The Internet

"  a global system of interconnecting computer networks that use the standardInternet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies.  "

"  The hardware and software infrastructure of the Internet establishes a global data communications system between computers.  "

 -     Growth of the Internet

• Newspaper, book and other print publishing are adapting to Web site technology, or are reshaped into blogging and web feeds. 
• New forms of human interactions = instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking.    
• Online shopping has boomed both for major retail outlets and small artisans and traders. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries.

  -    The World Wide Web

• The World Wide Web is a global set of documents, images and other resources, logically interrelated by hyperlinks. 
• World Wide Web browser software lets users navigate from one web page to another via hyperlinks embedded in the documents. Examples: Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Apple's Safari, and Google Chrome.
• Through keyword-driven Internet research using search engines, users worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information. Compared to printed encyclopaedias and traditional libraries. Examples: Yahoo! and Google.

Internet Statistics 2009 - CIA World Factbook

RANK COUNTRY INTERNET USERS DATE OF INFORMATION 1 China 389,000,000 2009 2 United States 245,000,000 2009 3 Japan 99,182,000 2009 4 Brazil 75,982,000 2009 5 Germany 65,125,000 2009 6 India 61,338,000 2009 7 United Kingdom 51,444,000 2009 8 France 45,262,000 2009

Participatory Culture

Participatory Culture = a culture in which private persons (the public) do not act as consumers only, but also as contributors or producers (prosumers)

• Theory by American scholar Henry Jenkins in 2006
• Recent advances in technologies (mostly personal computers and the Internet) have enabled private persons to create and publish such media, usually through the Internet = Convergence - e.g. uploading images via a mobile phone to a social networking site 

1. With relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement
2. With strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations with others
3. With some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices
4. Where members believe that their contributions matter
5. Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created)

Participatory culture Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_culture

The Long Tail Theory

Chris Anderson's website = http://www.longtail.com/about.html

The Long Tail theory was published in an article in 'Wired' magazine by the editor and theorist Chris Anderson in 2004, who then went on to publish a book on this theory in 2006. The Long Tail theory outlines how media has changed due to the internet, resulting in a huge number of niches now being available, additionally to the mainstream hits. Niche products being sold via the internet results in less shelf space being used, therefore saving money.