Real Time Information

Online News Updates

Formed in the 90’s, online news reports (mentioned in the communication section) allow the user to catch up with the news without a newspaper or TV. Unlike a newspaper, online news can be updated as soon as an event has happened.  The ability of updating news instantly means that users can know exactly what is going on quicker using online and smartphone technology. News updating is therefore part of real time information, which is also part of the information age.

Traffic News

Traffic reporting started as radio reports which have been running since the late 70’s. Recently developed, online traffic news and updates work in a similar way to news updating but work more locally. News of traffic status on certain roads can be updated instantly online. This allows people to plan a journey avoiding traffic queues. Satnav (Satellite Navigation) in cars also feature traffic updates to allow drivers to take a different route to avoid traffic whilst out on the road. Satnav devices also use real time information to update road closures and divert the driver along a different route.

A satnav screen showing the user being directed away from heavy traffic

Air Traffic Control

Real time information and updating is commonly used in controlling air traffic. This method of real time info involves an airport control tower watching the actions and status of planes via computers. The control tower can message the pilots if the plane’s altitude is too high or low for example. Landing and take-off are other examples that the plane can be contacted for although the main job of a control tower is to direct a plane along a flight path.

A screenshot of Flight radar, showing aircraft over parts of Europe

Flight radar is a website that tracks aircraft from your own computer or smartphone. The website allows you to locate a particular aircraft and information about it such as altitude, destination, and speed. This can allow you to track an aircraft a relative is on and see whereabouts they are.

Weather/Webcam

Online weather updates also originated from newspaper and television reports. Due to public interest in weather conditions, the latest weather predictions are part of online real time information. Users can now use the weather predictions to make plans such as what to wear when going out or what would be a good day to organise an event. 

A live webcam of Sydney airport, Australia

For holiday destinations, local webcams are another option of instant weather information. On particular websites, webcams of the area are available to allow the user to view the current weather conditions of that area. Examples of local webcams cover airports, hotels or holiday resorts.

Parcel Tracking

The delivery of a product bought online also uses real time information. When a user has bought a product from an online store, the company can locate the vehicles and containers with the original products. This information is stored in a real time database which also keeps track of many other parcels and deliveries. As the journey of the parcel continues, updates of the parcel’s status are instantly available to the user by entering a unique parcel tracking code to the website.

Bookings

The history of online booking began in 1950’s with air travel bookings using an electronic booking system which located empty seats aboard the plane. As the 20^th century continued, more airlines began using booking systems and the internet booking engine was later developed. The system works by locating seats on a plane, concert or cinema. When a user books a seat, the booking engine sends information of the booking to another system. Then, the seat is marked as booked and therefore, no one else can take it. The system is also capable of booking different types of seats or places including cheaper and more expensive seats. This system is also used in booking hotel rooms and holiday destinations. The online booking system is increasing in popularity as statistics show that a third of bookings are made online.

The logo of Odeon, a cinema company which uses real time info for booking seats for films

Rail Info

Rail travel is common among commuters all over the world and therefore, it is essential that rail websites keep all news up to date. Real time rail information ensures that by reporting the status of every train running. Information given includes the exact times, destinations and any delays. Using online technology, real time rail information informs commuters via the internet or smartphone app instantly of any information that would affect their journey. Real time info also allows users to plan journeys in the future.

Real time rail info allows commuters to keep up to date with everything they need to know

Bus Tracking

Live bus tracking also works like rail info and air traffic control. A user can use their smartphone to enter a bus number to find the location of the bus. The tracking app produces a map which shows where the bus is. This is useful for when a bus is late or just when someone wants to know where their bus is.

London transport is an example of a travel company that has taken up live bus tracking in 2011. This allows commuters in London to locate any bus travelling there as the image below shows.

An example of bus tracking using a smartphone app

Personal Experience

As mentioned before, I sometimes use online news updating to keep up to date with recent news. Because of real time information, online news can be updated instantly which means it is preferred by many users including me when I am online.

I don’t use travel updating information although I believe that travel updates and satnavs which update traffic news would be a great benefit to road users and anyone who travels in general.

I also don’t need to use air traffic information although flight radar is an interesting website to visit. Instant updates and flight radar are helpful for watching the exact location of a single plane and its status.

Online weather reports are very useful millions of online users including me. Using instant weather updates, I can base decisions according to the weather such as what to do during the day. This would apply to many other users. However, I don’t use instant webcams to see the weather conditions unlike some other people.

I don’t often buy online, although I can use parcel tracking when I do. Instant parcel updates mean that I and many others can predict when I receive the product based on where it is currently.

Online booking is also popular with me as it can be easier than booking in real life. The ability to book from your own home or smartphone is another reason why online booking is popular with me and other users. The amount of online bookings each year is also increasing.

As I don’t use rail or bus travel commonly, I don’t use rail info or bus tracking as much as other people would. However, there is a possibility that both of these information services would be useful for me in the future.

Online Forms of Communication

E-mail Technology

The E-mail started as a form of radio communication which was used in the mid-20^th century. Later, it evolved into a file directory which left a message on the receiver’s computer. However, as computer and internet technology progressed, the E-mail also needed to do the same. An ARPANET worker named Ray Tomlinson eventually solved this problem in 1972 by editing the E-mail to be sent to multiple users, each with their own address. Because of this, Tomlinson was known as the official inventor of e-mail technology.

The ‘@’ symbol which gave everyone a separate e-mail address.

From that date, the E-mail progressed to allow many people worldwide to communicate among each other. ‘Offline e-mail’ was also developed which allowed users to store e-mails in an inbox if they were offline. Despite the growth of E-mail technology, some e-mail services such as SMTP (Simple Message Transfer Protocol) were not complex systems. Because of this, Viruses and spammers took advantage and many problems with the server were not fixed until the 2000’s.

The e-mail continued to advance from its problems and separate services such as Hotmail and Gmail were created which provided an e-mail inbox to internet users. Today, e-mail is still a popular form of communication with an average of 90 trillion e-mails sent every year.

Social media/Networking

Online forms of social networking and media have been increasingly popular within the past ten years. The original idea of social media and networking was to allow users to reunite using the internet. Due to their popularity, most social media sites expanded to allow users to communicate with ‘friends’ online. The features of social media have also expanded to include photo, video and status sharing, social network gaming and even ‘groups’ and ‘pages’ which a user can choose to ‘follow’.

The logo of Facebook, one of the most popular social networking sites.

Although, social media features many advantages, it has also created cyber bullying which involved targeting users aggressively. Many users also felt that sites such as Facebook were havens to stalkers and paedophiles. In response to this, Facebook and other sites have increased online privacy which users can set for themselves. Despite some disadvantages, social media and networking have increased in popularity with over 500,000,000 Facebook users alone.

Forums

Forums are another popular form of communication which expanded to the internet in the 90’s. Forums allowed users to comment on a particular topic.  Today, there are forums for just about every topic with gaming, sport and music as examples of popular topics. Forums also require admins and moderators to supervise them as spamming and ‘trolling’ are considered as disadvantages within those forums. Like other forms of online communication, forums are growing in popularity. Forums are particularly useful if you are researching problems that need solving as someone else will have the answer. Forums also bring users together and create a community around a common interest.

SMS/Smart phones

Short Message Service (also known as SMS and text messaging) is a form of technology recently created as an alternative to phone conversations. SMS works in a similar way to radio communication and e-mail, which involved sending messages to a user.

SMS started as a feature on mobile phones in the 90’s but eventually ended up become more popular than mobile conversations. The rapid increase in SMS popularity was partly due to the release of the smartphone which featured far more services than just speaking verbally to other user. Text messaging was made easier and more accessible which is another reason for the popularity of SMS. As well as SMS, smartphone use has also increased because of the extra features such as app downloads and internet access without the use of a main computer or laptop. The popularity of the smartphone means that many people follow the latest ‘trend’ of smartphone.

An image of the IPhone 5, the latest smartphone to be released.

Blogs

Blogging is a different form of online communication which evolved from internet forums in the 90’s. Blogs allow a user to express their opinion about many topics. Should other users feel the same way about a topic, then an option to follow that blog is available. The user can also use a blog to influence and interest people in a similar way a forum can. Blogging has increased in popularity from 1998 and 1999 and as a result, over 156 million blogs exist on blogging sites such as Blogger and Wordpress.

The Wordpress logo, another example of a blogging site.

Video Conferencing

Although less popular, video conferencing is still a form of communication which has been used in the USA since the 70’s. Video conferencing is mostly used by businesses and companies to communicate quickly between different countries and locations. While video conferencing is used by people not working for companies, Skype is more popular with the general public. Statistics say that 75% of businesses will use video conferencing by 2013 and this proves that video conferencing is still popular.

An example of video conferencing in progress.

Online News

News reports online are an example of online communication between a website and users. The news site updates the site with recent news and the users can pick up on the article. Other features such as trending allow users to catch up with what is popular and important. Online news services are popular because with apps and downloads, users can quickly view the news without reading a newspaper or watching the television.

An example of an online news report on a smartphone using a downloadable app.

Podcasts

Podcasts evolved from radio shows to become audio files which can be listened to. Like blogging, podcast can be made by users to express opinions except using sound instead. Podcasts can also feature any topic and other users can download any podcast they wanted to. Because of their wide range of topic choice, podcasts can create a podcast for any purpose such as entertainment or informative reasons.

Personal experience

As mentioned in the online services post, I use communication from the information age and it has been an affected my life as well as the lives of millions of people across the world.

E-mail is one of the most useful forms of communication for me today. This is because it can be used in most situations whether I am sending documents and general work between computers or talking to friends online.

I also use social networking as an alternative to E-mail communication sometimes. Having said this, I generally use social networking less than E-mail technology. However, social networking is useful for keeping up to date with news, both local and international.

I don’t visit forums often, although I can use forums to follow common interests and find answers to frequent problems. Forums can also help me broaden my opinion about a common interest and agree/disagree with other members.

I also don’t use SMS or smartphone technology frequently as I personally prefer social networking and E-mail to communicate online. Should I require speaking to /messaging somebody immediately, then SMS would be an option I could use.

Like Forums, blogging is another way I can research and follow a topic I find interesting. I also use blogging to state facts and opinions about what I find interesting and people can follow if they wish.

Online news reports are useful to find out the exact situation from wherever I am. This is quicker than reading a newspaper or watching the TV which is why I find it more useful. I can also find out about news using social networking or other forms of online communication.

I have never needed to use video conferencing and podcasts before which means I don’t use either form of communication. However, both are useful forms of communication and I may need to use them in the future.

Online Services of the Info Age

The information age has seen different types of online services form and advance in technology, popularity and accessibility with millions across the world using online services every day. The information age and the use of online services have change the way we live as well as the world itself.

Communication

Communication has been an important aspect of the information age which has seen a rapid increase in the past 30 years. Modern day communication started with mobile phone and E-mail* communication. From the first major age of both the mobile phone and E-mail in the 80’s, evolution for both services has progressed, especially with the mobile phone. From the beginning of mobile communication in the mid 70’s, the first mobile phone was designed. However, production was slower and it was a decade before the ‘brick**’ was sold to the public. The mobile phone continued to sell into the 90’s, despite the fact mobile phone took a long time to charge and only lasted 30 minutes. However, the 90’s also saw the mobile phone because more common and more sophisticated with the 2^nd generation mobile technology becoming accessible. The mobile phone continued to change with newer features such as colour screens and the SMS (Short Message Service) function becoming available. The 3^rd generation technology had also been developed by Japan in the early 2000’s. In addition to all these, mobile phones continued to get lighter; an improvement from the ‘Brick’. From this point, the mobile phone greatly increased in use and technology with smart phones already in development.



The evolution of the mobile phone from 1983 to 2007.

These smartphones were later released from 2007 to the present day. Smartphones were developed from previous mobile phones but feature advanced technology such as internet access, apps and touchscreens. The increase in smartphone popularity is also responsible for the growing use of SMS use (currently one of the most used forms of communication in the world) and social networking today.

 Social networking is another popular form of communication today. Like other forms of communication, social networking on the internet wasn’t introduced a long time ago, with the first sites appearing in the mid 90’s. The idea of a social networking site was to reunited old friends using internet communication. Today, social networking sites such as Facebook have expanded with other features including photo, video and status sharing with online ‘friends’. However, social networking can expose users to a range of issues and problems. Some of these issues include cyber bullying (similar to internet trolling), profile and internet hacking systems as well as privacy abuse.

The ‘troll face’, an image associated with internet trolling on social sites such as Facebook.

Other forms of internet communication include forums, video conferencing and Skype. However, these are not as popular as e-mailing and social networking for example. Video conferencing and Skype are similar form of using a webcam to communicate with others. Skype focuses on personal use of video conferencing, while normal video conferencing allows a user to talk to anyone. Forums are different and basically form an online community to post and comment about a shared interest or topic.

E-commerce

 As well as communication, the information age has seen an increase in online shopping and other examples of e-commerce. Online shopping is the most popular form of e-commerce today and is responsible for increase of company income as well as the closure of ‘real life’ shops. The birth of online shopping began along with the birth of the modern internet in the 90’s. As years passed, more companies invested in online shopping and the sites became larger and easier to use. Most sites feature a shopping cart and online payment to deliver a product to the location of the customer. While the convenience and product availability is an advantage to a user, online sites can also pose the threat of internet hacking and privacy issues as well as shipping costs and delivery wait time becoming inevitable. Despite this, the number of online shopping usage is increasing every year. Although online retailing is not to be confused with transactional sites. These sites include EBay and Amazon which allow a user to sell products as well as buy them. Transactional websites are another common form of e-commerce in the information age.

The logo of Amazon.co.uk, an example of a transactional site.

The money of the customer can also be managed using online banking and bill paying services. Online banking can be more convenient than visiting a building society due to more features helping manage your money, insurance and taxes (see E-Government). However, online banking does have its disadvantages such as online attacks and account hacking. Bill paying services are another feature of online banking which offers customers to send money from their accounts to pay for products electronically. This is an advantage as it can be quicker than paying with by cash. Details about payments can also be viewed and certain bill paying systems exist such as PayPal. PayPal and other systems can be used for online retailing and transactional sites too.

 Education

The information age has also been responsible for online education and learning programs. These programs include My Maths, Sam Learning and BBC Bitesize, which are all accessible from school computers. Bitesize is a popular revision website set up by the BBC, which allows students to test themselves and revise information for most subjects and most exam boards. Sam Learning works in a similar way, also allowing students to revise many different subjects and choose from different exam boards. My Maths is maths and statistics based, although has the same site objectives (to help students revise and prepare for their exams).

The Bitesize logo, a revision site for GCSE students.

Entertainment and Downloading

The internet has many different types of entertainment services online which have appealed to the people across the world. Many types of entertainment can be downloaded onto a computer, smartphone or tablet device. One of the most common forms of electronic entertainment is music from apple’s service ITunes. The ITunes service allows a user to download music tracks onto their IPod, Smartphone, tablet or computer that can be listened to anytime. Music downloading is also convenient and easy although there are a number of disadvantages too. One example would be illegally downloading music you haven’t purchased. The increasing price of music is why many knowingly download music illegally. In addition to these points, downloads in general can take up lots of memory space.

 YouTube is another popular choice for listening to music and watching other videos for entertainment or other reasons instead. Created in 2005, YouTube has rapidly expanded to have eight years’ worth of video content uploaded every day. YouTube is popular for having a video for just about every topic and interest for everyone. Since the beginning of YouTube, many minor video sites have been created. Another notable video site is iplayer, a video site created by the BBC in 2007 to allow people to view TV show they had missed since the initial broadcast. Other TV channels can created their own versions of iplayer such as Channel 4 with 4OD and ITV with ITV player. Iplayer has also expanded to become apps for smartphones so that users can view programmes on their phone as well.

Gaming has also advanced technologically in the past years. Console gaming began in the 70’s and were only accessible to a small amount of people. Gaming continued to advance with more games and consoles being released. However, the 90’s was a better decade for gaming with improved graphics including 3D and improved consoles such as the 16bit and 32bit console. Today, gaming has improved even further with even better graphics, controller less gaming, online gaming and games to download as apps. However, some people viewing video gaming as violent and that it teaches children wrong actions and thoughts. Despite this, video gaming and smartphone game apps are becoming more popular each year.

Pacman, an arcade game from the 80’s which shortly became available as a console game afterwards.

Apps have also become increasing popular and common due to the increase of smartphone usage. Like other downloads, there are apps for everything a user could want and need. Apps are an important aspect of the information age as they cover many online services already mentioned here.

Real Time Information

The younger generations benefit most from the online services of the information age as they had the most experience and interest growing up with them. Other generations also benefit from these online services with parts such as real time information. This involves everyday news, leisure and cinema as examples. Online news sites have taken over newspapers in popularity and the fall in newspaper sales is evidence for that. Online news sites and apps allow a user to browse a website for certain news articles which can easily be updated by the original site. Cinema and leisure sites have also adapted to allow users to book seats or activities online and pay online as well. The websites can also allow the user to find out more about their film or activity choice as well as other booking information.

E-Government

The Government system has also changed in reaction of the information age. Because of the increasing number of computers, E-Government has made important government aspects such as paying tax and insurance electronically possible. E-Governments also work in other countries across the world.  The E-Government system is more convenient and efficient than paying tax and insurance manually. However, the E-Government is expensive to run at more than $3 trillion per year.

Personal Experience

As well as billions of others all over the world, the way in which I live my life has been affected by the information age. Like many other people, communication is easier for me with a mobile phone that I can use when I need to.  I also use E-mail to submit and move work to different locations. I also use social networking to keep in touch with friends and family.

 I have also used to internet to purchase items such as DVDs, books and games. Online shopping is useful to me, especially is a product I want isn’t in store or if I cannot get to that store. Transactional websites are also useful if something I want is not even in an online store.

 As part of school exams, I have used all three education websites to help me revise topics I need to and to obtain the grades I deserve overall. Revision topics are also easier to find than in some textbooks.

 I often browse the internet and therefore, YouTube is not new to me. Because YouTube has videos for almost everything, there will always be something I can watch there. I am also interested in gaming, both online and console so I sometimes visit online game sites and use games consoles. BBC iplayer is also convenient if I miss a TV programme I wanted to watch. The real time information part of the information age isn’t as important to me as I sometimes find news sites helpful to keep up to date.

 *For more information about E-mail technology, please see the previous two posts which focus of the history and evolution of the E-mail.

**’Brick’ was a nickname for the first mobile phone because of its weight of 1kg.

Email Today

With Millions of people everyday using e-mail technology to communicate around the world, it would seem that e-mail is here to stay, or is it? Statistics show that consumer e-mails are increasing every year. However, the same cannot be said for corporate and business e-mails, which only have a low increase every year. In addition to these points, 90% of emails sent every year are classed as spam, meaning that only around 9 trillion e-mails sent are ‘real’ compared to 90 trillion e-mails sent in total every year. Therefore, the e-mail statistics are not as impressive as they would first seem to be.

In comparison with the first point made, other forms of communication are also popular with many people from all across the world. One example is from an Independent online article stating that texting is now the most popular form of communication in Britain today. Texting in Britain is apparently more popular than phone calls, verbal conversations, social networking and e-mailing. The technology advance of the mobile phone and the smart phone has increased rapidly so that many websites can be accessed using a smart phone. Because of this, people can easily text instead of using a computer or laptop to use e-mail. The usage of e-mail and texting has also had an affect against the postal service as well. Because of the increase of e-mails and texts, the number of letters being sent every year has dropped and the postal services have had to increase certain prices (stamps, etc…) to make a profit.

Overall, the e-mail is still a very popular form of communication today. However, as technology advances and becomes more accessible to the world’s population, the e-mail may decrease in usage and popularity. Although this may happen in the future, the ‘end’ of e-mail technology may take a long time as millions use e-mail every day. While the e-mail is decreasing in usage, smart phones and text usage will inevitably increase greatly in popularity, accessibility and use.

The History of the E-mail

The E-Mail (Electronic mail) was originated from electronic messaging using radio technology in the mid-20^th century. The first e-mail networks started using early e-mail technology during the 60’s until the first ARPANET (early internet) e-mail was sent and received in the early 70’s. From this first e-mail, many different e-mail networks originated and used e-mail technology as a form of communication. The 1980’s saw e-mail communication advance in importance and efficiency as everyday internet users could have access to e-mail services. The 80’s also saw more e-mail networks forming and advancing in technology. Today, e-mail is a very popular form of communication with millions of internet users sending each other e-mails every day.