Electronic Commerce Technology
Read this chapter to learn about the technologies that support e-business and e-commerce. Although this chapter was written in 2008, think about instances in your own experiences where more recent technologies have made e-commerce/e-business faster, less expensive, more reliable, and more secure. Create a small chart of some important items you purchase frequently. Label the columns "Item", "Purchase Frequency", "How first purchased" (such as at a store, over the phone, online, etc.), "Most recent purchase date", and "Purchase method". Notice the changes. Have you evolved into an e-commerce/e-business user?
Electronic publishing
Two common approaches to electronic publishing are Adobe's portable document format (PDF) and HTML. The
differences between HTML and PDF are summarized in Exhibit 7.
Exhibit 7. HTML versus PDF
| HTML | |
|---|---|
| A markup language | A page description language |
| HTML files can be created by a wide
variety of software. Most word processors can generate HTML |
PDF files are created using special
software sold by Adobe that is more expensive than many HTML creator alternatives |
| Browser is free | Viewer is free |
| Captures structure | Captures structure and layout |
| Can have links to PDF | Can have links to HTML |
| Reader can change presentation | Creator determines presentation |
PDF is a page description language that captures electronically the layout of the original document. Adobe's Acrobat Exchange software permits any document created by a DOS, Macintosh, Windows, or Unix application to be converted to PDF. Producing a PDF document is very similar to printing, except the image is sent to a file instead of a printer. The fidelity of the original document is maintained–text, graphics, and tables are faithfully reproduced when the PDF file is printed or viewed. PDF is an operating system independent and printer independent way of presenting the same text and images on many different systems.
PDF has been adopted by a number of organizations, including the Internal Revenue Service for tax forms. PDF documents can be sent as e-mail attachments or accessed from a Web application. To decipher a PDF file, the recipient must use a special reader, supplied at no cost by Adobe for all major operating systems. In the case of the Web, you have to configure your browser to invoke the Adobe Acrobat reader whenever a file with the extension pdf is retrieved.
HTML
HTML is a markup language , which means it marks a portion of text as referring to a particular type of information.6 HTML does not specify how this is to be interpreted; this is the function of the browser. Often the person using the browser can specify how the information will be presented. For instance, using the preference features of your browser, you can indicate the font and size for presenting information. As a result, you can significantly alter the look of the page, which could have been carefully crafted by a graphic artist to convey a particular look and feel. Thus, the you may see an image somewhat different from what the designer intended.
HTML or PDF?
The choice between HTML and PDF depends on the main purpose of the document. If the intention is to inform the reader, then there is generally less concern with how the information is rendered. As long as the information is readable and presented clearly, the reader can be given control of how it is presented. Alternatively, if the goal is to influence the reader (e.g., an advertisement) or maintain the original look of the source document (e.g, a taxation form or newspaper), then PDF is the better alternative. The two formats coexist. A PDF document can include links to a HTML document, and vice versa. Also, a number of leading software companies are working on extensions to HTML that will give the creator greater control of the rendering of HTML (e.g., specifying the font to be used).