The Internet and American Business

by Aspray, William; Ceruzzi, Paul E.

• ISBN13: 9780262012409
• ISBN10: 0262012405
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-31
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

When we think of the Internet, we generally think of Amazon, Google, Hotmail, Napster, MySpace, and other sites for buying products, searching for information, downloading entertainment, chatting with friends, or posting photographs. In the academic literature about the Internet, however, these uses are rarely covered. The Internet and American Businessfills this gap, picking up where most scholarly histories of the Internet leave off--with the commercialization of the Internet established and its effect on traditional business a fact of life. These essays, describing challenges successfully met by some companies and failures to adapt by others, are a first attempt to understand a dynamic and exciting period of American business history. Tracing the impact of the commercialized Internet since 1995 on American business and society, the book describes new business models, new companies and adjustments by established companies, the rise of e-commerce, and community building; it considers dot-com busts and difficulties encountered by traditional industries; and it discusses such newly created problems as copyright violations associated with music file-sharing and the proliferation of Internet pornography. Contributors: Atsushi Akera, William Aspray, Randal A. Beam, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Paul E. Ceruzzi, James W. Cortada, Wolfgang Coy, Blaise Cronin, Nathan Ensmenger, Daniel D. Garcia-Swartz, Brent Goldfarb, Shane Greenstein, Thomas Haigh, Ward Hanson, David Kirsch, Christine Ogan, Jeffrey R. Yost.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Introduction	p. 3
The Internet before Commercialization	p. 9
Internet Technologies Seeking a Business Model	p. 45
Innovation and the Evolution of Market Structure for Internet Access in the United States	p. 47
Protocols for Profit	p. 105
Web and E-mail Technologies as Product and Infrastructure
The Web's Missing Links	p. 159
Search Engines and Portals
The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Software as a Service	p. 201
Historical Perspectives on the Computer Utility and Software for Lease on a Network
Commerce in the Internet World	p. 231
Discovering a Role Online	p. 233
Brick-and-Mortar Retailers and the Internet
Small Ideas, Big Ideas, Bad Ideas, Good Ideas	p. 259
"Get Big Fast" and Dot-Com Venture Creation
Industry Transformation and Selective Adoption	p. 277
Internet Challenges for Media Businesses	p. 279
Internet Challenges for Nonmedia Industries, Firms, and Workers	p. 315
Travel Agencies, Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Personal Computer Manufacturers, and Information Technology Services Professionals
Resistance Is Futile?	p. 351
Reluctant and Selective Users of the Internet
New Technology-Old and New Business Uses	p. 389
New Wine in Old and New Bottles	p. 391
Patterns and Effects of the Internet on Companies
Communities and Specialized Information Businesses	p. 423
Newly Created or Amplified Problems	p. 449
File Sharing and the Music Industry	p. 451
Eros Unbound	p. 491
Pornography and the Internet
Lessons Learned, Future Opportunities	p. 539
Market and Agora	p. 541
Community Building by Internet
Conclusions	p. 557
List of Contributors	p. 565
Index	p. 569
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