Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Internet TV service Joost offers
20,000 free TV shows on over 400
channels.
E-Books and Audio Books
Digital topics, both in text and audio form, are growing in popularity thanks to appealing
devices and services. Amazon's e-book reader called the Kindle jump-started the e-book
Amazon's e-book service using free wireless service from Sprint to download topics, blogs,
newspapers, and periodicals. It can store about 200 topics.
Audio topics have become more popular due to the popularity of the iPod and services
like audible.com. Audio topics are either read by a narrator or performed by actors. They
may be abridged (consolidated and edited for audio format), or unabridged (read word for
word from the topic). Audio book services may allow you to purchase topics individually, or
sign up for a membership and receive a new book each month. Audio topics can be transferred
from PC to a portable device such as an iPod or Kindle.
Office on the Web
Having an Internet office with access to files and information can be critical for people who
travel frequently or work at home. An Internet office is a Web site that contains files, phone
numbers, e-mail addresses, an appointment calendar, and more. Using a standard Web
browser, you can access important business information. An Internet office allows your
desktop computer, phone books, appointment schedulers, and other important information
to be with you wherever you are.
Many services and software products offer remote access to your files and programs over
the Internet on the Web. As mentioned earlier, Microsoft and Google both support online
document storage and sharing. Both companies and others also provide ways to access contact
lists and calendar software and data online. For example, 37signals.com provides online
project management, contact management, calendar, and group chat applications. Microsoft
SharePoint provides businesses with collaborative workspaces and social computing tools to
allow people at different locations to work on projects together. (See Figure 7.17.) Over time,
increasing amounts of software, services, and storage will be available online through your
Web browser.
