INTERNET USAGE
Internet and Business
A medium to sell to the masses...
It has been predicted that by the year 2025, half the human population will be using the Internet. (McWilliams, 1996, 819).
What does this mean for business?
In the last few years, the number of corporations involved in website development has increased dramatically (Longwell, 1996, 27). The development of business websites on the net acknowledges the fact that the future of business can be found on the net. The flow of information such as bills and checks will, in the future, happen digitally (McWilliams, 1996, 820).
According to James Cash of Informationweek, corporations getting involved in the Internet should develop a strategy based on the following guidelines (Cash, 1996, 136):
1. Lean, don't plan too much
2. Begin with a focus on your most important customers
3. Never forget that the Internet is constantly changing
4. Outsource the initial design of the website (don't try to do it yourself)
Why should businesses care about getting involved with the net?
1. Corporate communication is likely to represent the next significant burst in net use (Watson, 1996, 24).
2. The Internet is expected to surpass all other human communication revolutions not only socially, but economically (McWilliams, 1996, 820).
Interesting Business Facts....
1. Only 1.5% of small businesses are on the Internet (Karol, 1996, 124)
2. Two-thirds of large corporations are working on Internet use policies but one-third have no Internet use policies at all (Adams, 1996, 8).
3. Corporations have a legal right to access employee e-mail (Leinfuss, 1996, 55).
4. Telecommuting through the net has been consistently increasing since 1995 (Blodgett, 1996, 14).
Is commerce an appropriate use of the Internet?
Maybe . It seems like a good place to advertise, but the have shown that very few people are actually making purchases on the Internet. If net-based sales don't increase, will businesses lose interest? Probably not if they are using it as advertising rather than a selling tool. But would the Internet be more pure if it were not corrupted by the commerce and commercialism of businesses? Some might say yes. Others could contend that there is no pure place free of commerce and commercialism, many forms of media usage have become an unavoidable element of the human condition.
