A long time has passed since the Internet originated in the late 1960s when the United States Defense Department developed ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency network).
Internet is one of the most important invention created in the last century and it is the result of a long process called the IT revolution. The Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other, shop and get our information. The influence of the Internet has affected every aspect of our lives and we couldn't even imagine our life without it.
I might speak of so many ways the internet has influenced the life of young people, from social networks to the virtual reality. However I want to draw the attention on two aspects we have studied at school: E-commerce and e-banking.
E-COMMERCE
E-commerce is the name used for the process of buying or selling products or services via the internet. There are some advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages are that e-commerce is quick and easy, it’s cheaper because there are more competitive prices, there is a large range of products, online shops are always open and the products can be bought and sold from all over the world. If you buy goods from your living room you don’t spend time going to shops, you don’t need to stand in long queues before you can pay, you don’t have to spend hours to find a place where to park your car. You don’t spend money on petrol, and this also means less pollution.
The disadvantages of e-commerce are that the consumers can’t touch, smell or taste the products, they are worried they will never receive the goods they have paid for and they are worried someone may steal money and information.
Frauds are very common, so people have to pay great attention when they buy goods on line. A typical internet fraud is called phishing. Criminals send bogus e-mails to people, they usually invite them to click on a link to a fake bank website to get access to sensitive information, such as PIN numbers and other bank details.
There are 3 types of E-Commerce:
B2B: Business to Business. It is the process of buying and selling goods between two companies;
B2C: Business to consumer. Direct sales from the producer to the final consumer
C2C: Consumer to consumer. Sales between consumers.
Shopping on-line is fantastic because you can find everything you need: for example a months ago, I was looking for a straight t-shirt to play volleyball but I couldn’t find the one I liked in the shops, and one night I decided to look for it on the internet and in a few seconds I sent the order. In less than a week I received it.
The safest method of payment is through a prepaid card with a limited amount of money, so if someone steals your information he can only take the money on the prepaid card and not the money in your current account.
E-BANKING
The remote banking was born in 1980 when the bank started to offer home banking services via electronic media. Customers could access their bank details using a computer.
Another important step in 1990 is when online Internet banking services started to be offered to companies first and to all people after. With internet banking the costumers can do their banking from home, they can pay their bills and transfer sums of money, check their statement of account.
In the UK online banking is very popular for adults of all ages except those aged 65 and above.
