The Things You Need to Know About the PC and the Internet
When the desktop PC hit the homes about twenty to thirty years ago, their arrival did not generate much interest then because there was not much one could do with them. The only main things an ordinary user could do with them were word processing and maybe spreadsheet applications. Worse still, to communicate with the desktop was a nightmare. You could not sit there and happily click the way you do today because there was nothing to click, there was no mouse. You could only communicate with it using what they called a command-line interface and this was not so funny. This meant learning computer instructions called DOS or Disk Operating Systems, then learn to type those instructions into the computer to get anything done. Learning to use the desktop brought about a lot of misery to a lot of innocent people.
It was only when Windows came along with its mouse that things changed dramatically for the better, but still people did not have much to do with the PC besides the word processor, the spreadsheet and a few primitive games about star wars and the like. Still not much interest was generated by these desktops outside an office environment. In offices, managers and business executives struggled to learn how to put the computers into better use for planning and management purposes. To hire computer programmers was too expensive and could put you out of business sooner rather than later. Not only because they could suck you dry, but they could also completely mess up your systems.
Then the internet arrived on the stage, and all hell broke loose. The PCs sprang to life and everyone rushed to the nearest computer shops to buy. Those who earlier on had thrown away their PCs in frustration pulled them out from under the garbage heap and closets, dusted them clean, and connected. Those who had nothing to do with computers overnight found themselves the evangelists of the new technologies. Everyone was happy. The response to the internet far exceeded the wildest imaginations.
The internet unlocked synergies in the business world that hitherto had not been known to exist. Companies doing business together connected, forming a cluster of networks. Then the clusters connected to form a larger cluster of networks of networks. Then the larger clusters of networks of networks connected to form even larger networks of networks of networks! If you can’t follow, please understand what I am talking about, the internet! It is too terrible to describe in words.
Before the internet, the business community did not know that exchange of information was vital to the success of their businesses. The internet made it possible for information to flow easily between businesses, assisting those whose jobs it was to make decisions. But this iterconnectivity brought with it a number of problems that were unknown before. A lot of other things besides information could also flow between businesses too.
To the individual, the internet brought far more benefits than he could have ever dreamt of in a lifetime’s sleep. New communications channels were opened up. Electronic mail became the most popular form of communication between friends and foe alike. No postage stamps, no postman, no walking to the post box in bad weather. Besides, the messages reached their destination in a matter of seconds. The receiver of the message does not even have to be there waiting for the message, like you would have to do to receive a telephone message at the time.
And yet this was only the beginning of more astonishing things to come from the digital world! You can CLICK HERE to see more.
Author: Pardon R K Gumbo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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