DIY stores. He travels 1000's of miles a months to see new and existing customers; he has always travelled around with a diary, an address book and large road atlases. He likes to be punctual but sometimes he finds it hard to locate new clients or gets stuck in traffic. Armed with a calculator and the robust but latest sales catalogue he travels to each client. He spends 6 hours a day for 4 days a week on the move, then an extra 2 hours on those days sorting that day's administration. Then on a Friday he spends it in the office to finalise all administration for the whole week.
Personal Digital Assistant / Smartphone
A personal Digital assistant is different from a smartphone but that makes these two appliances differ from each other. The smartphone is able send and receive calls and texts. Apart from that factor they both perform the same tasks. Owning a smartphone would kill so many birds with only a large but ultra-thin stone! I am only going to focus on the appropriate capabilities to Johns situation.
Advantages
Already the fact of having a smartphone would then eliminate the annoying factor of having to carry around change to enable him to use payphones. It would be cheaper easier and more convenient if John had a mobile phone / smartphone. Having this smart phone would also eliminate the fact that he would need to carry a diary, an address book and a calculator. The beauty of having a smartphone is that already comes with a calender and organiser. For John it means he can store all of his appointments on the phone which means the need for lugging around a large diary will be unnecessary. On most smartphones the facility for being able to store details of people you know and with HTC it allows you to actually allows you to make a small address book for each contact in the phone-book. This includes allowing you to store email addresses of the individual, different number locations and as already mentioned the house address of the individual. This would be perfect for John because it would mean not having to carry an address book as well. As for the calculator the smartphone will generally have a basic calculator but with some they also provide you with a scientific as well. If not then a calculator can be downloaded from your phones app store. Owning a smartphone will definitely be beneficial for John as three rather large items that he would usually need to carry around will all be compacted down into something the size of a phone. Having all these capabilities on his smart phone will moreover speed business actions up and make John's actions more fluid.
GPS - Global Positioning System
A Global Positioning System was first used by the British army to help them locate enemy locations and also ease their job of moving over areas of ground which to them were not familiar. Nowadays it is more readily available to the general population and they are rather cheap compared to when they were first put out on the market.
Advantages
This piece of technology would help John be punctual 99% of the time. If John prides himself on the fact that he likes to be punctual then he should put some money aside to purchase a GPS. The reason being it would help him be more punctual because it resolves both problems that are presented to him when driving to a new or existing client. The occasional awkward to find client won't be as much of a problem anymore due to the fact that if he put a client's postcode and house number in the GPS it will take him straight to the client's front door, no more trying to find the road in an area in which he has never been before. Also when stuck in traffic on the way to an existing client's house it probably frustrates John because he likes to be punctual but with the GPS he need not worry about this problem. A modern day Hi-Tec GPS can find out the route in which there is the most traffic a cut it out of the route, also if the route he is taking has suddenly become congested then the GPS can look for a new route that would cut the journey time. If John got a GPS then he would be happier and the preparation time for a route would be a lot less, it would also provide his customers with better customer service therefore potentially increasing his customer base.
Laptop
A laptop PC is a good bit of equipment to have when you run a business, in addition it is more useful than having a desktop PC. The reason for this is because it can easily be carried to destinations of clients and it is readily available for use. Laptops have been around for many years now at they are becoming more and more Hi-Tec, for a laptop to stay current it's advisable to get a laptop that is more advanced than for the time it is present. This way when years pass the technology incorporated stays Hi-Tec for longer.
Advantages
The amount of administration that John performs in a week would be dramatically decreased because he would be able to do it while he was with the client. This is because computers are usually good at finding a shorter or quicker way of performing tasks when as and when supplied with the right software. Also if John was to write documents out it would not be as neat as typing it up on the computer. Another reason why it would speed John's administration up is the fact that when he has created documents on each client it can be saved and stored on the laptop's hard drive therefore enabling him to retrieve that information at any time. As well as that with the right software he could download a catalogue onto his laptop which means there would be no need for him to carry around a robust catalogue around again reducing the amount of objects that he would usually carry around.
Internet
The Internet was first developed as a way of communication, and a method of sending data by the US military. It was specifically designed to not have a 'central' location. It was developed in response to the USSR launching Sputnik into space. Nowadays the general public use the Internet whether it be for business purposes, just out of interest or even do your weekly shop! Also now you can get USB drive that you can put into your computer and it gives you Internet data from the service provider. These are called Internet Dongles.
Advantages
John would benefit a great deal from using the Internet. If he wanted to cut the amount of hours that he spends on the road a day then he could set up a website and put and online version of his catalogue on the website for his clients to look at any time they wanted. This would also save John carrying around a big catalogue with him and also it would save him money on printing as well. If his customers do not have an Internet enabled facility at their address then he would be able to take his laptop to them and use his Internet Dongle as a source of Internet and use it to show them the catalogue. If all else fails then he would always have his smartphone and contract to fall back on as that is able to go on the Internet through the phone's service provider.
Disadvantages of having the latest Technology
Along with most of the modern technology something is bound to go wrong. There are many things that could happen and stop John doing his job as efficient as what he would like. The most likely occurances would be an item of technology that he uses being broken in some way shape or form. This would be bad because having the latest and greatest technology is quite expensive and if anything got broken the it would be quite costly to get it fixed. Another unfortunate occurance could be that constant use of the internet could lead to a getting a virus or equivalent that could do serious damage to the computer. This would result in the computer having to be wiped of all its contents and there could be valuable information for John. It can be avoided by always backing up all information on his laptop but this sort of occurance always happens when you least expect it and takes you by surprise. With modern technology it needs to be constantly charged on a regular basis, this could be quite a hassle considering it should make Johns job easier. On the other hand he needs to ensure all of his electronics are fully charged before he leaves his house, either that or he would need to take chargers for each of his electrical appliences which is more matter to carry.
 | ||
| http://androidandme.com/tag/htc-one-x-plus/ |
A personal Digital assistant is different from a smartphone but that makes these two appliances differ from each other. The smartphone is able send and receive calls and texts. Apart from that factor they both perform the same tasks. Owning a smartphone would kill so many birds with only a large but ultra-thin stone! I am only going to focus on the appropriate capabilities to Johns situation.
Advantages
Already the fact of having a smartphone would then eliminate the annoying factor of having to carry around change to enable him to use payphones. It would be cheaper easier and more convenient if John had a mobile phone / smartphone. Having this smart phone would also eliminate the fact that he would need to carry a diary, an address book and a calculator. The beauty of having a smartphone is that already comes with a calender and organiser. For John it means he can store all of his appointments on the phone which means the need for lugging around a large diary will be unnecessary. On most smartphones the facility for being able to store details of people you know and with HTC it allows you to actually allows you to make a small address book for each contact in the phone-book. This includes allowing you to store email addresses of the individual, different number locations and as already mentioned the house address of the individual. This would be perfect for John because it would mean not having to carry an address book as well. As for the calculator the smartphone will generally have a basic calculator but with some they also provide you with a scientific as well. If not then a calculator can be downloaded from your phones app store. Owning a smartphone will definitely be beneficial for John as three rather large items that he would usually need to carry around will all be compacted down into something the size of a phone. Having all these capabilities on his smart phone will moreover speed business actions up and make John's actions more fluid.
 |
| http://www.inautonews.com/tomtom-products-now-available-in-mexico |
A Global Positioning System was first used by the British army to help them locate enemy locations and also ease their job of moving over areas of ground which to them were not familiar. Nowadays it is more readily available to the general population and they are rather cheap compared to when they were first put out on the market.
Advantages
This piece of technology would help John be punctual 99% of the time. If John prides himself on the fact that he likes to be punctual then he should put some money aside to purchase a GPS. The reason being it would help him be more punctual because it resolves both problems that are presented to him when driving to a new or existing client. The occasional awkward to find client won't be as much of a problem anymore due to the fact that if he put a client's postcode and house number in the GPS it will take him straight to the client's front door, no more trying to find the road in an area in which he has never been before. Also when stuck in traffic on the way to an existing client's house it probably frustrates John because he likes to be punctual but with the GPS he need not worry about this problem. A modern day Hi-Tec GPS can find out the route in which there is the most traffic a cut it out of the route, also if the route he is taking has suddenly become congested then the GPS can look for a new route that would cut the journey time. If John got a GPS then he would be happier and the preparation time for a route would be a lot less, it would also provide his customers with better customer service therefore potentially increasing his customer base.
 | |
| http://www.2dayblog.com/2011/07/09/gateway-crams-14-screen-into-13-laptop/ |
A laptop PC is a good bit of equipment to have when you run a business, in addition it is more useful than having a desktop PC. The reason for this is because it can easily be carried to destinations of clients and it is readily available for use. Laptops have been around for many years now at they are becoming more and more Hi-Tec, for a laptop to stay current it's advisable to get a laptop that is more advanced than for the time it is present. This way when years pass the technology incorporated stays Hi-Tec for longer.
Advantages
The amount of administration that John performs in a week would be dramatically decreased because he would be able to do it while he was with the client. This is because computers are usually good at finding a shorter or quicker way of performing tasks when as and when supplied with the right software. Also if John was to write documents out it would not be as neat as typing it up on the computer. Another reason why it would speed John's administration up is the fact that when he has created documents on each client it can be saved and stored on the laptop's hard drive therefore enabling him to retrieve that information at any time. As well as that with the right software he could download a catalogue onto his laptop which means there would be no need for him to carry around a robust catalogue around again reducing the amount of objects that he would usually carry around.
 |
| http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/keene1.jpg |
The Internet was first developed as a way of communication, and a method of sending data by the US military. It was specifically designed to not have a 'central' location. It was developed in response to the USSR launching Sputnik into space. Nowadays the general public use the Internet whether it be for business purposes, just out of interest or even do your weekly shop! Also now you can get USB drive that you can put into your computer and it gives you Internet data from the service provider. These are called Internet Dongles.
Advantages
John would benefit a great deal from using the Internet. If he wanted to cut the amount of hours that he spends on the road a day then he could set up a website and put and online version of his catalogue on the website for his clients to look at any time they wanted. This would also save John carrying around a big catalogue with him and also it would save him money on printing as well. If his customers do not have an Internet enabled facility at their address then he would be able to take his laptop to them and use his Internet Dongle as a source of Internet and use it to show them the catalogue. If all else fails then he would always have his smartphone and contract to fall back on as that is able to go on the Internet through the phone's service provider.
 |
| http://cnanursingclasses.wordpress.com/tag/career-in-nursing/ |
Along with most of the modern technology something is bound to go wrong. There are many things that could happen and stop John doing his job as efficient as what he would like. The most likely occurances would be an item of technology that he uses being broken in some way shape or form. This would be bad because having the latest and greatest technology is quite expensive and if anything got broken the it would be quite costly to get it fixed. Another unfortunate occurance could be that constant use of the internet could lead to a getting a virus or equivalent that could do serious damage to the computer. This would result in the computer having to be wiped of all its contents and there could be valuable information for John. It can be avoided by always backing up all information on his laptop but this sort of occurance always happens when you least expect it and takes you by surprise. With modern technology it needs to be constantly charged on a regular basis, this could be quite a hassle considering it should make Johns job easier. On the other hand he needs to ensure all of his electronics are fully charged before he leaves his house, either that or he would need to take chargers for each of his electrical appliences which is more matter to carry.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Death of the Argos Catalogue
With Advertisement on the Internet becoming a way of life as we progress through the 21st century, it has caused even a big company like Argos to consider wether their Catalogue is worth producing anymore.
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| Taken From: http://nedcolville.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/dear-argos-catalogue/ |
With the Argos Catalogue nearing its 40 year anniversary it is a shame to see the catalogue being put to rest with the last issue being autumn/winter 2012. it is also not really needed anymore because of the encouragement that Argos has given to its customers to shop online. over the last 2-3 years online shopping figures have rocketed therefore this action would have happened eventually. Also in this economically challenging time for businesses and survival, what better time for Argos to cut its costs opposed to it actually going bust for not moving with the times. However they will be putting a catalogue on their website to be up and running by the end of this year.
Other retail companies saw it be necessary that the catalogue that they provided their customers with was not as useful or profitable as what it used to be and this is another reason why they saw abolishing it a good idea.
There are quite a lot of big companies that used to do a catalogue to display their items but they have seen online versions a better and cheaper way to go, one of the most well known is the Littlewoods catalogue. they used to produce a book with all their available items in it and they abolished making one because they put it on their website. one of the less known ones is Tesco, they tried a catalogue for a short spell to see how it would take off or supposedly not in this case as they found it not very popular and also it was around the time when they had just set up an online shop so they just scrapped the idea.
In some ways this online advertising and shopping is good because you are able to buy the product there and then and have it delivered to your own home so the convenience side of it has made life easier. Also the company save a hell of a load of money a year on not producing catalogues. On the other hand some people would prefer to look at a physical book that is holdable in their hands. Second to that, the digital divide also plays a part in this as it could stop people from being able to look in retail catalogues.
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