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D.R. Green and S.D. King
Navigator/Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer), the Internet has evolved
very rapidly from its early beginnings and relatively limited capabilities - delivering
essentially static information - into a very dynamic information resource which now
allows us to deliver images, text, video, remotely sensed imagery, geospatial data via
online image processing and GIS, and on-the-fly mapping at the local, national and
global scale.
Computer Technology
To a large extent the Internet has been enabled by the microcomputer and processor
technology now available, lower prices, considerable foresight (on the part of a few
people) and end-user demand. Newer and faster microprocessors, cheaper hardware
(monitors, PCs, printers, scanners, digital cameras, mobile phones, digital assistants),
and a wide range of software products - ranging from programming languages such as
Java, scripting languages such as JavaScript, CGI programmes, HTML, DHTML, CSS,
(Cascading Style Sheets) for fonts, and software packages such as Microsoft Frontpage,
Visual Page, Hotmetal and a host of other graphics and web preparation software (e.g.
PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, Dreamweaver) have provided a vast toolbox to use for the
design and creation of websites and for 'posting' a wide variety of information from
many disparate sources on the Internet.
Rapid Development of Technology
The speed with which the technology has developed and its adoption by many people
has led to a proliferation of websites containing a vast array of information presented in
an almost infinite different number of ways, including static images, dynamic and
animated techniques, multiple pop-up windows and menus, and electronic shopping
carts. This Internet 'toolbox' is continually being developed by companies such as
Microsoft, Intel (Fig. 1), and Sun Microsystems, as well as organisations like the W3C
(WWW Consortium) at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories in the UK.
Greater Public Awareness
Public awareness of the Internet has also grown rapidly, aided by the appearance of
website addresses (URLs) in adverts (e.g. Intel), on billboards, on television, on the
sides of ocean going ships, courtesy cars (e.g. Adrian Smith Saab - Aberdeen and
Carlisle), and instrument suppliers (e.g. Scotia Instrumentation - Aberdeen and
Newcastle). Virtually every age group has now become aware of the Internet through
the media (e.g. BBC Blue Peter, and the Newspapers), schools (e.g. Prudhoe
Community High School - with its own website (Fig. 2)), packaging, and even via the
supermarkets (e.g. Tesco).
Recently there has been a drive to encourage people to have their own email
address and even website, with companies like Compuserve, AOL, Freeserve
(www.freeserve.net), Lineone (www.lineone.net), and Tesco (Fig. 3), offering free
webspace and free email addresses. Computer and special Internet magazines have also
helped to promote greater awareness of the Internet, with articles on browser software,
D.R. Green and S.D. King
Navigator/Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer), the Internet has evolved
very rapidly from its early beginnings and relatively limited capabilities - delivering
essentially static information - into a very dynamic information resource which now
allows us to deliver images, text, video, remotely sensed imagery, geospatial data via
online image processing and GIS, and on-the-fly mapping at the local, national and
global scale.
Computer Technology
To a large extent the Internet has been enabled by the microcomputer and processor
technology now available, lower prices, considerable foresight (on the part of a few
people) and end-user demand. Newer and faster microprocessors, cheaper hardware
(monitors, PCs, printers, scanners, digital cameras, mobile phones, digital assistants),
and a wide range of software products - ranging from programming languages such as
Java, scripting languages such as JavaScript, CGI programmes, HTML, DHTML, CSS,
(Cascading Style Sheets) for fonts, and software packages such as Microsoft Frontpage,
Visual Page, Hotmetal and a host of other graphics and web preparation software (e.g.
PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, Dreamweaver) have provided a vast toolbox to use for the
design and creation of websites and for 'posting' a wide variety of information from
many disparate sources on the Internet.
Rapid Development of Technology
The speed with which the technology has developed and its adoption by many people
has led to a proliferation of websites containing a vast array of information presented in
an almost infinite different number of ways, including static images, dynamic and
animated techniques, multiple pop-up windows and menus, and electronic shopping
carts. This Internet 'toolbox' is continually being developed by companies such as
Microsoft, Intel (Fig. 1), and Sun Microsystems, as well as organisations like the W3C
(WWW Consortium) at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories in the UK.
Greater Public Awareness
Public awareness of the Internet has also grown rapidly, aided by the appearance of
website addresses (URLs) in adverts (e.g. Intel), on billboards, on television, on the
sides of ocean going ships, courtesy cars (e.g. Adrian Smith Saab - Aberdeen and
Carlisle), and instrument suppliers (e.g. Scotia Instrumentation - Aberdeen and
Newcastle). Virtually every age group has now become aware of the Internet through
the media (e.g. BBC Blue Peter, and the Newspapers), schools (e.g. Prudhoe
Community High School - with its own website (Fig. 2)), packaging, and even via the
supermarkets (e.g. Tesco).
Recently there has been a drive to encourage people to have their own email
address and even website, with companies like Compuserve, AOL, Freeserve
(www.freeserve.net), Lineone (www.lineone.net), and Tesco (Fig. 3), offering free
webspace and free email addresses. Computer and special Internet magazines have also
helped to promote greater awareness of the Internet, with articles on browser software,