"Why Should I Use The Internet?"
What you can do with the Internet depends greatly on the software
package that you are using. Netscape Communicator 4 has a wide range
of capabilities.
E-mail
By using E-mail, you can send messages to just about anybody that
has a computer and a network connection. The major advantage of E-mail
is the speed. A typical E-mail message is delivered within fifteen
minutes. Unfortunately, we have little control over when the recipient
actually reads the message. It is no longer necessary to take the time
to stuff your message into an envelope and take it to the mail box.
E-mail also can eliminate a large amount of time spent playing "telephone
tag" or being "trapped" on the phone when you are too
busy for idle conversations. E-mail can be sent to a single person or
mail lists can be formed to send the same message to several or
several thousand people at once. Your E-mail can even contain
hypertext or hypermedia providing links to the World Wide Web. Other
documents may also be "attached" to the E-mail message. This
is a very convenient way to send long documents to colleagues. The
recipient of the E-mail message can read the text almost immediately,
respond to the message in seconds, save the message for future
referral, print it or forward it on to someone else. E-mail may even
be cc: to other persons, just like a letter or memo.
Conferencing
Netscape's conferencing feature allows the user to share
information with others. Instead of arranging a meeting, you could jot
down or "post" an idea that everyone in your organization
could respond to. This requires that the individuals read the posting
and respond over a period of time. However, Netscape Communicator will
allow the user to communicate with others in real time. This
means that a group of people could communicate by voice in real time
while all viewing and commenting on the same document on their
screens. Changes could be made immediately and agreed upon. The
workspace is shared and everyone has the ability to add input. This is
the Internet equivalent of a conference call. But remember, you get
the added bonus of visual communication as well as audio without long
distance telephone charges.
Research
Finding information used to be a long tedious process of finding
books and flipping pages. The Internet has streamlined this process by
providing what are referred to as search engines. By typing a few
words, a few, or millions of documents, relating to your subject can
be located electronically. By clicking on the hypertext, the user
immediately jumps to the document for viewing. Unfortunately however,
if you are not overly specific with the few words that you use for
your search, you may end up suffering from information overload. Using
the search engines simply requires some practice. |