Several inventions have changed the way people communicate with each other. From the old-fashioned telegraph to today’s modern electronic forms of communication, people have been creating easier ways to correspond. Electronic communication, such as email and other internet offerings, has created a cheap and incredibly fast communications system that is gaining steady popularity.
Email is basically information, usually in letter form, addressed to a destination on the internet. The internet is an international web of interconnected networks — in essence, a network of networks — consisting of government, education, and business networks. Software on these networks between the source and destination networks “reads” the addresses on packets and forwards them toward their destinations. Email is a very fast and efficient way of sending information to any internet location. Once an email is sent, it arrives at its destination almost instantly. This provides people with a way to communicate with people anywhere in the world quickly without the costs of other forms of communication such as telephone calls or postage for letters.
The savings to be gained from email were enough of an inducement for many businesses to invest heavily in equipment and network connections in the early 1990s. The employees of a large corporation may send hundreds of thousands of pieces of email over the internet every month, thereby cutting back on postal and telephone costs. It is not uncommon to find internet providers from twenty to thirty dollars a month for unlimited access to internet features. Many online services, such as America Online and Prodigy, offer email software and internet connections that work in an almost identical way; however, the cost is more expensive.
The World Wide Web (WWW) and USENET Newsgroups are among other internet offerings which have changed the way people communicate with each other. The WWW can be compared to an electronic bulletin board where information consisting of anything can be posted. One can create visual pages consisting of text and graphics that become viewable to anyone with WWW access. Anything from advertisements to providing people with information and services can be found on the WWW.
File transfers between networks can also be accomplished on the WWW through Gopher and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites. Newsgroups are very similar but run in a different way. Newsgroups basically create a forum where people can discuss a vast array of subjects. There are thousands of newsgroups available. Once one finds a subject that interests them, they may post notes visible to anyone visiting that particular newsgroup, and others may respond to such notes. Again, this can be advertising, information, or, more commonly, gossip.
Though the internet can be a convenient way of communication, it can become problematic. Networks can shut down, resulting in lost email and WWW sites, and newsgroups can be down for an amount of time. Another problem is the addicting factor associated with most online services.
One can become attached to an online service as they are thrilled they can meet people all over the world. Much spare time can be used for emailing and surfing the net, creating a lack of real human interaction for such an individual. Though this may not be a big concern for most people, it is considered healthier to be active rather than sitting in front of a computer for hours a day. Also, the need for variety can cause one to subscribe to many providers with varying costs, creating large monthly bills. Though the lack of human interaction may seem like a problem, technology is continuing to create new ways to interact more fully with people on the internet.
New inventions such as the iPhone and miniature video cameras are changing the way we communicate with each other. Now, with the iPhone, one can actually talk with people over the internet with the telephone without normal long-distance calling charges. Also, with the new video cameras that can be connected to the computer, people can actually see who they are talking to, regardless of location. No longer are people confining themselves to a room typing information to one another; they are interacting with more progression.
Electronic communication is proving to be the way of the future. The affordable and sufficient system of exchanging information is still gaining popularity and people, as well as businesses, are utilizing its many services.
