Appeared in Ability Network, February 12, 1998
People are "surfing" the Internet everyday. For those individuals who do not have a computer, let alone Internet access, they still have heard about this ominous entity know as the Internet!
Is the Internet useful or is it just for pornography or the "technically able"? Recently, I came across some information that confirms practical applications for the Internet and some scepticism on the profitability of the Internet. Whether we like it or not, we live in a capitalist society and therefore, the Internet must be profitable to maintain itself.
A recent Wall Street Journal Article stated that in California, Governor Pete Wilson has budgeted $3 million in 1998 1999 for seed money to help the state's higher education systems bring their courses online as part of the California Virtual University project. The CVU already boasts some 500 courses offered through 65 private and public colleges. In addition, Wilson has proposed spending $3 million on a University of California digital library. "This has to be one of the largest, if not The largest, investment in online education in this country," says the executive director of the virtual university design team. He continues, "We're way ahead of the curve,". The governor has called for an additional $6 million in funding over the next three years for the CVU.
A recent article in Information Week noted that companies may be cutting back on paper clips and office space, but information technology spending is still full speed ahead. A survey of 250 senior information technology managers indicates that two thirds of the respondents intend to boost their budgets, by an average of 18% over last year's spending. "People are not building traditional factories or oil wells, but they're spending a huge chunk of money on information technology," says a chief economist at Standard & Poor. For most managers, Year 2000 conversion is at the top of their IT list, with PC purchases and upgrading to Windows NT 5.0 second and third.
Despite the increase of importance on information technology, an Ottawa Citizen Article cited a survey by the Deloitte Consulting stating that the Internet is falling out of favour with a growing number of North American corporate executives. Why? Because of poor online business. Despite a rise in corporate Internet use, a majority of chief information officers (CIOs) are disillusioned with the Internet's perceived inability to improve their companies' bottom line. Barbara Kieley, a Deloitte partner, says that 69% of executives questioned say Internet costs are a "significant concern," up from 16% in 1995. As a result, executives are cutting back on Internet spending, dropping from 65% to 31%, and 17% of CIOs expecting no increase in spending.
The Internet has enormous potential as reflected by the amount of money generated by corporations to harness this market; however, unless specific applications such as university courses on line become everyday commodities, it is difficult to predict the Internet's usefulness.
