Why is the Internet different from other computer and network technologies?
Computers and networks are nothing new. Business applications such as LAN and EDI were well-established long before the World Wide Web took over. Then why the sudden talk of the Digital Age and the advance of electronic business? Two things make the Internet quite different from any other existing communications media. Unlike broadcasting media, the Internet (1) allows two-way communications and (2) is built around open standards. A two-way communication means targeting an audience and allowing feedback. Broadcasting sends out messages to “no one in particular” and the sender never quite knows who has gotten the message. (What do Nielson and a horde of market research firms do for their living?) An open standard (e.g. TCP/IP) means interoperability and the advantage of a large market and the possibility of integrating one product or process with another. Both of these characteristics are being challenged.(1) To the WebTV generation, the digital future looks like another version of the
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