CHAPTER 1

1 . 11 The Ubiquitous Web

Clearly, the Internet and Web have become ubiquitous. Television commercials show Web addresses. News broadcasts tell you to check their Web weather site. National magazines like Business Week and Information Week have advertiser indices with URLs. Radio shows tell you to send email and check their Web site for communication and archived shows. Billboards announce advertiser's sites. All this has occurred in just a short couple of years.
With maturation comes ratings. In particular two ratings services, Magellan and Point Communications, rate sites. Those that pass can put icons declaring their success on their home page. Magellan rates sites with one to four stars. Point gives a site the coveted "Top 5% of All Web Sites" award if it is rated sufficiently high.
The Internet is not new. Lots of information has been available if you knew how to get it. The Web has changed everything. The vast collection of information is now accessible via the Web browser to the common, non technical, person.
It seems likely that the expansion to the general public which hasn't happened yet, is also just around the corner. A networkcapable computer called an Internet Appliance is already being sold. It costs less than $500. Success is not assured but all of the pieces are coming together.
The final infrastructure is the Cable modem. The same cables that bring you Cable TV can also bring you high bandwidth Internet connections at reasonable costs.
All of these converging technologies may provide greater easier and more democratic access to information. They may also cause a greater rift between the haves and have nots or society. Only time will tell. Either way these are exciting times, as these fundamental societal changes take place.

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