九、新型通讯技术的广泛运用
OnegreatbenefitoftheWebisthatitallowsustomoveinformationonlinethatnowresidesinpaperform. SeveralstatesinAmericaareusingtheWebinaprofoundway. Youcanapplyforvariouspermitsorsubmitapplicationsforbusinesslicences. Somestatesareputtinguplistingsofjobsnotjuststategovernmentjobs, butallthejobsavailableinthestate. Ibelieve, overtime, thatalltheinformationthatgovernmentsprint, andallthosepaperformstheynowhave, willbemovedontotheInternet.
Electroniccommercenotchesupmonth-by-monthtoo. Itisdifficulttomeasure, becausealotofelectroniccommerceinvolvesexistingbuyersandsellerswhoaresimplymovingpaperbasedtransactionstotheWeb. Thatisnotnewbusiness. Microsoft, forexample, purchasesmillionsofdollarsofPCsonlineinsteadofbypaper. However, thatisnotafundamentalchange; ithasjustimprovedtheefficiencyofanexistingprocess. Thebiggestimpacthasoccurredwhereelectroniccommercematchesbuyersandsellerswhowouldnotpreviouslyhavefoundeachother. Whenyougotoabooksiteandfindanobscurebookthatyouneverwouldhavefoundinaphysicalbookstore, thatisanewtypeofcommerce.
Today, abouthalfofallPCsarestillnotconnectedtotheWeb. Gettingcommunicationscostsdownandmakingallthesoftwaresimplerwillbringinthosepeople. Andthat, inturn, willmoveusclosertothecriticalmassthatwillmaketheWeblifestyleeveryoneslifestyle. Oneelementthatpeopleunderestimateisthedegreetowhichthehardwareandsoftwarewillimprove. Justtakeoneaspect: screentechnology. Idomye-mailona 20-inchliquidcrystaldisplaymonitor. Itisnotavailableatareasonablepriceyet, butintwoyearsitwillbe. Intenyears, a 20-inchLCDwithmuchhigherresolutionwillbecommonplace. TheboundarybetweenatelevisionsetandaPCwillbeblurredbecauseeventheset-topboxthatyouconnectuptoyourcableorsatellitewillhaveaprocessormorepowerfulthanwhatwehavetodayinthemostexpensivePC. Thiswill, ineffect, makeyourtelevisionacomputer.
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