The Internet opens up new worlds accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet server. The Internet can provide the user with a new means of communication, entertainment, shopping and possibly even the answers to the most rhetorical questions on the planet. For instance, Delaware is a small state that relatively few people know much about. Currently there is a Internet site insisting that Delaware is not really a state.
The creators of the site say Delaware may not actually be a state at all, but a huge spaceship that crashed eons ago. Maybe, it also is an alien breeding ground or a government test site for intergalactic engines. Whatever the question, whether informative or senseless, the Internet has an answer. Search engines such as Yahoo and Excite are todays card catalogs.
Search engines perform millions of queries each day. Whatever the theme, search engines can usually locate up hundreds, if not thousands of topics, all in matter of minutes. Not so long ago, this required many hours of research at the local library. The Internet contains thousands of images on file. Unlimited information and services are easily accessible. The diversity of materials available on the net goes far beyond the scope of the traditional library.
Buying a house is a less complicated task with the help of a computer. Companies such as ERA, Prudential, and Patterson-Schwartz have Web sites. Real estate Web sites show properties in desired price ranges and locations. Properties are viewed from the TPO 1 B -2- Lorie L. Tenge convenience of one’s home. Mortgage companies also have Web sites.
To compare interest rates is simple. Computing mortgages based on salary, insurance rates, and taxes require just a few keystrokes. Online banking services are a relatively new service. Banking customers can save an extraordinary amount of time performing such tasks as updating balances and making transfers between accounts. Bills are paid without writing checks or licking stamps.
Scheduled monthly payments such as loan payments and utility bills can automatically be paid. Computer processed loans have cut processing time from weeks to hours. Computers have cut down on one of banking’s costliest mistakes, that of human error. Banking online is accurate, convenient, and accessible.
No longer must customers wait in long lines. Every day financial institutions add new services for online customers. The Internet will be the banking of the future. Retail companies now use the Internet to reach consumers. Every day millions of computer users are inundated with computer generated ads. Millions of potential customers are reached when computers are turned on.
Companies such as Lands End electronically mails customers every week with their latest sale items. Egghead Software Company sells computers and computer software by Internet, and has closed all of its traditional retail stores. Products from Egghead are now only available from its online store. Internet stores provide twenty-four hours a day access. Consumers are no longer bound by traditional retail hours. Retail companies have expanded the customer base.
Potential profits are enormous, all being accomplished with a few keystrokes The computer has revolutionized communication. The use of Local Area Networks, Wide Area networks, satellite links, and the Internet, the user can now send electronic mail or data across an ocean. This takes less time than it takes to address an envelope. Internet telephone service allows subscribers to talk long distance without incurring charges associated with conventional long distance service. Today it is possible not only to hear a person over long distance lines, but to see them as well. Computer technology has created a world at our fingertips.
The Internet is opening new doorways for any user with access to an Internet server. The number of Web sites increases daily, with the services provided growing larger each day. Companies now must be accessible to the Internet to be competitive. Computers are like the televisions of the 1940’s when few people had them. Today, televisions are a part of everyone’s lives. Five years from now, it will be unheard of not to have a computer with access to the Internet..