subject: 4G wireless Internet returns the Internet shopping craze [print this page] Twenty years from now, when classrooms in middle and high schools cover United States history, they will dedicate at least one lecture to the story of the Internet: its rise, its fall and its slow and eventual return to triumph. These lessons will start out with such key words as 56K, search engine variety and new paradigm marketing, before transitioning to more current, advanced lingo as WiMax, mobile air card technology and search engine optimization, all in an attempt to educate students on the economical boom that the Internet promised and how greed and over excitement not to mention Y2K led to almost a complete economical collapse.
A little more than a decade ago, the Internet was a new and exciting technological medium. Originally developed by the army, the Internet introduced new ways to go about looking at the world; it transformed the way everybody thought. Elementary school classrooms could follow and participate in chat room conversations for people summiting Mount Everest, graduate students writing thesis statements could start doing a lot of their research without spending hours looking for books and people could do their shopping without ever stepping foot outside of their home. Everybody seemed to be benefitting from the new technology and people from Silicon Valley leaped at the opportunity to cash in on all the action.
With in no time, television became littered with advertisements for all of the hottest new Web sites. All of the sudden, there were 7 new search engine sites, ranging from such intricate and interesting names as Yahoo, Xcite and Lycos. People were being told that anything could be purchased online because everything was available for sale, such as books, CDs, clothing and even groceries. These Web sites even tried to rapidly brand themselves, easily seen with the Pets.com sock puppet dog, holding a microphone and guaranteeing next day delivery on all dog toys and cat food. It seemed too good to be true; it was.
Within a few years, almost all of the sites that spent so much time marketing, so much time brand building without actually having a proper business plan completely failed. The economy hit a low point and people started to doubt the Internet as this revolutionary medium. It may not have been as good as many claimed it was. Of course, a few sites within this boom managed to survive and continue, such as Amazon.com, but advertisements for shopping Web sites pretty much ceased.
Yet, presently the Internet has hit a turning point, online shopping is now increasing thanks to a combination of wireless Internet and the culture finally catching up and adapting to the new form of commerce. With all of the technological advancements currently taking place such as mobile broadband, culture has grown accustomed to the idea of the Internet. It is no longer this new craze that businesses are jumping all over; everyone knows about it and understands its benefits. That sock puppet dog could not convince people that shopping on the Internet was easier, people had to realize it on their own, naturally. Because of this, he lost his job, although he now can be seen selling loans to people with bad credit on television, similar to Gary Coleman from Diffrent Strokes.
And Now, with the recent release of 4G networks, people are connecting to the Internet from anywhere with ease. They could be walking down the street, see a product that they want to buy and within minutes find the cheapest price and purchase it, courtesy of their smart phone. With all the focus on wireless technology, people are now accepting and participating in the online shopping world. Retail Web sites are starting to see an increase in sales and the future appears bright, which will conclude that high school historical Internet lecture on a positive note.
4G wireless Internet returns the Internet shopping craze
