Measuring and Sustaining the New Economy Report of a Workshop (2002) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Welcome to the New Economy
Welcome to the New Economy
Pages 32-43
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From page 32... ...
The Internet and computers linked to it will be of similar importance so that each of us would depend on hundreds or thousands of pieces of software that run in the background, doing invisible jobs for us. Unlike electric motors, which tap into the power of huge generators on the electrical grid, computers tap into information drawn from anywhere on the network.
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From page 33... ...
Thus, they chose the simplest format they could imagine underlying technologies that only had to deliver digital signals from point A to point B with some probability of arrival greater than zero. The goal of designing the Internet protocol to run on everything, he said, was so important that they had a T-shirt made that read "IF on everything." This objective has remained essentially intact for 25 years.
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From page 34... ...
Cerf projected that by the end of this decade the number of Internet users would approach 3 billion about half the world's population if growth rates continue as they have in recent years (Figure 2~. He cited his own projection made a year ago of 900 million devices on the Internet by 2006, and compared that with an estimate by the cell phone industry of more than 1.5 billion devices by 2004.
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From page 35... ...
. ~ b~ ~99 ~99 N99~99~99~99~99~99~99~999~oOO~oo~oo~oo~oo~ o°~ of FIGURE 2 Global Internet Hosts (in thousands)
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From page 36... ...
Those early experiments did manage to carry voice signals by compressing them, but the sound quality was poor. Carrying sound on the Web is common now especially one-way sound and carrying radio is possible, requiring only 15 to 20 kilobits per second in the lower-quality ranges; however, because the packets do not flow smoothly and uniformly, they must be buffered.
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From page 37... ...
It allows the sewer to download fonts and logos into the sewing machine and sew those fonts and logos into the fabric, all at consumer pnces. Other kinds of Internet-enabled devices include Web TV, Palm Pilots, and Nokia 9000s, which are three-way cell phones a cell phone, a pager, and an e-mail station.
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From page 38... ...
A wireless LAN card in his computer receives an Internet address from the local server and allows him to work anywhere in the house or office. Bluetooth is a new radio technology that enables low-power radio linkage of multiple devices just a few feet apart.
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From page 39... ...
Trademark, copyright, intellectual property, and patents are all-important issues on the Internet because it is so easy to move information around in digital form. The legal actions against such Internet firms as Napster arise from the concern of music companies that copyrighted material is being improperly copied or transmitted through the network.
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From page 40... ...
Professor Varian points out that, because online commerce is global, its tax treatment will also be global and must deal with countries that employ value-added taxes as well as those that use state sales taxes. Within the U.S., he writes, "The current system of state taxes is overly complex and poorly designed.
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From page 41... ...
Cerf noted that developing routers that are fast enough to transmit packets of data to the Internet, he said, present a more complex challenge and a potential bottleneck. So far, he said, the router vendors have been able to develop higher capacity switching systems each time they are needed.
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From page 42... ...
Network Reliability Dr. Myers of Xerox Corporation returned to the issue of network reliability, recalling the electrical blackout more than three decades ago when most of the power grid of the Northeast shut down.
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From page 43... ...
For example, an online purchase might be made from anywhere in the world, so that the transaction might more reasonably be said to occur at the billing address of the credit card holder. For a cable system, a more appropriate regulation point might be the address of the subscriber the delivery point.
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