E-commerce

E-commerce (electronic commerce) was first introduced in the 1970’s and meant that businesses were able to send money transactions and commercial documents (purchases) electronically. During this time credit cards were becoming more popular and with this e commerce become more common and widely used.

When the internet was invented in 1990 it opened a whole new way to shop. People were able to buy products online from transactional websites. With the internet becoming more popular in the early 1990’s encryptions and protocols had to be used to create better security for all users. At the start of the 21^st century people were able to buy the majority of products online. People now commonly assume e-commerce with online retail.

Now people commonly assume buying online with websites such as eBay, Amazon or any clothes stores. Companies now are able to run completely on the internet and have no stores in city centres. More and more online stores are opening each week and security for each transaction has radically improved since the start of e-commerce.

One of the safest ways to buy online currently is by using PayPal. It was founded in 1998 and is now used world wide on a vast number of transactional websites such as Amazon and eBay. It offers a safe and simple way to pay for products and in 2008 it represented nearly 9% of global e-commerce. When buying products online I use PayPal the majority of the times and it makes every transaction very simple to complete. All it requires all users to have a PayPal account but this is only done to save time entering details when you next purchase. 

PayPal is used in large number of sites that sell products online. A good example of this is Amazon. Amazon is an online based company which sells products from books to bikes. It mainly offers products from its warehouse but now offers customers to sign up themselves and sell their own products. Amazon stores almost all of its products in warehouses and sends them off once bought. Not only are you able to buy items which will be delivered but you are now able to purchase downloadable products such as music and books.

When using Amazon I found that it was very easy to find what I was looking for and was even able to sort all the options into price and category. I was able to buy more than one thing at a time and with PayPal made it very simple to order and confirm my payment.

 

Although all these online transactions are good there are a lot of negatives to this as well. Having your details online mean that there is a chance that they could be hacked and your details could be used.

E-Goverment

Government’s offer sites for the general public. Each country has their own government website and they offer information to the public that the public deserve to know and have the right to see. The government have multiple sites for all public services such as NHS (National Health Service) and MOD (ministry of defence). All of these sites offer information on what they do for the public and what we can do for them. You are able to find applications for car and house tax and revenue. They also offer help in finding jobs and how to take care of your finances. Even if you do not live in the country but you’re a citizen they offer help and information. They have links for information about living in a foreign country and what taxes are paid.

Directgov

The main website from the government is Directgov. This site offers information on just about anything to do with living and finding work. Its home page is divided into contents like page. It has categories of different types that help with all things in life. For example they have links on the home page to give tips and advice to youngsters who are having trouble paying their taxes and also parents who would like advice on caring for their children. The information presented on this website helps people’s lives by giving advice to them about different factors. They help give advice on money situations and parenting tips. They offer help on crucial stages from moving out and paying for bills/ taxes to starting a family and taking care of their education.

 Once clicked on a link you are given an even bigger choice of options on that one particular choice. The amount of information on any topic is so big that it’s hard not to find the answer you’re looking for.

The websites design is relatively simple and offers a contents page where it categorizes all topics. Once chosen the topic it then offers a second page on that topic showing all the smaller topics about the chosen subject. The information given is presented very well with information on the page very relevant to the topic and its spaced out enough that no-one would get confused on what they are reading.

Although the website categorizes all topics very well there are almost too many topics. The pages where the topics are shown are full of text and are hard on the eyes.

NHS

Not only do the government provide a website for advice on life’s situations but they also have websites dedicated to particular topics. NHS (National Health Service) website presents all problems/ queries about illness and fitness on their website for everyone to see. They offer solutions to some problems and create awareness for others. Just like Directgov, it’s partly categorized into the different categories of care. The website helps people by giving them advice on what to do on the queries you have about your body.  It also helps the general public on awareness of illnesses and shows all the different examples of symptoms possible.

 

Money Advice Service

Another site available through the government is the Money Advice Service. This website enables people to look at their finances and analyse what could be improved. It is a relatively new service which started in 2008 and aims to help people of all income with their money and how they should use it. One of its main focuses is people struggling with debt and living on benefits due to being unable to find any form of employment.

Real Time Information

Real time information is information that is displayed immediately after being collected.  It is shown within seconds and is rarely delayed. It is used in a lot of different functions in the world and is crucial in the world of businesses where they use real time to update stock exchange.  Real time information is constantly in use and is easily accessible to anyone with a connection to the internet.  This accessibility has meant that we are now flooded with information that is being updated multiple times each second!

Travel

Not only is real time information used by business but is used by the general public. One of the main functions real time information is used for is finding out where planes, busses, taxis and trains are. People use real time information websites to find out where their plane or busses are. Websites like Flight Tracker or Train Times help the general public to track the planes and trains that they want to catch. This is very useful for them because it shows where their transport is and if/where it’s delayed.

This tracking not only helps the general public when looking for their plane, train or bus but also helps businesses that look after the transport. If something goes wrong they would need to know where it is in order to fix it. They rely on real time information to be instant and reliable otherwise delays could increase and the transport would never get fixed.

Another use of real time information is passenger information [display] system. This kind of real time information is used at train stations and airports. They are normally shown on big electronic display boards at the entrance to station/ airport, however due to how easily people can access the internet now people are able to now access it on their computers at home or even on their mobile phones. This means people are now able to find out if there are any delays to their travel while they are on the way to the station/ airport.  This accessibility is very useful for me because I use the train every day to get to school and while walking to the station I am able to check if the trains are working to make sure if I am going to get to school on time.

Networking

Real time information has now created a network of information available to anyone connected to the internet. One of the most used forms of real time information on the internet is Twitter. Twitter now has over 500 million active users and gains members each day.  Twitter is constantly updated with tweets. People are now able to post a tweet and within seconds have a possible reply to their tweets.  With my Twitter accounts I am able to tweet my followers and find out in minutes if anyone wants to go into town and meet up.

Business

Every day businesses use real time information to make money. Businesses use real time information when buying stocks and shares in the shares market. Figures and values are transferred to businesses within seconds. The only real delay they have with the information is the time it takes for the figures to go onto the actual screen. People who buy the stocks and shares need information to be as fast as possible. This is because the businesses need to make decisions about selling shares at the highest price and buying shares at the lowest price. Real time information makes this possible and has created opportunities to make money for everyone able to buy shares.