CHAPTER 7 Going Online: The Net, Information Services, and More
Shopping at Work According to a recent Nielsen/NetRatings survey, people who are at work do about 46 percent of all online shopping. Based on this statistic, B2C (business to consumer) e-commerce is very much dependent on companies allowing this shopping trend to continue. Typically, knowledge workers surf and shop the Internet during lunch hours, breaks, or before/after work. Many consumers prefer shopping at work primarily because of the availability of high-speed Internet access. A decreasing number of workers, however, do not have Internet access at home.
The EDU Top Level Domain The EDU top-level domain (TLD) was set aside for "four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities." Community colleges and other two-year degree-granting institutions have been shut out of this internationally recognized education-oriented TLD. A serious effort is underway by these institutions to make EDU more inclusive. We can expect that, eventually, all colleges and universities will be consolidated under a single TLD.
Health Information on the Internet According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project more than half of all Internet users have sought out health-related information on the Internet. This means that this Internet activity is more popular than online shopping, sports scores, security quotes, gambling, and pornography. Almost 50 percent of the people who seek health information via the Internet indicate that these resources influenced their treatment and health care decisions.
The Internet in Global Perspective To be sure, our transition to a global village is underway. However, our society is only barely connected with the five percent of the world's adult population who are active Internet users (over one hour per week). It is estimated that within the next three years 15 percent of the world's adult population will be active Internet users.