Web 2.0

We may not realize how much the internet has changed in recent years. Most of us take the internet for granted and don't necessarily understand the inner workings of it. Early when the internet started it was used as a source of displaying and finding information. This basic form of displaying information didn't see a boom in interest until the late 90's early 2000's. The cause of this revolution was the introduction of Web 2.0 sites.

Web 2.0 has changed the way we view and interact with the internet. Web 2.0 has made the the internet into a social, collaboration and user-centered design experience. Now we can do nearly anything on the internet. We can socialize with friends, look up movie reviews and even order items for home delivery. Below are a few of the most revolutionary websites that helped to shape the internet into what it is today.

A common web 2.0 application is the use of tags to
help sort and find information on the internet.

• Amazon
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Web applications

These sites and web applications have allowed us as a society to stay up-to-date with the current news and happenings around the world. The power and capability of the internet is always growing. With the growing number of social media sites all of us can keep in touch with our friends and family. There are more opportunities for users to explore and possibly create their own applications. The whole revolution of the internet has been pivoted on the user being the center of attention. Nearly everything on the internet is tailored to the users interests and actions. The future of the internet, you could say, is in the hands of average internet users.

Going To The Cloud

It seems that all the time now you hear about cloud computing and how it is revolutionizing the way people do tasks on their computers. But what is cloud computing anyway? There is actually much dispute about what the actual definition is, but mostly it means that people can use virtual servers through the internet. What this means is that people and companies can use the "cloud" in order to run programs, store information, increase data capacity etc. all without having to build new data infrastructures.

There are many types of cloud computing out there and I will just briefly discuss some of the major application for these. Some of these types of computing we don't necessarily think of them being a part of the "cloud" , but they are out there.

1.SaaS
This is one of the most popular forms of cloud computing. What this does is that it allows people to deliver a single application through a browser so that many people can download or use it. The benefit to this is that the costs are low for  the creator. This also benefits  the customer because there are no upfront costs or investments in servers or software that has to be bought. This is potentially an easy way for businesses to display some of there products to see if there is any interest in them before they put them onto the market.

2.Utility Computing
Utility computing is becoming more popular in recent years. Utility computing is used as extra storage for data and computing resources that can be used later as a service rather than purchasing the programs. An example used in an article from infoworld.com states that utility computing is just like using a service we are familiar with, such as water, electricity and gas. This idea makes sense because with utility computing people are only using the programs as a service rather than having to buy programs and expensive software.

Cloud computing is starting to become one of the major ways that people and businesses are becoming more productive with their works. Not only does cloud computing increase efficiency, it help reduce costs for both the business and the consumer. Hopefully in the next few years there will be much further development into this promising technology.

Sources: 

http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031

http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/hosted_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208700713

Bye Bye Lawyers?

Yes, you heard it right! The need for expensive corporate  lawyers could come to an end  in the near future. All of this could be caused by advancements in artificial intelligence called "e-discovery" software. What this software can do is analyze documents in a fraction of  the time a human could. As we all know time is money and by reducing the time it takes to analyze many documents, many companies will be able to save thousands of dollars. An example of this called Blackstone Discovery, was used to analyze roughly 1.5 million documents at a cost of less than $100,000. Hiring this large amount of documentation out to teams of lawyers would cost nearly 8 times that much money. Not to mention it would take the teams of lawyers much longer to look through all of the documentations.

As stated by lawyer Bill Herr, "From a legal staffing viewpoint, it means that a lot of people who used to be allocated to conduct document review are no longer to be billed out." This brings up a good point because there will be a potential loss of business for corporate law firms. If companies choose the technology path there there will be benefits for corporations but a loss for law firms. There seems to always be a trade-off when a new technology emerges. Should we sacrifice human jobs for more efficient computers to do the work? That is a tough question to answer because there are  many pros and cons to both sides. If companies choose to be more efficient then that will save not only the company money, but the consumer as well. This will also cause a decrease in demand for lawyers and other staff to take care of these jobs.

We wont know until this new technology has been developed further, whether or not it will be a success. There will be a lot of debates on what path companies should take regarding there legal documentation review. Until that time comes we will have to wonder what the future holds for corporate America.