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How Internet has Transformed the Communication Landscape

The Internet has radically transformed the computer and communication landscape...






Toward the end of the twentieth century, the rise of the Internet gave way to the era in which most people have the means to access a massive flow of information.  Considered  the most popular expression of ICTs, the Internet can be simply defined as a worldwide system of computer networks, a sort of interconnected ‘network of networks’ that transmits data by means of packet switching using the standard internet protocol (IP).

The Internet has radically transformed the computer and communication landscape.  This was made possible because of the integration of various technologies that paved the way for the invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio and computer. The Internet, in fact, has a worldwide reach and offers a dynamic structure for communication and information dissemination. It also provides the means for participation and interaction between individuals and their computer, easily surmounting geographical barriers.

As the world becomes even more interconnected, the use of the Internet in the developed world complements or is slowly substituting other telecommunication media such as mails, fax or even the traditional phone calls, while in the emerging and developing countries there has been a noticeable increase over the past two years in the percentage of people who said they used the Internet for a wide variety of reasons.

For some scholars, access to the Internet provides the chance for communication among individuals who previously did not have the means to do so. Furthermore, the Internet is changing communities in the developing world by connecting them with the rest of the world, providing such communities a potent, fast, and a fairly cheap communication tool that empowers and transforms them in unprecedented ways.

Today, the Internet impacts not only the technological areas of computer communication but all aspects of everyday life as people rely more on internet-based communication tools and applications. With the Internet, information and communication technologies (ICT) tools and gadgets, information has become available, free and convenient, timely and even more mobile.
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