The Impact Of The Internet On Communication Essay -- Networks Telecomm

The Impact of the Internet on Communication The internet has revolutionized all forms of communication since the beginning of its existence. The world has now become ‘smaller' or more like a ‘global village', so to speak. The internet was first used by the U.S military for communications purposes. The internet, from the communication point of view, has brought on new developments and techniques to keep in touch not only for individuals, but for businesses as well. An example of how the internet has impacted communication would be an example of doctors now communicating through live video feeds via the internet with patients or other doctors to diagnose patients or to even guide and advise surgeons through complicated procedures. Email Email (electronic mail) was one of the biggest breakthroughs in communication when the internet was commercialized. With email, it became possible to send messages and letters across the world in a matter of seconds to the recipients address. Email was used as an alternative to conventional mail or ‘snail' mail, as the term was introduced to describe its speed. As technology improved, it became possible to ‘attach' documents, photographs and even sound clips or songs to emails which made mail by post redundant. Emails used packet switching software whereby the email was broken down into ‘packets' and sent via the internet to the recipient. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Internet Voice, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a technology that allows you to make regular telephone calls using a dial up or broadband internet connection instead of a regular phone line. Some services using VoIP may only allow you to call other people using the same service, bu... ...ely in real-time. When logged into a chat session, you "converse" by typing messages that are instantly sent to other chat participants. One of the most popular IRC programs is ‘mIRC'. P2P technically stands for "peer-to-peer." A peer-to-peer architecture allows hardware or software to function on a network without the need for central servers. The person connects directly to his or her peer through a dedicated connection where no one else can interfere. An example of P2P chat clients are MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. These P2P clients make chatting user-friendly and interesting as there are options for a web cam or an audio conversation, and options to transfer files from one peer to another. The use of emoticons makes the conversation either more real or more fun. Bibliography www.google.com www.fcc.gov www.askjeeves.com www.about.com www.mirc.com