Today, on the internet, you can buy just about anything, get news content on any subject, and of course, the internet lets the small business owner compete with the big guys by offering a global marketplace of like no one has ever seen.
Through it all, what has been the biggest advances of the internet, especially related to eCommerce? Well you are in luck. The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) unveiled a list of the significant ecommerce developments during the past decade.
Here we feature some of the items from their list starting with the earlies developments, up until today.
The year was 1997 and the dot com explosion was upon us, or at least on the cusp. In this year the world saw the creation of Amazon, open standards for HTML (4.0) and the creation of Wi-Fi. Amazon was that mentor for other sites to look up to. They basically started a revolution by which you can purchase books online with their ease of use web site. Amazon was known to be one of the first websites to start eCommerce.
The company responsible for making sure web developers follow, or at least try to follow a set of standards is known as the World Wide Web Consortium. It is not a private company or government somewhere in the world, they make sure HTML, the language by which websites appear on your web browser (a basic definition) is followed and standardized. According to Scott Koerwer of Information Today, "This open standard allows entire industries to grow as a benefit to everyone."
Unless you live in a cave (and even then that is not enough anymore), you probably have heard of search engines. I am sure you have heard of Google. Well Google was launched in September of 1998, and has grown to be a multi-billion dollar business. According to the SIIA, "Google is now used by 30 percent of Internet users for services including maps, email, blogs, and video, and is listed as their #1 item that has changed the way people use the internet."
However no one can ignore the fact that in order for the internet to be successful, web surfers must be able to get to their content up on their screen and get it there quickly. On this notion, up steps broadband. The once very expensive and highly remote service available to customers, is now the norm in the industry for internet users and according to the SIIA, "Broadband Penetration of U.S. Internet Users Reaches 50 percent in June 2004. It took broadband 4 years to reach 50 percent of the population. By the end of 2007, the number will reach an estimated 90 percent." Resulting in more websurfers getting to where they need to go, and in a hurry.
So what does the future hold? YouTube, mobile websurfing, SMS, web 2.0 and many other technologies currently exist, and are being upgraded as well as expanded daily. One thing is for sure, the internet is constantly evolving, and if you aren`t keeping up with the times, you are sure to fall behind.
