Ebook

What is an Ebook?
An eBook is an electronic book, one you read digitally on your computer, laptop screen or on devices called ebook readers. You will find them in various formats and until the industry has a standard accessible in all devices these various formats will exist. The PDF format is a popular format for ebooks, it is used as it creates an easy way to read on a pc or mobile divice. All platforms are able to gain access and read PDF formatting. . There are still many who prefer printing out the pages of an ebook to read and PDF files have always been good for this purpose. And recently the Amazon Kindle has became very popular, allowing people to read books specially designed for this device.

So, why would you want an ebook? As you discover this new industry with your surfing over the Internet, you will discover ePublishers and eBookstores gradually growing in numbers. Take a look at what they offer and what they have to say about their authors and titles. Thousands upon thousands of authors write books yearly. Of those, a small percentage have the good fortune of being accepted by a publisher. This is not because they don't make the grade, but because of the vast numbers.

The Internet is a wide open medium. Excellent, talented authors can take their books to the Net, market/promote and sell those books themselves. Others are coming to the growing epublishing houses and taking that route. It is guaranteed as you journey through the epublishing world, you are going to find outstanding, spell-binding, and top-class works, which are well worth the read. So Ebooks are really giving authors more of a chance then they had previously.

Ebooks are prefered by many people over normal psysical books, there are many reasons why people prefer them, such as:

1. Ebooks are delivered almost instantaneously. You can purchase, download and start reading them within minutes, without leaving your chair. You don't have to go to a bookstore to buy them, neither wait for them for days, weeks and sometimes more to arrive in the mail.
2. No trees are required to manufacture paper for the pages of ebooks.
3. When you need certain information, you can get it immediately, by downloading an ebook.
4. Many ebooks are sold nowadays with bonuses, which you usually do not get with a printed book. This adds value to your purchase.
5. Ebooks take up less space. You practically don't need any space to store them. You don't need a library or a room for them. You can store hundreds and thousands of ebooks on your computer or reading device.
6. Ebooks are portable. You can carry a whole library of hundreds of books with you, on CD, in a laptop, notebook or any ebook reader, without worrying about their weight.
7. With today's technology you can read ebooks everywhere, on the bus, train, airplane, and while standing in line.
8. Ebooks are more safely stored and carried from one place to another, than ordinary books. They also withstand time more than books.
9. Ebooks can show links, for easy access to more information and related websites.
10. Ebooks are searchable. You can easily search for any information in an ebook, instead of turning page after page.

For my Ebook I used Adobe Dreamweaver to design it and make it functional, I used HTML in order to get it to work on all browsers.

E-Government and the Digital Divide.

The concept of the digital divide has been evolving over the years, being generally defined as a social issue linked to the different amount of information between those who have access to the information society and technology such as computers, and those who do not. It also refers to countries, regions, cities, and businesses that are at a differentiated economically and culturally with regard to ICT accessibility.
The UK Labour Government under Tony Blair has set targets for the development of E-Government in the UK.  These are aimed at reducing the digital divide in the UK . This divide also effects the way other services are provided, like Police and the National Health Sevice. There are a few ways in how the government has tried to decrease the gap and develop on E-government, these are:

The introduction of online services, and example would be the Government's website, it allows users to find informaion on the current government and allow's users to find out when the next meetings or hearings are taking place. A website such as https://www.gov.uk/ are used for this. This is a good way doing things as in gives people an easy way of accessing government information without the need to even leave their home.

Another way of expanding E-Government is to introduce online payments, payments such as paying taxes and monthly bills can all be done over the internet now and no longer will you need to go to the bank and fill in paperwork. Once again making it easier for the general public to go about their everyday lives.

Online reporting and advice has also been made accessible to the public, this means that people can now go onto the internet and find out the local news and get information on current governmental matters, although such information was available from the television or radio which could be accessed from home just as easily, but being online means that you are able to look back at news incase you miss it first time around on the TV.

Online booking is another useful feature that has been introduced, it allows people to book for appointments or work interviews over the internet, this is very helpful as it saves time and money as you no longer need to actually visit the place you want to book an appointment for beforehand, and means you can avoid driving there and wasting fuel. This service also allows the user to sort out bookings and rearrange meetings without the need to use the phone, it can all be done over email, which is free.

The UK government hopes to have saved £1.3 billion, and the public £1 billion by migrating its sercices to online. This is because they are useing less staff in places like banks and shops, and the public would be saving money as they wouldn't be using as much fuel as before.

With all the advances in E-government, the government has to account for those in low income families who aren't able to access the internet.
The government is to spend £30m over the next three years to bring broadband access to schoolchildren and low-income families. A further £600,000 has also been earmarked to subsidise home computers for entire year groups at 50 education institutions across the country, schools minister Jim Knight told an education conference last week. The plan is the government’s latest attempt to bridge the digital divide between those with access to technology and those without.
The government has already invested £5bn in IT for schools since 1997 and another £837m was budgeted over the next 3 years.
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Activity 2: The Digital Divide

1. Dr Odedra cites a number of infrastructural reasons for a lack of effective ICT. What are these?

 The first reason is that many IT projects fail is because of a lack of secondary equipment, suitable electric power and training etc.
In many African countries pressure is put on them as many growing countries are now using Internet and other technologies such as computers . There are also no plans in Africa to supply the people with technology like computers, the government is simply to poor to even allow computers open to public use, and so many citizens will never use a computer. Some regulatory policies covering procedures for the acquisition of hardware and software do exist in a few places. These regulations typically mandate centralised acquisition for the public sector and tax private companies and non-government organisations in order to discourage imports or to raise convertible currency for the state. Such taxes range from 0 per cent in Mauritius to 60 per cent in Kenya. However, a number of countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Mauritius have recently taken initiatives to formulate more comprehensive IT policies.
This means that some of these countries will start to become more developed. But this will only happen effectively if people play tax. But due to the majority of poor people in African countries, it isn't likely that they will be able to pay tax. And so this system will not always work.
A reliable power supply to operate the computers, a well-functioning telephone network to transmit data, foreign currency to import the technology, and computer-literate personnel are all prerequisites for the successful use of IT. Such infrastructural elements remain inadequate in many African countries. For instance, the number of telephones per 1,000 people ranges between 12 and 50, depending on the country, and many of the lines that do exist are out of order much of the time. This all means that a lot of Africans can’t get Internet connection because of the service isn’t working.
A problem that faces less developed countries is that they aren't able to set up stable Internet connections as many companies aren't willing to operate withing their country, this means that even with technology, people won't be able to connect to the Internet and miss out on a huge resource that defines modern technology. 

2.What is said do be the most pressing need for Africa (in terms of ICT)?

The most important reason for Africa having barely any access to Internet is the cost of IT falling dramatically. With systems becoming much easier to use and maintain, some of the prohibitive cost and infrastructural problems are being lessened. Many Africans are beginning to take advantage of this. But lack of skills in the area still remains a major problem. Overall, people are learning from their mistakes and are trying to address some of the issues. The longer this process takes the less advanced Africa will be.

 

3. How successful have computer aid projects been?

Computer aid projects have been of relative success, the only problem being that they need to cover such a wide area as almost all of Africa are without proper IT skills, although what has been done has been successful. Computers have been supplied to many countries and training groups have been set up in order to teach people how to properly use IT, these have been very popular and have been effective in dealing with the lack of IT skills.

 

4. Why have they failed?

Skills, funding and knowledge are all of the reasons why Africa are so lower in the technology scale then others. ICT isn't free it costs money which countries in Africa can't afford to use. There is widespread famine in these countries and they aren't able to use the same systems as we do. Secondly, knowledge is very scarce about IT because because people living in Africa haven't had the opportunity to use IT, this will lead to confusion surrounding IT for them. There are few people who have access to IT, but these tend to be people high up in the social hierarchy.



 

5. What computer skill's identified as lacking?

"Africa lacks computer skills in all areas, including systems analysis, programming, maintenance and consulting, and at all operational levels from basic use to management. Most countries lack the education and training facilities needed to help people acquire the proper skills. The few training centres that do exist have not been able to keep up with demand. Only a handful of countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have universities that offer computer science degrees. The programmes available in the other countries are mainly diplomas and certificates. As a result of unskilled and untrained personnel, user organisations are forced to hire expatriate staff, who in turn lack the knowledge about local organisational cultures and thus design poor systems. Many African governments and organisations are waking up to this situation, but few serious measures have been taken. Moreover, it will not be enough to merely institute courses; books, teachers and equipment are also required but unfortunately have been overlooked." Therefore the African public aren't the ones to be blamed here, the governments should be the one to put money aside and invest in ICT teachers to teach the next generation of people. This will greatly develop their country and will help them to be able to advance faster.




6. What area of business fields have been seen as lacking?
"Although African companies have had little success in producing their own hardware, software houses catering to the local market are emerging, particularly in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria. Off-the-shelf software packages have largely been used in African countries because of the lack of programmers to develop in-house applications. However, there is a growing demand for applications appropriate for local needs. While the present quality and sophistication of local software may not be on a par with current world standards, it should improve with increasing demand." If African business had better quality technology it would mean that more business can run effectively and more efficiently, therefore increasing overall national income, economically this is good for the country.

 

Unit 1: Activity on the digital divide.

After reading through pages 38-41 I can go over some of the reasons why the digital divide exists, firstly the economic factor plays a large part in this, most countries affected by the digital divide are poor, they simply aren't able to afford modern day technology such as computers and phones, and because of this, businesses aren't willing to supply the countries with Internet as they will not make a profit from doing so, which means even the most fortunate are still not able to access the Internet, even if they own a computer. This is mainly a problem because Internet prices rarely go down, unlike dated technology, so the most significant factor in modern technology is inaccessible to these countries.

Another reason is the fact that people in some countries are extremely inexperienced and are unable to work with new technology and refuse to have it become part of their life, once again this will take place mainly in third world countries and less developed countries, as people have lived without technology for there whole lives. Technology proves confusing and frustrating for a lot of these people, and therefore they are less likely to accept it in their country. This is also relevant for countries that don't allow certain technologies, countries such as North Korea only allow technology as long as people aren't able to connect to the Internet with it, this is because freedom of information doesn't exist in North Korea and because the Internet is a place where people are allowed to post pretty much anything with little consequence, as this is against North Korea's government, Internet is not allowed in this country.

 Another issue to take into account is that some countries have a high natural disaster rate or are trying to recover from a recent disaster that has occurred, the reason this is a problem is because the country will be more focused on resolving these problems and spending money on fixing their country rather than spending money on new technology, sometimes in these countries Internet is unavailable to many people as Internet providers are reluctant to set up stations in the country in fear that they will be damaged by other disasters that are likely to happen is such countries.

So after reviewing some of these reasons I believe that the biggest reason that the digital divide exists is due to the reason that technology is very expensive and is getting even more expensive depending on how advanced it is, many countries aren't rich enough to afford such things, another reason would be that some people living in third world countries aren't willing to accept such technology as it proves as confusing and complected as they have had no past experience, although this isn't as big of a problem but still results in some countries not implementing technology or Internet due to the lack of demand from the people, this could be easily resolved however by teaching people in these countries who could then teach others, this will mean that people are more accepting of new technology and so if the country is financially capable then they are more likely to introduce new technology, helping to bridge the digital divide.

Unit 2: How an online purchase takes place.

I will go over how an online purchase takes place on Amazon.com

When you first open up Amazon you will be taken to their homepage, their homepage will show you about various deals they currently have on as well as their best selling products. In order to make a purchase you will need to click on the "sign in" button in the top right in order to make and account. I will now go through this process.

When you click on the sign in button you will be taken to this page, on it you have the option to enter your account credentials, or in my case, create an account if you do not already have one. To create an account you will need to fill the "No, I am a new customer" option. You will then be taken to this screen.

On the registration screen you will be prompted to give your Email, the reason they require your email is because it's the easiest way to send you information about their latest deals and items in store, an easy method of marketing for them. You will also need to give your name for reference when sending the Email, and of course a password to keep your account secure, you are asked to repeat your password to make sure you typed it correctly the first time, if you didn't then you won't be able to access your account.

 

After creating your account you will be taken to your account page, from here you will be able to manage your account and change some settings such as your Email and your password, as well as personalise your account. And you are also able to see your order history. I will now go through the ordering process and the information it takes from you.

The first step to ordering something on Amazon is searching it in the search bar at the top of the page, once you search it will bring up all the results related to that search using a keyword system. Once you've found the item you want you just click it and it will take you to the details screen.

You will then be taken to this page, on it will be the item description as well as the prices, used and new, and if it's a book like my example, you are able to view the first ten pages to see if you like the look of it, customers can leave reviews to inform potential buyers if their purchase is worth it or not. To order the item you will have to click on the "add to basket" button in the top right corner.

Once you click the "add to basket" button a pop up will be shown, it takes in account your purchase and will offer many items that are similar to your purchase, it does this because you are then likely to purchase the items shown and you don't need to make two seperate purchases if you add them to your cart. There are also other products advertised such as gift cards, Which is shown below the purchased item. You then need to click the "Proceed to checkout" button to make the purchase.

Once again you are taken to a log in page requesting your log in details, these include your email and your password. Or you have the option to click the "I am a new customer." button to create a new account. But I will be using the returning customer button and sign into my account.

Upon entering your password you are asked to enter your delivery adress, this includes your full name, home number and street name as well as the town or city you live in. Your county, post code, and phone number are also required, these are required mostly because they need an actual adress to ship the item to, and if there's a problem they are able to contact you through your phone. They are also most likely going to use this as another marketing strategy by sending you mail based on your purchase hsitory. You also have the option to click the "Is this address also your invoice address?" button which will let them know whether to send invoices to that house.

Upon entering your billing adress you will be sent to this page that asks what kind of delivery you want, there are three options: FREE Super Saver Delivery, First Class (up to 4 business days), and Expedited (3 business day(s)), each on costing more or less based on the time it will take to get to you. You also have the option to have it gift wraped for extra cost.

The final page I will be covering is the payment option page, this asks how you would like to pay, you have the choise of either credit of debit cards or gift cards and promotional codes. If you were to click add credit card you will be given a box to type your card number in and if you were to select gift cards it would give you the option to type the gift voucher, once you pay by either one of these methods it will take you back to the home screen and prompt you that the transaction was successful, and so the transaction is made.

Activity 4: Uses of IT in a public sector website.

The British Army 

The British Army is pretty self explanatory, I public defence organization, their website gives a lot of useful information about the army and even allows you to sign up directly. Their website is quite well laid out, with colours that represent the army very well, a simple design so you never get lost, and easy to navigate home page.

Capturing and processing data:

This is done on the "right job for you" page.

The way it captures data is by asking you certain questions based on what kind of job you want to do, based  on the answers you give, it will process this data and give you a selection of jobs that they think will best suit you, an easy way to find a job you're looking for in the military.

Presenting and exchanging information:

This is shown in the news page.

The news page tells you about the situation in Afghanistan and what you could be dealing with if you were to join the military, basically everything you need to know about the military is covered on this page, you are also able to sign up to their newsletter, this shows how you are able to exchange information. 

Conducting transactions and Marketing of goods and services:

This is shown on the Events, Entertainment and Leisure page.

There's not as much on show here as there was on the last website I went over, the reason for this is because it's a public service and therefore is funded by the government, not needing any kind of financial support from the public. But they still have a few thinks to offer in the marketing of goods and services, or at least services, they often hold events and shows, many of these are ceremonial and do not require payment, but some of the public shows do, these can be booked on their website.

From this website it is clear that they use IT as a way to engage people into the career that they are interested in, it makes it very easy to find what job is right and is now easier than ever to sign up, it will take less than a few minutes to do so.

Metropolitan police

The Metropolitan police is once again a public service organized in order to prevent crime in the UK. The website gives you information about the service, phone numbers you can call to give or recieve any information. And also job openings are available for viewing. The website generally isn't very well laid out, the main home screen seems convoluted and it's can be hard to find what you're looking for sometimes, also the colours don't look particularly attractive or eye catching.

Presenting and exchanging information:

This is shown on the "about us" page.

Very similar to The British Army in the way it gives detailed information about the service, although this website also gives statistics on crime in the UK as well as information on how they recorded those statistics, truly in depth on the detail they give here. A detailed history of the service is also available for reading.

Capturing and processing data:

This is shown on the career page.

Much like The British Army, this website allows you to sign up to jobs as well as giving detailed information on each job, although it doesn't make it as easy as The British Army's website did, they seem to be not as focused on their job openings as they quite clearly are.

This website is very strong on giving very detailed information about the service, being able to sign up to their digital newsletter shows how they are using IT to their advantage by making people more informed, whereas The British Army were more focused on their job openings, which is understandable for the military, they use IT to make it easier for people to understand the jobs they are getting into. Overall I think that The British Army's website made better use of IT as it made it simpler to understand and find jobs, which wouldn't be as easy if not for the use of IT. Whereas The Metropolitan Police gave only information and simple job applications, which were easy to use but were generally achievable without the use of IT.  

Activity 3: Uses of IT in charity websites.

The British Heart Foundation

The British Heart Foundation is a charity devoted to helping people with types of heart disease, it is completely funded from membership fees and donations and is a non profit organization. I will be looking at the different uses of IT in the website.

Capturing and processing data:
This is done when you make a donation to the website.

When you donate to the website, the website needs some certain information from you. These include your email address for when you register your account, and your bank details from when you make the donation, this data is then taken and processed in order to make the transaction successful. Much of this data is then stored in their databases so they are able to contact you via email.

Presenting and exchanging information:

This is shown on the "about us" page.

This page is intended to give the user information about the charity, it shows how they were set up and how they are structured, along with a general idea for what they do and why they do it.This presents information to the user.

Conducting transactions and Marketing of goods and services:

Transactions are conducted on the shop page of the website.

Users can also purchase merchandise from their website so that it gives people more of an incentive to donate. Transactions are conducted through a few ways, you are able to pay through PayPal or use your credit card directly, transactions are made quickly and easily on this website.

As you can see there is a great presentation of their products. With a very user friendly layout, with pricing that is clearly visible and very easy to navigate store. This shows how they market their goods and services. 

Distributing goods:

This is shows on the "where your money goes page"

This list is intended to show the user where their money goes to and how it will help if they choose to donate. It is intended so that people have a clear view of where their money is going so they have complete confidence in spending it. They use short heading with bold colours so that the user can easily read it in a few seconds. Short and sweet headings mean that they are precise and to the point. This therefore is a website that shows the distribution of goods, or in this case, money.