Sharing Information

Computers increase your ability to communicate. Once you begin working with a computer, you are likely to become more productive. However, what do you do with that increased productivity if you are not connected to anyone? Communication requires not only someone with information to share but also someone on the other end with whom to share it. Companies don’t benefit by creating sheer volumes of output—they benefit when the increased output helps them make better decisions or increases the likelihood of increased income. Having your computers networked allows you to do both with your newfound increases.

The initial reason for developing most computer networks was to assist users with sharing their increased output, especially between computers in the same general vicinity, as shown in Figure 1.4. However, users wanted not only to share information with others, they wanted to communicate about that information after someone else had it, too. In addition to transmitting the user’s original information, computer networks enabled those users to discuss what was being transmitted, and this resulted in even more communication. Additional network communications techniques thus came into being, such as e-mail and video conferencing. Furthermore, with the increases in the sizes of networks, sharing no longer had to be concerned with proximity. The use of networks has effectively erased distance and

time constraints. You can communicate almost instantly to anywhere in the world that is connected to your network.

Networks are an effective way to communicate. Using networks, companies can send the same information to large numbers of employees or customers quickly and efficiently. Examples include company newsletters and announcements for employees, as well as advertisements and purchase information for customers. Also, individual employees are more likely to communicate with larger numbers of individuals both inside and outside the company using e-mail, an electronic means of communicating that is similar to mail but done on computers, usually over the Internet, over networks. E-mail is the most commonly used feature of the Internet, and its use is growing dramatically. In fact, e-mail is fast becoming the primary choice for much of our daily communication.