The Digital Lexicon: Networked Business and Technology from A-Z - Softcover

Barnes, Nigel; Haviland, Keith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201784734 ISBN 13: 9780201784732

Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 2001

Synopsis

The Ecommerce Glossary will be of equal use to ecommerce business professionals and also to those IT professionals involved in developing and designing enabling technologies and systems. It gives each group insight into the jargon- and acronym-riddled world of the other, making all of the processes more transparent.

About this title

About the Author

Keith Haviland is a partner in Accenture. Among other responsibilities, he co-founded and leads its London Solution Centre, now a major 800-seat development center which undertakes complex development projects for Accenture including much e-commerce work. He is the lead author of UNIX Systems Programming, a successful guide to this major operating system first published in 1987, which according to Amazon has been hot in Albany, New York. His specialist areas include UNIX, technical architecture, e-commerce solutions and technology, and software solution delivery excellence at all scales. Most importantly, Keith has four energetic children who all clearly belong to the digital era.

Nigel Barnes is a partner in Acccenture and one of the co-founders of its London Solution Centre where he specializes in large and complex systems-building engagements. He has developed component-based architectures using a variety of middleware and web-based technologies for clients in utilities, government, and financial services. Nigel's first contact with TCP/IP and the internet came in 1987 as a student at the University of York, when he was fortunate enough to be introduced to some of the technologies that would shape to his subsequent career. Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he now lives in Richmond, Surrey with his wife Sally and their marvellous daughter Madeline. 0201784734AB09242001

From the Back Cover

The internet has changed the way we work, study and socialize -- and brought with it a mass of vocabulary, terminology, acronyms and ideas. The Digital Lexicon: Networked Business from A--Z is the first book to tackle confidently the words and ideas that have become daily usage in today's business and IT environments. Keeping up to date with the essential terms and avoiding fly-by-night slang can be a time-consuming business with something as vast and complex as the internet. This book cuts through that with its focus on fundamental concepts. So if you're unsure about the difference between terms such as the internet and the world wide web here is the first place to look.

More than a simpley a dictionary, key descriptions terms and ideas are discussed in-depth to give the reader a thorough briefing in the subject and understanding. Other more simple entries are defined concisely to enable rapid information retrieval. However, with its eminently readable and fluent style you may find yourself dipping into different areas of this reference guide, discovering new ideas without effort.

For ease of use and location reference, The Digital Lexicon is structured alphabetically, like a glossary, but with a mixture of short entries and longer key articles. The authors' straightforward approach to the subjects and the clear style and structure will enable professionals and interested parties readers to understand and use theis new vocabulary with ease, confidence and precision.

The Digital Lexicon covers invaluable topics to help internet, mobile technology and e-commerce users and developers get to grip with the influx of new terminology and concepts, including:

• Fundamental technology terms -- platform technologies, networking technologies, languages, tools, and the big concepts themselves such as the internet.
• E-business -- from types of web business to building the sites
• Crucial websites -- and the associated companies and organizations
• Products and product suppliers -- major players and significant movers
• Personalities -- the figures behind the new developments
• Global coverage -- the web knows no physical barriers

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Objectives

This book aims to serve a simple purpose: provide an easy-to-use description of some of the fundamental terms in e-commerce, and the world of the internet and other areas such as mobile computing. Unlike a simple glossary or dictionary, we wanted some of the key descriptions (like internet or world wide web) to be substantial enough to give a good, initial briefing. As a result, the book is structured alphabetically, like a glossary, but with a mixture of short entries and longer articles. And, in addition, we cover not only concepts, but some important personalities, companies, products and websites.

So, why write another book on e-commerce, or provide an extended glossary, when many are available on the web itself? When bright people talk about internet and e-commerce opportunities and ideas, there's a natural drive to focus on conceptual business models, or the coming Next Big Thing. Such a desire for insight is commendable. However, although the virtual space of the internet is vast and complicated, some of the fundamentals are simple. Our aim is that this book can give people a rapid start in understanding these fundamentals. We also cover both technology and business terms, and were surprised, when we looked at what's available online, by how few glossaries try to do this.

Our target audience consists of business or IT professionals and anyone with an interest in what goes on behind your favorite websites and e-businesses.

In terms of more specific objectives: We cover fundamental technology terms ranging from platform technologies (e.g. UNIX, Linux, Oracle) through relevant networking technologies and terms (TCP/IP and HTTP), languages and tools (HTML, Java) to the big concepts themselves (internet, world wide web). And clearly we will list commonly used technical jargon. We will not focus entirely on what is commonly understood as the internet, but also cover mobile computing and digital television, among other subjects. Understanding some of the technical aspects of the internet and similar platforms helps understand why e-commerce has exploded over the past decade, and why some types of business model have become successful, or even possible. We describe a range of e-business terms. This includes terms related to types of web business (portal, e-tailer, B2B) and terms related to the construction of new e-businesses (funding, IPO, brand). We have included a small number of important websites and associated companies and organizations. Our goal here is to provide a good list of paradigm sites that are striking because of scale, originality of business model, or significance in the development of e-commerce. This list does not aim for completeness. We have included a small number of products and product suppliers (Cisco, Sun, Microsoft) that provide much of the technology and business infrastructure of the web. The list is intended to focus on the major players, but it is obviously generated from our own experiences, and again we certainly do not claim it is exhaustive. We cover globally understood terms (which admittedly originate mostly from the USA). However, because of our own origins we do also list some UK and European entries (eg. Lastminute).

It is important to note that we are not trying to do any of the following: Produce a guide to using the web, or its content. Produce a general IT glossary. We don't cover terms like mouse or SNA. However, there are a few general terms (like operating system and mainframe) where we do have something special to say, and these entries usually focus on internet and e-commerce matters related to the general terms. We do cover some basic terms which are simply unavoidable, such as button, bit or byte. Cover all the hottest slang from Silicon Valley - although we do cover some that has bubbled up into the mass media. (Free feel to look up Silicon Valley of course!) Using this book

We hope that this book can be used in a number of ways: As a reference when you need to know what a term means, or have read about a particular company, major website, or well-known industry figure. As something to read end-to-end to gain a general understanding of e-commerce, internet technologies and related matters.

Are there any prerequisites? We have tried to write for an intelligent lay person who has used the internet on a few occasions. Some of the technology entries are a little dry - by the nature of the subject matter - but we have attempted to make descriptions as straightforward as possible. Tone and style

The cultural range of the internet and e-commerce worlds is vast (and arguably, this is one of the key reasons for their success and influence). As a result, some topics generate a lot of emotional heat. (Is spamming an evil? Is software something to share without cost? Is the Microsoft anti-trust action a good thing, or an attack on success?). When we stumble over such an issue, we try our best to be neutral. However, in one area we make no apologies. We are natural skeptics, but in writing what follows, we continuously found ourselves engaged and excited by the possibilities opened up by the current generation of technologies. Even given the recent roller-coaster ride in the New Economy, the mood of much of this text is decidedly optimistic. Thanks and acknowledgments

Thanks are due to: Kris Wadra for supplying some of the text related to advertising and branding concepts; Alice Haviland for insights into (her) Generation Text; Tonya Hughes and Lucy Rutherford-Warren for helping with production; Simon Daniel, Azad Ootam, and Mark Patrick for their suggestions on entries. 0201784734P09112001

Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0201784734
• ISBN 13: 9780201784732
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368