Unit 3.4

Key Features of the Internet and Web

IT 204: E-Commerce

Learning Objectives 🎯

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

✅ Identify the key services that run on the internet.
✅ Describe the function of email, instant messaging, and search engines.
✅ Differentiate between various services like streaming and online communities.

Beyond the Browser

The internet is more than just the World Wide Web (websites). It's a vast infrastructure that supports a rich ecosystem of services.

Think of it like this: The internet is the highway system, and services like email, streaming, and the web are the different types of vehicles and destinations you can access.

These services have transformed communication, information access, and entertainment.

Core Service: Email 📧

Email (Electronic Mail): A service that allows users to send and receive digital messages over a network.

Asynchronous Communication: Messages are stored and can be read at any time.
Key Components: User Agent (e.g., Gmail, Outlook), Mail Servers (SMTP, IMAP/POP3).
Common Uses: Formal communication, professional correspondence, notifications, marketing.

Interactive: Classify Email Components

Select an item from the pool, then click the correct bucket to classify it.

User Agent (Client)

Server Protocol

🎬 Watch: The Journey of an Email

✉️ Behind the Scenes: The Journey of One Email

Sita (Gmail) emails an order confirmation question to a shop using Outlook.

Sita's user agent (Gmail app) hands the message to Gmail's outgoing server using SMTP.
Gmail's server asks DNS: "which mail server accepts mail for the shop's domain?" (the MX record).
Gmail's server sends it, again by SMTP, to Microsoft's mail server, which stores it.
The shop's staff open Outlook, which fetches it using IMAP (keeps it on the server) or POP3 (downloads it).

SMTP pushes mail between servers; IMAP/POP3 pull it to your screen. That's why email is asynchronous: it waits on a server.

Core Service: Instant Messaging (IM) 💬

Instant Messaging (IM): A service that allows users to exchange text-based messages in real-time over the internet.

Synchronous Communication: Enables live, conversational-style interaction.
Features: Presence indicators (online/offline), group chats, file sharing, voice/video calls.
Examples: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, Slack.

Phone by the River, Lisbon

🔐 Real Case: WhatsApp and End-to-End Encryption

In April 2016, WhatsApp switched on end-to-end encryption for all users, based on the Signal Protocol.
Messages are locked on the sender's phone and unlocked only on the receiver's. WhatsApp's own servers just pass along scrambled data.
Email by contrast is usually readable by each mail provider it passes through.

For businesses selling over WhatsApp or Viber, the chat is private, but there is also no official record unless they keep one.

Email vs. Instant Messaging 📊

📧 Email

Asynchronous
More Formal
Longer-form content
Permanent record
Used for: Official business, documentation

💬 Instant Messaging

Synchronous (Real-time)
Informal / Casual
Short, quick messages
Ephemeral conversations
Used for: Quick questions, social chats

Interactive: Email or Instant Messaging?

For each scenario, decide whether Email or IM is the better tool. Click your answer.

🙋 Quick Poll: How Would You Contact a Shop?

Your online order hasn't arrived after a week. Hands up: what do you use first?

Email the shop
Message them on WhatsApp / Messenger / Viber
Comment publicly on their Facebook post
Phone call

If most of the room chose IM, what does that mean for how a Nepali shop should staff its customer service?

Core Service: Search Engines 🔍

Search Engine: A software system designed to carry out web searches, which means to search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information.

They don't search the live internet; they search a massive, pre-built index of the web.

1. Crawling

Bots discover publicly available webpages.

2. Indexing

Content is analyzed and stored in a huge database.

3. Ranking

Algorithms deliver the most relevant results for a query.

Key Players: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo

Interactive: Order the Search Engine Steps

Click the steps in the correct order that a search engine follows — from discovering pages to delivering results.

Your sequence:

Step 1

→

Step 2

→

Step 3

🎬 Watch: How Google Finds Pages

Google Data Centre

🧮 Worked Example: Why SEO Matters

A Kathmandu shop sells handmade felt products. 10,000 people a month search "felt bags Nepal" (example figures). Studies consistently show the top few results take most clicks.

Google position	Click share (illustrative)	Visitors / month	Orders at 2% conversion
#1	~30%	3,000	60
#5	~5%	500	10
Page 2	<1%	<100	<2

SEO steps: clear page titles ("Handmade Felt Bags, Kathmandu"), fast pages, mobile-friendly, real reviews, links from other sites.

Same product, same price: moving from #5 to #1 is six times the orders, without paying for ads.

Emerging Giants: Streaming & Communities

🎬 Streaming Media

Real-time delivery of video and audio content over the internet.

No need to download the entire file first.
Examples: YouTube, Netflix, Spotify.
Changed how we consume entertainment.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Online Forums & Social Media

Platforms for user communication and content sharing in online communities.

User-generated content is key.
Examples: Facebook, Instagram, Reddit.
Revolutionized social interaction and information dissemination.

🌐 From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0

      Web 1.0 (1990s)
      "Read-only": companies publish, users read.
Static pages, few updates.
e.g. an online brochure, early Yahoo directory.

    

      Web 2.0 (mid-2000s on)
      "Read-write": users create the content.
Reviews, ratings, sharing, social networks.
e.g. Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, product reviews on Daraz.

    

The term was popularised by Tim O'Reilly in 2004. For e-commerce, Web 2.0 means customers sell to each other through reviews.

Interactive: Sort the Platforms

Select a platform, then click the correct category bucket to place it.

Streaming Media

🎬 Behind the Scenes: How Streaming Reaches You

Chunks: a video is cut into short pieces (a few seconds each), so it can start before the whole file arrives.
Adaptive bitrate: each chunk is stored at several qualities. If your connection slows, the player quietly switches from 1080p to 480p instead of stopping.
CDN caching: Netflix places its own servers (Open Connect) inside ISPs; YouTube uses Google's global cache network. Popular videos come from nearby, not from the USA.

Streaming is what pushed ISPs worldwide to build bigger pipes and local caches; video is the majority of internet traffic today.

🎬 Watch: How Streaming Reaches You

Application in Nepal 🇳🇵

How are these services used locally?

Email: Widely used for professional and personal communication. Gmail is dominant.
IM: Extremely popular, especially among youth. Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber lead the market.
Social Networks: A huge part of daily life. Facebook has massive penetration, followed by Instagram & TikTok.

Streaming: Growing rapidly. YouTube is the top video platform. Local and international audio services are gaining traction.
Online Forums: Niche but active communities exist for specific hobbies and discussions, complementing mainstream social media.

Asan Square

📍 SoMoLo: Social + Mobile + Local

📣 Social

Customers discover products through friends and feeds: a Facebook post, an Instagram reel.

📱 Mobile

The phone is the shop: browsing, paying with a wallet, tracking delivery.

📍 Local

Location matters: "momo near me", food delivery in your area, nearby store pickup.

Example: you see a friend's Instagram story of a new café, tap the map link on your phone, and order through a delivery app in your neighbourhood.

SoMoLo only works because the Internet is always on, in your pocket, and knows where you are.

Interactive: Nepal Internet Services Quiz (1/2)

Answer each question about internet service usage in Nepal. Click to reveal and check your answer.

Interactive: Nepal Internet Services Quiz (2/2)