Web Wise

Web Trends

Throughout 1997 the Web has grown dramatically in its total number of Web sites, usage and overall importance. With tens of millions of users, soon to be hundreds of millions, the Web is destined to become an integral part of everyday life. Generally, common errors in predicting the future of a technology shift are: overestimating the short-term impact of the shift and underestimating the long-term impact. The potential of the Internet should not be underestimated for its long-term impact and should be considered one of the most important factors for the way that business will be conducted in the future.

Web Business
Over the past year, businesses have been successfully using the Internet as a business tool and adding it into their marketing and public relations plans. Most major companies are advertising with banner ads and creating informative Web sites not only to generate business, but as informational resources for the general public. The Web is being publicized in radio and television commercials and programs, print ads, billboards, mail, newspapers, etc. Nowadays, almost every major company advertises their Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and e-mail address.

Advancements
New versions of browsers are integrating applications and allowing businesses to benefit from the connectivity of the Internet. File encryption, electronic signatures and video conferencing will soon be common business practices.

Faster wireless connections to the Internet may be the wave of the future. Two San Jose, Calif., companies, Innetix (http://www.innetix.com) and Warp Drive Networks Inc. (http://www.warpdrive.net), are both offering customers state-of-the-art wireless Internet service with big bandwidth and easy setup.

Innetix has two-way T-1 access (1.5 million bits per second) and broadcasts on spread-spectrum radio waves, and customers pick up the signal with a small satellite dish that translates to Ethernet. Normal T-1 lines can take weeks to set up, where wireless can be done in days.

Warp Drive has a similar service, but uses a UHF spectrum with T-3 (45 million bits per second) access and currently only offers large bandwidth one-way and returns over land using an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). They will soon be offering two-way wireless service.

Many new Internet Protocol (IP) voice companies are moving into the market. These kinds of companies offer telephone service over the Internet; from computer to computer, phone and fax where an Internet service may not be necessary. Probe Research Inc. predicts that IP telephony will be used for up to 5 percent of international long-distance minutes by the turn of the century.

Virtual Worlds
Bruce Damer, virtual world pioneer and author of Avatars, believes that we have not yet seen the final shape of cyberspace. Today's Web is "merely a document interface" and it will probably "appear to us as an interesting but transitory phase in ten years," Damer said. "Going from text chat and Web pages to virtual worlds is equivalent to going from the telegraph to television."

Virtual worlds are 3-D environments where users interact using real-time virtual representations of them-selves (avatars) on the Internet. According to Damer, virtual worlds already host more than 400,000 users and are growing.

Transactional Sites
Most predictions state that the next generation of Web sites will be transaction-oriented. Credit card companies and Web browsers will have compatible software to enable secure transactions. Companies will have their Internet forms integrated with their Intranet systems so that transactions can be automatically processed, packaged, sent out and accounted for in sales.

There are interactive Automotive Parts Web sites out there now, but soon the most successful shops will be ordering parts online. Just go to the site, look at the prices, enter in your account and credit card number, fill out the form and your order will automatically be processed and your parts will be shipped out to you that day. You might even have software that communicates with the Web site to exchange information with minimal human interaction.

The Web has been built up so much that some people may overestimate its capabilities for the next few years, but eventually when everyone is connected, the true value of the Web will be acknowledged. With that in mind, many Web sites may not be profitable now, but they are setting the groundwork for the future of business. Geek Speak
VRML: Virtual Reality Modeling Language

ASA Web Ways

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