The Internet
Most of today’s discussion of interactive marketing centers on the Internet. The Internet is an all-purpose global network composed of some 50,000 different networks around the globe that, within limits, lets anyone with access to a personal computer send and receive images and text anywhere.
The Internet provides an efficient way to find and share information, but until recently, most people outside universities and government agencies found it difficult to use and learn. This changed in 1993 with the advent of browser technology that provides point-and-click access to the World Wide Web (WWW or Web). The Web is actually an interlinked collection of graph- ically rich information sources within the larger Internet. Web sites provide byper’media resources, a system allowing storage of and access to text, graphics, audio, and video in so-called pages linked to each other in a way that integrates these different media elements. When a user clicks on a highlighted word or picture (icon), the browser converts the click to computer commands and brings the requested new information—text, photograph, chart, song, or movie clip—to the user’s computer.
Compared to traditional media, the hypermedia resources of the Web offer a number of advantages. Data moves in seconds, without the user noticing that several computers in different locations combine to fulfill a request. Interactive control allows users to quickly access other information resources through related pages, either at the same or other sites, and easily navigate through documents. Because it is dynamic, Web site sponsors can easily keep information current. Finally, multimedia capacities increase the attractiveness of these documents.