E-commerce

E-commerce Is buying and selling products over the internet. Such as amazon or ebay, it allows people to buy and sell products t one another and they can also leave reviews, comments and ratings.Brick and clicks is a business model by which a company integrates both offline (bricks) and online (clicks) presences. For example banks such as HSBC have street branches and they also have online websites.  People use online banking as an instant way of transferring money and handling the money in their account with ease.

The advantages of online banking are:

·         You can transfer money instantly so it saves your time

·          There are no queue’s

·         Your details stored when you first use your online banking account so it saves time having to put all your details again and again

·         You can get access to Instant information of your bank account

However there are some disadvantages:

·         Believe or not there are security risks

·         It can be time consuming logging in and passing security stages

·         It is easy to make mistakes

·         There is no or an anonymous relationship between you and the bank

Ebay is an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. Ebay is one of the notable success stories it is now a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized in over thirty countries. Ebay expanded from its original auction format to include "Buy It Now" standard shopping; event ticket trading and online money transfers using PayPal and other services.

But like everything there are advantages and disadvantages, the disadvantages are:

·         The seller could take the buyers money and  not give them the goods

·         What do Ebay get for it?

·         Some people may sell faulty, fake or stolen goods

The advantages are:

·         It gives people a chance to sell unwanted items

·         People can make money from items they don’t need

·         Collectors can find items they need or want to collect

·         It is safe and easy to use 

·         you can buy just about everything for relatively cheap prices 

·         you can add photos of the things you are buying so you know the quality of the item 

·         descriptions of the items are generally good and describe the faults, if any 

·         choice of payments including secure online methods 

·         can give feedback on the item purchased 

Personally I like Ebay because I can find and buy almost any product I am looking for and purchase top quality items for low prices. Not only that but I can also do it knowing that my card details are safe and by looking at customer reviews and the seller ratings I know I am not being conned.

Some franchises have street branches and online websites. They do this to increase their business’s customer awareness and to increase their profits. However it is not only for the business benefits but also for the customers for example:

·         There is no need to travel anywhere so you will be saving fuel, time and maybe bus fare

·         There are no Queues

·         It is accessible 24/7

·         You can instantly compare items

·         No carrying involved

·         Convenience- delivery (choose a delivery time)

·         Online offers

·         Customer reviews

·         Save favourite items

·         Wide variety of stock

Real time

Real Time

Real time is data that is updated instantaneously; there are many different uses of real time over the internet from travel times to the weather. People use it to get quick and easy to access updates on a whatever they are wanting to find out, for example if someone is wanting to play golf on a certain day they could get real time updates of the weather.

Travel Times

Travel times are an example of real time. People use them to see what times a certain bus they use is on time and what time they get to their stop. Other people may use it to see train times so they are on time for their job or a meeting. If someone is picking up a relative from the airport they can check the landing times that are updated so they get there for the right time.

News Websites

News websites use real time to update the latest new keeping people informed as prompt as possible but not only this but also to get the latest news on their websites before other news websites. People go on news websites to see the latest news in their local area, their country and around the world.

Weather

Weather updates are most commonly found on news websites such as http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/ so people can get the latest on the weather in their area so if they are planning anything they know what to expect. There are websites such as http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/ that are dedicate just to giving a real time update of the weather.

Sport

People can get real time updates on the latest scores and results of the sport of their choice. Maybe just to catch up on the sporting world or to keep up with how the team they support is doing. Websites such as http://live.skysports.com/ScoreCentre/live.html give a real time update of latest football scores across the UK, it also has a mobile website so it can easily be accessed.

Sat Nav

Sat Nav (satellite navigation) is a system of satellites that provide positioning. It is used in cars mostly for when people are going to places they have never been before, it gives them a provided route to their destination. It uses real time updates to update where the car is and it also gives real time updates on any traffic that may be encountered on the route.

Theatre and concert ticket buying/ Travel booking

When people buy tickets for concerts or an aeroplane seat real time is used to update the seat plan to show what seats are taken and what seats are available.

Webcam

Webcam is used to give real time updates on weather and maybe even traffic. For example on the website http://www.earthcam.com/ you can get updates on famous destinations around the world.

For me the most usefull form of real time is for sport; I can check the latest football scores and results and keep up to date with the team I supports progress. Because I cannot drive I do not use Sat Nav however I know that when I can I will be relying on it a lot! And I also have friends and family that use there’s a lot. The weather is another helpful one, if I want to go outside and play football with my friends I will check real time updates on the weather to see if it is going to rain or not and base my decision whether to on that.

Communication

Communication

The internet can be used to communicate through many ways. Communication is key in modern life whether it be for business purposes or just keeping in touch with relatives and friends.  There are many ways to communicate using the internet such as social networking sites, instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms and many more. The most popular way of communication through the internet is instant messaging such as msn or social networking sites such as www.facebook.com , this is because you can send and receive messages in no time.

Instant messaging/social networking

Instant messaging/social networking has changed dramatically over the years.  www.facebook.com started of as one persons idea which developed in to a internet hit with about 750 million people using it world wide. People use it to instant message their friends, upload and share pictures and update their statuses.  Msn is a popular instant messaging site, it is easy to access and allows you to send and receive messages at lightning speeds.  You can also access your e-mail quickly and easily through msn.

Facebook is my personal favourite form of communication online,  it has instant messaging a way of uploading and sharing photo’s with your friends.

 E-mail

Is a method of exchanging digital messages from one person to another or several people. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the sender and the recipient both be online at the same time, in common with instant messaging. E-mail today is fairly advanced but easy to use, you can attach Word documents, power points etc. you can also attach pictures or website links to share with your friends and family. Using E-mail you can check up on your orders, job information or subscribe for daily, weekly or monthly E-mails for retail websites such as Amazon.

E-mail is good for those reasons however it has disadvantages. You’re inbox can get filled with spam or virus filled documents that are harmful to your computer. E-mail is not instant so if you are waiting for something important it is not ideal.

I like E-mail because it allows me to receive information on special offers at my favourite retail websites and I receive information on upcoming sporting fixtures for my club.

Message board/ Internet forums

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They are used for people to talk about their interests such as fishing www.carpforum.co.uk where anglers can discuss fishing tactics and brag their latest catches. Or if people have queries or questions to ask they can do so by posting them on the forum.

I personally do not use them but I could see myself using them in the future if need be.

Blogs

A blog is a mix of the term web log. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other things such as pictures or videos. Blogs allow people to leave comments and message, giving people their opinions and constructive criticism.

The advantages of using a blog are that the readers can gain knowledge of a certain topic and give the “blogger” constructive criticism and advice.

The disadvantages are:

• It involves a lot of time to update and post an entry on the blog site
• Individuals and students may have reluctance is getting used to the technological advancements.

Introduction to ICT

Hello I am Alex,

In my blog I shall be writing about the use of ICT in the modern world. Most people use ICT without even realising, the importance of ICT is incredible and very much taken for granted. ICT is easily accessed through PC’s and portable devices such as smart phones, notebooks, Mac books and other laptops. The internet is used for everyday life; some people use social networking sites others use it for banking or selling their items on websites like ebay or amazon. Other people may use it to do their weekly shop.  Most people use E-mail in every day like for many reasons.

ICT has had a massive impact on school life, from ICT being used in lessons for not only ICT as a subject but every other subject. Interactive white boards(smart boards) make it easier for teachers to present work and teach their students.  You can use it for homework or revision using websites such as my maths or BBC Bitesize. If you want to take your learning further you can use websites such as wikipedia to research the subject of your choice.

Businesses use ICT in everyday life, using E-mail to contact business partners, using software such as Microsoft excel or database to handle their data with ease or maybe using powerpoint for a presentation to the company.

Through smart phones the use of internet has increased dramatically. With smart phones you can easily access your facebook page or twitter or any other social networking site.  More and more business people are using smart phones to check e-mails and access Microsoft spread sheets, Word documents and power points.

Thank you for reading the introduction to my blog, I will be adding new entries weekly.