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USES OF COMPUTER, INTERNET AND SERVICES

OFFERED BY THE INTERNET

INTERNET AND APPLICATION

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Advantages
There are many advantages of using the internet such as:
1. Communication :
The foremost target of internet has always been the communication By the advent of
computer’s Internet, our earth has reduced and has attained the form of a global village. Now
we can communicate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the
world. Today, for better communication, we can avail the facilities of e-mail; we can chat for
hours with our loved ones.
2. Information
Information is probably the biggest advantage that internet offers. The Internet is a
virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is
available on the Internet. The search engines like Google, yahoo is at your service on the
Internet.
3. Entertainment
Entertainment is another popular area why many people prefer to surf the Internet.
Downloading games, songs, movies are certain examples.
4. Services
Many services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job seeking, booking
railway tickets, etc.
5. E-Commerce
Ecommerce is the concept used for any type of business deals that involves the transfer of
information across the globe via Internet. Eg. Shopping online for books, household goods etc.
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Disadvantages

Theft of Personal information

While using the internet, there is the danger of personal information such as name,
address, and credit card number etc. being accessed and misused by culprits.
Spamming
Spamming refers to sending unwanted e-mails in bulk, which are useless and obstruct the
entire system.
Virus threat
Virus is nothing but a program which disrupts the normal functioning of the computer systems.
Computers attached to internet are more prone to virus attacks and they can end up into
crashing the whole hard disk.

Web site / Web Page

A web page is an area of text and other visual effects that can be seen when we get on the
internet.
A web site is a group of web pages that belong to one section of the internet, such as one
person, one company, one school, or one government agency, etc.

Web Portal
Web portals provide a single point of access to a variety of content and core services. Eg.
www.indg.in

Web browser
A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text,
images, videos, music and other information typically located on a Web page at a website on
the World Wide Web or a local area network.
Important web browsers: Mosaic, April 22,1993 , Netscape Navigator and Netscape
Communicators, October 13, 1994

Internet Explorer, August 1995 ,Opera,1996 , Mozilla Firefox, 2004

The most popular browser is Internet Explorer and is published by Microsoft and the second
most popular browser is Netscape (or Netscape Navigator). It is also freely available.
Under the title bar, a browser displays its main menu .

The Toolbar : Under the main menu, a browser is equipped with small pictures called buttons.
Microsoft Internet Explorer usually displays these buttons on their own range (called a toolbar).
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The Address bar : the space where the address of a particular website is to be typed to view the
site

Internet Service Providers

DEFINITION
An Internet service provider (abbr. ISP , also called Internet access provider or IAP ) is a business
or organization that provides consumers or businesses access to the Internet and related
services.
Main ISP’s in CAMEROON:
MTN , CAMTEL ,NEXXTELL ,YOOMEE , ETC
Types of Internet Connections

I. Home user connection

i. Dial-up

Dial-up access is a form of Internet access via telephone line. The client uses a modem
connected to a computer and a telephone line, to dial an Internet service provider's (ISP) node
to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then routed to the Internet.

Modem :
Modem (from mo dulator-dem odulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to
encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the
transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and
decoded to reproduce the original digital data. Modems can be used over any means of
transmitting analog signals, from driven diodes to radio.

ii. DSL ( Digital subscriber line) :

DSL or xDSL , is a technology that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local
telephone network.

iii. Broadband wireless access : Wireless Broadband is a technology that provides high-speed
wireless internet and data network access over a wide area.
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iv. Cable modem: A cable modem is a type of modem that provides access to a data signal sent
over the cable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband
Internet access in the form of cable internet.

v. ISDN: Integrated Services refers to ISDN's ability to deliver at minimum two simultaneous
connections, in any combination of data, voice, video, and fax, over a single line. Multiple
devices can be attached to the line, and used as needed. That means an ISDN line can take care
of most people's complete communications needs at a much higher transmission rate, without
forcing the purchase of multiple analog phone lines. In a videoconference, ISDN provides
simultaneous voice, video, and text transmission between individual desktop videoconferencing
systems and group (room) videoconferencing system.

II. Business connections

i. DSL
ii. SHDSL

Search Engines
Although the internet is highly rich with information, the information is not always organized in
a way that a person expects. When "browsing", it is hard to get to the particular information
one is looking for. To provide an alternative, there are some specialized sites that can perform
the search for users, with more or less same accuracy. These sites are referred to as search
engines. Some of the most popular of them are: Examples : Google , Yahoo , MSN , Netscape ,
Alta Vista Search

Steps to do a search
To do a search, first access a search engine site. Eg. www.search.com
Each one of them provides you with a convenient box in which you can type the word or
sentence to search and press Enter. Eg. The results are displayed in a list. You can then click
each link and check it. If a link doesn't provide the type of information you are looking for, you
can click Back (the shortcut to go back on most browsers is Alt + left arrow key) and click the
next link
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SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE INTERNET

1. Electronic –Mail

- Email (electronic mail) lets you type and send a message to anyone, anywhere in the world
who has an Internet connection and an email account. Once sent, the message usually arrives
within seconds. However, before sending mail you have to learn how to compose your
messages.

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer you will be using Outlook Express which is
Microsoft's own Email program. Netscape has Netscape Messenger as its Email program. When
the Internet service was installed the Email address of your Internet connection should have
been established.
Once Microsoft Internet Explorer is installed the Outlook Express icon will appear on the
desktop, or the Taskbar as the bottom of the screen.

When you have clicked on Outlook Express you will see the following:
This window is divided into frames - on the left is the outline of the "filing system." By clicking
on the different folders you will have access to different options, see following example:

EMAIL - SENDING A MESSAGE

Notice that I have entered the In box - this will show me a list of documents received

Sending a Message
Identify the button "New Mail" on the main toolbar. Click on the words "New Mail" and the
following window will appear. See next page.

TO:
Here you must type the Email address of the recipient; notice there are NO spaces in the
address and capital letters are rarely used. Letters with accents cannot be used for an Email
address.
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cc: If you wish to send a copy to a second person but don't want to address them directly, click
here and write their Email address, they will receive their carbon copy at the same time as the
recipient.
Subject: Senders frequently leave this item blank, however, it is a good idea to give the
recipient an idea of the content of the message. This is particularly important for those who
receive a large quantity of mail.

EMAIL - SENDING AND RECEIVING A MESSAGE

In the space provided, type your message. This is not a formal letter so the content is usually
more direct and fairly brief. If you wish to include a letter or other formal document it is
possible to do so as an attachment
(see Attaching A Document).
Notice you have not included your own Email address - this is added automatically so the
recipient will know who sent it even if you don't sign your name. To check if the message was
sent, close the message window and in the left frame click on Sent Items, your message should
be listed there.By using the tool bar you can change font, size, and position of text.

EMAIL - RECEIVING AND READING MESSAGES

To rapidly see the contents of your Inbox (messages received) either click on Inbox or on the
main tool bar Send and Receive. You will see there a full list of messages received. Those which
are not read are usually in darker lettering. If you do not want to keep a message once it is
read, close the window and return to your Inbox, point at the message in question, click right
and choose delete.
A word of warning and advice:
Email is a pipeline of information open to anyone who has access to the Internet and an Email
account. There are many strange people sending messages. As a rule of thumb, don't open the
message unless you know the person/organization sending the message. In particular if the
message includes words like "Urgent", "Open immediately", etc. , delete these automatically.
Deleted items are sent to the Deleted Items folder. If the message is suspect, erase it from the
Deleted folder by pointing the mouse at the item, click right and choose Empty Contents.

USING THE ADDRESS BOOK

The address book is a list of frequently-used names and Email addresses; just like any address
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book these names can be kept in alphabetical order for easy reference. To add a name (contact)
to the address book, click on ADDRESS BOOK;

ATTACHMENTS
Once you have added a name and Email address to your list of contacts in the address book,
you no longer need to insert them manually in the message. Instead, you double click on the
icon which has the shape of a book; this will bring you to your list of contacts. Double click to
insert a name in the message.

ATTACHING A DOCUMENT
sometimes, it is necessary to add a separate document to your Email. Perhaps you want to
include a financial statement prepared in Excel, or a report in Word. In that case you need the
attachment feature.
1. Compose the message as usual. Click on
2. From the dialogue box, select the location of the file you want to send. Point at the file and
click on Attach.
3. You will return to your original message and see below the main text an icon which
represents the document you have attached.

OPENING AN ATTACHMENT YOU RECEIVE

Of course, it would be difficult to open a document sent to you which is prepared in Word
Perfect if you do not have that program. If you have Word and receive a Word document. So,
when you receive a document with an attachment, open the document then double click the
attached file to open it. To save the document on your system, point at the attachment, right
click and choose Save, or Save As, then select the appropriate destination for this document
and click Save.

2. Online Banking:

Banking is a business of accepting deposits and lending money. It is carried out by

financial intermediaries, which performs the functions of safeguarding deposits
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and providing loans to the public.

In other words, Banking means accepting for the purpose of lending or
investment of deposits of money from public repayable on demand and can be
withdrawn by cheque, draft order and so on.
Banking Company: Any company, which transacts the business of banking

Banking System

This is a principal mechanism through which the money supply of the country is
created and controlled. The banking system enables us to understand Commercial
Banks, Secondary Banks, Central Banks, Merchant Bank or Accepting Houses and
Discount Houses but to exclude the Saving Banks and Investment and other
intermediaries.

3. Insurance:
Insurance is a contract between the insurer and the insured wherein
against receipt of certain amount, called premium, the insurer agrees to
make good any financial loss that may be suffered by the insured, due to
the operation of an insured peril on the subject matter of insurance.

The Life is full of uncertainties.. People opt for insurance purely for the reasons of
uncertainties in life. Insurance gives the insured a kind of peace of mind as he is
assured to making up the loss in the event of such uncertainties in life happen.
Insurance business is divided into four classes , namely :

1) Life Insurance. Popular Products in Life insurance are Endowment Assurance

(Participating), and Money Back (Participating). More than 80% of the life
insurance business is from these products
2) Fire Insurance
3) Marine Insurance
4) Miscellaneous Insurance. Fire and Miscellaneous insurance businesses are
predominant.
Motor Vehicle insurance is compulsory.
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Life Insurers transact life insurance business; General Insurers transact the rest
i.e. Fire Insurance, Marine Insurance and Miscellaneous Insurance.

4. E-governance

Electronic governance or e-governance is the application of information and

communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of
information communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone
systems and services between government-to-customer (G2C), government-to-
business (G2B)

E-Governance : Focus
- Greater attention to improve service delivery mechanism
-Enhancing the efficiency of production
-Emphasis upon the wider access of information

Why eGovernance?
eGovernment can transform citizen service, provide access to information to
empower citizens, enable their participation in government and enhance citizen
economic and social opportunities, so that they can make better lives, for
themselves and for the next generation.

5. E-commerce
- The exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale
involving transportation from place to place is known as commerce.
- When all this is done electronically or online , it is known as “e-
commerce”.
- E-commerce from communication perspective is the delivery of
information, products or services, or payments via telephone lines,
computer networks, or any other means-commerce from business
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perspective, is the application of technology toward the automation of

business transaction and workflows.
- Ecommerce from online perspective provides the capability of buying
and selling products and information on the Internet and other online
services.

Features of e-Commerce
- E-Commerce is doing business online and electronically
-E-Commerce is about buying and selling products and services on the
Internet.
-The sellers are individuals, small businesses or large corporations.
-The buyers are consumers or businesses.
-Payment can be made by credit or debit card, money order, cash,
check, services or trade.
- The ranges of things that can be sold using e-commerce is enormous
and include art, apartment, antennas, batteries ,bicycles, books, cars,
cells phones, computer, cosmetics and whatever.
Role of E-Commerce

1. E-commerce is one of the cheapest means of doing business as it is e-

commerce development that has made it possible to reduce the cost of
promotion of products and services.
2. E-commerce reduces delivery time and labor cost thus it has been possible to
save the time of both – the vendor and the consumer.
3. You can do your e-payments with the help of e-commerce.
4. You can pick up the pace of your online business with the help of e-commerce
application
5. There is no time barrier in selling the products. One can log on to the internet
even at midnight and can sell the products at a single click of mouse.
6. E-Commerce provide facility - on-time alerts are meant for the convenience of
the consumers and inform the consumers about new products.
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E-Commerce Categories

The two most common participants in ecommerce are businesses and consumers.
Based on this we can come up with four primary ecommerce types:
1. Business to Business Ecommerce (B2B Ecommerce)
In this type of ecommerce, both participants are businesses. As a result, the
volume and value of B2B ecommerce can be huge. An example of business to
business ecommerce could be a manufacturer of gadgets sourcing components
online.

2. Business to Consumer Ecommerce (B2C Ecommerce)

When we hear the term e-commerce, most people think of B2C ecommerce. That
is why a name like Amazon.com pops up in most discussions about e-commerce.
Elimination of the need for physical stores is the biggest rationale for business to
consumer ecommerce. But the complexity and cost of logistics can be a barrier to
B2C ecommerce growth.
3. Consumer to Business Ecommerce (C2B Ecommerce)
On the face of it, C2B ecommerce seems lop-sided. But online commerce has
empowered consumers to originate requirements that businesses fulfill. An
example of this could be a job board where a consumer places her requirements
and multiple companies bid for winning the project. Another example would be a
consumer posting his requirements of a holiday package, and various tour
operators making offers.
4. Consumer to Consumer Ecommerce (C2C Ecommerce)
The moment you think of C2C ecommerce eBay.com comes to mind. That is
because it is the most popular platform that enables consumers to sell to other
consumers. Since eBay.com is a business, this form of ecommerce could also be
called C2B2C ecommerce (consumer to business to consumer ecommerce).
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- Other services offer by the internet include;

6. Instant messaging
7. www(world wide web)
8. internet telephony