Page 208 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 8 • Technology and Information Management

Hyperlinks often appear as colored, underscored words, but addresses can be
embedded just about anywhere on the Web page. As you move your mouse pointer
around a Web page, you will know when you encounter a hyperlink, because the
pointer will turn to a hand with a pointing index finger.
Many companies, large and small, have Web sites. Their addresses usually con-
tain the company name or initials. For example, the General Electric site address
is http://www.ge.com. All addresses begin with “http://” for “hypertext transport
protocol,” which is a code that helps computers connect to each other on the Web.
Your browser will assume that all addresses begin with this, so you need not type
it. The next part of the address, www, stands for “World Wide Web.” Many Web
addresses begin this way, but not all. The company name or abbreviation usually
appears next. The three letters at the end identify the type of organization. The
“.com” following “ge” indicates a commercial or profit-making organization.
A government office is “.gov,” a school is “.edu,” and a not-for-profit organization
is “.org.” Saying “dot.com” is a way advertisers and others may refer to Web sites
in general.
The line under the GE Web address shown above indicates a hyperlink. If you
were reading this page on the Internet and you wanted to visit GE’s home page,
you could immediately jump there by clicking the mouse on the hyperlink. You
may want to know what products GE sells or what jobs are available. You could
find out about GE’s products by following hyperlinks on the company’s site to
different product pages.
Much business is transacted on the Internet. The use of the letter “e” before
a name means “electronic.” For example, “e-commerce” refers to businesses that
buy and sell to other businesses as well as businesses that sell to consumers.
“E-business” means businesses that buy and sell only to other businesses. Retail-
ers that sell to customers on the Web are known as “e-tailers.” Anyone who sends
messages to others is using “e-mail.” And “e-appliances” are consumer appli-
ances, such as refrigerators and microwave ovens, that contain chips that allow
people to use e-mail to obtain data such as cooking, freezing, and maintenance
information that can be stored in the e-appliance. New “e” words are likely to
evolve. You will learn more about e-commerce in Chapter 9.

PHOTO: © DIGITAL VISION. The creation of the World

Wide Web has made the Inter-
net accessible to the average
person. What effect has it had
on the transaction of business?

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