CHAPTER 7 Going Online: The Net, Information Services, and More
The High-Tech College Student Not too many years ago having an electric typewriter and a TV in the dorm room placed a college student among the high-tech elite. Gradually over the last decade students have immersed themselves in digital gadgetry. In 1990 only 30 percent of the college students took a personal computer to college. Today that figure is over 70 percent (at many colleges, it is 100%). A full quarter of all college students bring a notebook PC to class. Plus the modern college student has at least a few other digital devices in his/her high-tech arsenal. Some have all of these: a notebook PC with a wireless network card, a digital camera, a digital video camcorder, an MP3 player, a cell phone, and possibly a handheld computer (11%), such as a Palm VII.
The Next Generation Internet Ad Instant messaging and peer-to-peer networks that enable file swapping (for example, Napster) may be the new wave for the Web advertising. This new type of advertising has the potential to be more invasive than spam because instant messaging identifiers and related personal information is vulnerable when people log on to a file-swapping network. Already partnerships are being established to advertise goods and services to consumers via instant messaging. There is one constant in life: Advertisers will find a way to get their message to us.
Bigger Ads on the Web The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has set new standards for Internet ads including lengthwise ads, called skyscrapers. So now we can list skyscraper ads along side banner ads in our ever-growing Web lexicon. Also, we can expect to see larger square adds and pop-up adds that appear in the browser viewing area. Coming soon: more, bigger, and different types of ads on your Web browser.
The Cybercourt Digital convergence offers us a new twist in that Michigan Gov. John Engler has expressed his desire to create a "cybercourt" to hear technology-based cases. The courtroom would be in cyberspace. Lawyers (from anywhere in the world, even those not licensed in Michigan), witnesses, and judges would interact via teleconferencing. Briefs and other court documents are filed online. The governor has proposed this approach in hopes that it might encourage high-tech businesses to settle in the State of Michigan. Is the governor's proposal a harbinger of things to come? Governor EnglerŐs cybercourt may be closer than you think. Already, the feasibility of such a court has been demonstrated during experimental program called "Courtroom 21" where a Portland, Oregon, Judge listened to the testimony of an Orlando, Florida, witness via holographic technology.