The Hindu Business Line : Internet: Utility and ubiquity

What aspects of the Internet technology make it so important and imperative to the modern world? At the outset, the broad answer is that, time and again, the usefulness of the Web has been demonstrated to dovetail admirably with dominant trends in the contemporary milieu. Yet there are a few aspects of this amazing technology which, when considered in concert and in detail, further vindicate why and how it is an extraordinarily catalyst for change.

First, this new technology is driving down the cost and pace of processing, transmitting, and storing information in a remarkable fashion. Every business transaction involves information in some form — an instruction, a plan, a blueprint, an advertisement, and so on. Thanks to the Internet, companies are able to handle and share such massive data at an incredibly low cost. Every year witnesses a new model. Prices are coming down because of the glut in the market. The dog-eat-dog competition has eroded into the margins so severely that survival — leave alone success — has become an issue.

Second, the low cost of transmitting information has given rise to globalisation in a big way. "There has never been a commercial technology like this in the history of the world, whereby from the minute you adopt it, it forces you to think and act globally" (Robert Hormats). The unique feature of this technology is that it bestows its benefits to every corporate, irrespective of their size and dimension. Small companies look like big companies in respect of market accessibility, resource mobilisation, and supply chain.

Third, the innumerable applications of the Internet make the changes it brings far more pervasive and varied than any others that have come before that. It is not simply a new distribution channel, or a new mode of communication.

The Internet is many other things rolled into one — it is a marketplace, an information service, a means for manufacturing goods and services, and a computing platform in its own right. Each of these functions affects corporate life in several ways.

Fourth, the Internet enables markets of all kinds to work better, because it provides phenomenal access to information. Companies — both big and small — use the Internet for obtaining information about the range of prices, availability of resources, and potential marketing outlets. Their employees may still use the telephone, perhaps more the mobile and less the landline, but certainly they will acquire the competence for making more informed decisions and drive tougher bargains as a direct consequence of the Internet.

Finally, the Internet accelerates the dissemination and adoption of new techniques. Wider competition — itself partly an effect of the Internet — increases the pressure to innovate.

The Internet allows companies to connect teams of designers or engineers in different parts of the world, enabling them to hive off work to each other and use time zones to expedite research and marketing. This rich combination of benefits explains why and how the Internet affects contemporary corporate life more profoundly than any previous technology.

(The author is a Chennai-based freelance writer.)