3 Skype Changing How People Communicate

Skype is an application which can be downloaded to users’ phone, tablet and/or computer. Skype was released in August 2003 and was written by Estonian developers Ahti Heinta, Priit Kasesala, Jaan Tallinn, Danish native Janus Friis, and Swedish native Niklas Zennstrom. [7] Skype started off as simply a voice chat and instant messaging program and has grown into one of the leading voice chat software in the world. The program expanded and now offers features such as landline phone calls, texting, and group video chats. [8] These features have changed the way we communicate on a daily basis and have brought over-seas business meetings back home virtually. Now companies can have video conference calls with just a few clicks on their computer or device. This has made it more cost effective for companies, typically small businesses, and keeps them from flying employees back to their headquarters for company meetings. Skype is paving the way for the revolution of communication. [9]

4 Marketing

Most companies would not be in existence if they simply relied on old fashioned word of mouth to build their brand. Marketing and advertising is a major part in how companies thrive, how new companies are born, and how people spend their money. With advances in communication technology, it is becoming increasingly easier to connect with millions of people worldwide with one click; than it would be to hire one of the local kids to pass out fliers of all the weekend sales. This is why companies are taking a major interest in online advertising and getting out to as many people as they can. Online advertising is a multi-billion dollar activity that a company must take part in to survive. [10] According to Robert Holf, a contributor to Forbes.com, digital advertising has finally hit the 100-billion annual spending mark this year and it’s estimated that by 2016 that number will have increased to 163 billion. He goes on to state that digital adds take up roughly “one in five ad dollars” and I’m sure that this ratio will change in the future. One of the ways marketers are spending this money is through multiple social networking sites. Already, there are major marketing trends that show heavy involvement with social media websites, according to the Huffington Post, over [11] 1 million websites are integrated into Facebook, it also shows that 80% of the users “like” company brands. Aside from Facebook there are even more staggering statistics from users involved with Twitter and Google+.

5 Benefits of Telecommunication

In the Data Age, efficiency and time must work in tandem in order to create a successful business venture. Telecommuting promotes success in the business world. With companies like Compaq using available technologies such as Brainshark On-Demand, which enables companies to monitor and display online presentation within the company itself or other companies. [12] When using telecommunication technology, businesses are more likely to succeed because of the benefits that it provides. “Time is Money,” and one of the benefits that Telecommuting provides flexibility in work schedule of the employee. “Businesses lose 600 billion dollars a year due to distractions” [13] but, with telecommuting, it reduces the amount of distractions because the employee is generally more satisfied and thus more focused and happier in the workplace. Research shows that, employees are less likely to take sick days and businesses lose a few hours instead of a full day of productivity. [14] However, the most significant benefit from communication is surprisingly increased productivity in the workplace. Several companies have already transitioned into this business plan and have produced better results. For example, “Best Buy, British Telecom, Dow Chemical, and many others show teleworkers are 35-40% more productive.” [13] These are not the only companies to benefit, “American express workers produced 43% more than their office counter parts.” [14] Tele-commuting is still a developing idea however but, because of the benefits it will create a modern workplace.

6 Efficiently Using Communication

As communication technology advances, businesses are able to use it to grow and expand. This is true for the phenomenal growth and success of mega store Wal-Mart. [15] Through effective use of communication technology Wal-Mart is able to keep its stores stocked with much needed supplies and goods and virtually does not have to worry about losing money through carrying a supply of surplus items through the use of a satellite. [16] As stores sell out of items and they are able to communicate shortages through the satellite. Then the people working communications are able to look at data telling them what truck is nearby that store with the needed supplies, and direct them to resupply the store with what they need. This also works for surpluses, for example if a store has too much of an item(s) that could be needed at another location then the satellite is able to track what trucks are in that area with room to carry the supplies. By using efficient communication technology Wal-Mart has reduced their cost of transportation and supply use. Wal-Mart has invested largely into IT and communications systems to effectively track sales and merchandise inventories stores across the country. [17]

7 Piracy

As the Internet continues to expand, and connections used to communicate continue to get faster, piracy has become a serious concern for many copyright holders. Internet software piracy mainly began in the mid to late 90’s, with protocols such as USENET, FTP and IRC allowing users to download and upload applications, music and movies to and from each other with little risk. However, these protocols were not particular well-known, and often difficult to use for many people. In June of 1999, the Napster service was released. [18] Napster was an easy to use peer-to-peer (P2P) music sharing network which allowed users to search for songs, and download them from other users. [19] Napster quickly took off and was soon sued for copyright infringement, and ultimately shut down just over two years after its release. [19] After Napster’s demise, many similar P2P networks were started, such as eMule, Gnutella, Limewire, KaZaa and others, which ultimately were shut down and sued [21]. Later technologies include BitTorrent, a decentralized P2P network which was responsible for 21.6% of US Internet traffic in 2011 [20] cannot be shut down like traditional P2P networks, and filehosting sites, such as Megaupload or Rapidshare, which allow users to upload files then allow other users to download these files anonymously.

With Internet piracy becoming extremely widespread, [20] copyright holders, especially the software industry, the film industry, the music industry, have been forced to take action in order to prevent profit losses. One way trade organizations, such as the RIAA and MPAA, would take action is by suing the earlier, more centralized networks like Napster, Limewire or Megaupload, and have them shut down. [21] But decentralized networks are more difficult to shut down, and many, such as the Pirate Bay, a large BitTorrent tracker, are located overseas and not subject to US law. Furthermore, piracy technology is constantly expanding and allowing for increasingly anonymous piracy. These have caused trade groups representing copyright holders to lobby for new legislation, such as PIPA and SOPA to give them new ways to prevent copyright infringement, such as censoring websites, although both efforts ultimately failed. [22]

Digital rights management (DRM) is one way copyright holders hope to curb piracy. DRM includes technologies implemented in both hardware and software to prevent the copying of software. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 makes it a crime to bypass DRM. DRM is commonly used with video games, with many games limiting the number of installs, requiring an always on internet connection to constantly check if a game is pirated, or using copy protection software to prevent copying games, although these technologies are increasing being abandoned in favor of less restrictive DRM.[23] [24] DVD’s and BluRay discs both use software to prevent copying, with Bluray often employing a more advanced copy protection called HDCP, to prevent copying over HDMI [25], and online music stores sometimes employ DRM to prevent users from copying music to multiple devices, but recently many online music stores have dropped this technology. [26] As piracy censorship legislation fails, new piracy technology emerges and DRM increasingly falls out of favor with users and is dropped, it is difficult to say how copyright holders will continue to fight the losing battle against piracy.

8 References