ICT in Employment

Employment opportunities from ICT

ICT has effected employment massively in recent years and has become the forefront of the world’s business infrastructure. From this, developments to businesses and corporations have had great change with how and who runs them, and has led to either more jobs being available or job cuts. To many people, these cuts won’t apply to them depending on their type of job and role, however many are worried that the development of technology and ICT will continue to grow and unjustifiably take their jobs, due to their reliability and act of work 24/7 365 days a year.

This is present in supermarkets where self checkouts are starting to develop and become more and more popular. It provides customers with a machine that does all the necessary information for you quick and reliably. All you as the customer needs to do is scan the products through. There is a process as it go along, with it saying whether you want to pursue with cash or perhaps pay by card. It will then consider you with a clubcard or nectar card and allows you click if necessary. For many this allows people to get by quick and easy without the distractions that many can bring to this job.

Like people who work within the tills at a supermarket, other jobs will be lost with the development of ICT. These include;

·         Car park attending – With ‘pay and display’ machines now being present within car parks. The payment of a car for whatever time can now be done through machines, with a number of times being present, and this time chose based on the amount put in. E.g.-1 hour = 80p, 2 hours = £1.40 etc.

·         Checking of product control – Checking of products through sampling can now be done through machines that will check the product with greater detail a lot faster.

However, this isn’t to say job opportunities haven’t come from the development of ICT. These include;

·         Software engineers – These people provide the computer science principles to a product or design. This chain of work would be needed for all types of software, and would be needed if a new type were to become available. E.g.-computer games.

·         Programmers – Needs to write the information that will help function and program the product.

·         System analyst – people which produce information, research and design for an upcoming system which will help the development process of it.

As well as new jobs being available for others, or perhaps people unemployed, current staff will need to be trained for use of the product. From here these basic skills of a general employee will be increased and provide them with greater ICT knowledge that will look impressive on a CV. Furthermore, this may make these employee candidates for promotional jobs helping make more money for them.

Future employment opportunities

With ICT developing continuously, a lot of jobs are said to have been taken due to technological enhancement, and this however will continue to grow. Nonetheless, this isn’t to say that jobs in the future will dry up with basis to humans. A number of business’ don’t like the idea of a machine or ICT product being the make trafficking link between customers, and stress that it doesn’t hold a strong customer interaction between them and the store. So with this in mind, I would expect a number of business’ to not go down the strong ICT based route and hold importance to people interaction with customers.

However, for business’ that do continue down the technological route, will need people to check and embrace the products on a regular basis. This would call for job hire with certain skills. Nevertheless, you could argue that the employees being taken on board to watch the technology, are only replacing the ones make redundant from the equipment in the first place, showing no real job development.

We can expect further jobs to be taken by ICT based machines, but should not take in an negative manor. We should merely note that these jobs won’t generate massive amounts of ability, and will only be taken on in cases of extreme repetition, like working on tills.

With this in mind, it’s key that future education will ensure young people with greater and vaster knowledge of technology and its uses. This will provide them with greater and stronger fundamentals as well as make them stronger candidates for a number of jobs.

ICT in Education

ICT has massively transformed the way in which education is now taught in school, with it not only focusing on the ICT and media subjects, but for all types ranging from maths to English. This transformation happens for both the teaching side of education, as well as the student experience with various tools being present for both. This integration into schools and students everyday environment will set them up for later life, and will allow them to learn basic skill and understanding that will prepare them for later business employment.

There are a number of products ranging from hardware and software that meet these demands, and allow students to interact with products that may come back to them in later life at a more detailed level.  A number of these can now be present in a general classroom, and from personal experience do make a healthy difference. These include;

·         Computers - These are the forefront of personal learning for a student with them providing each individual, with a login and password where they can access files for editing and enhancement, as well as be open to independent research on the internet.

·         Software – This is what runs the computer. A number of programs are available for education and revision purposes for both teacher and student. Being a student give you discounts on software at certain stores.

·         Smart board – These allows teachers to interact with a board through touch sensitivity, with the view of presentations and demonstrations being taught at the forefront of the class. From here students can make notes and enhance learning techniques.

·         Projector – This is the forefront of the smart board and is what presents the screen onto the board. This is hooked up to a general computer with it then being displayed. With the aid of a projector, presentations can be shown and paused, edited with, as well as fast forwarded.

·         Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) – A growing program in schools today is VLE. This provides students with the chance to access online files and documents from home, where they can edit them and securely save. As well as this, students can keep in touch with teachers though blogs, where they can ask questions and enquire about set work.

                         This shows an example of a student using a smart board.

With the enhancement of these products, different software’s and programs are now available, where students can produce pieces of work. An example would be PowerPoint presentations. With the aid of a computer, projector and smart board, a student can make a PowerPoint presentation where they can demonstrate their interactive knowledge, as well present the information at hand. This, like mentioned previously, is what businesses’ work with, and for many is what they use to function future employment opportunities. An example of it effecting employment life is a teacher, who would use these tools to make presentation at much greater detail than a student, to present to classes.

With many schools providing vast amount of computers to students, they do have the chance to do this whether it be at home or school, night or day. Like PowerPoint, word has continued to be a frontier of school education and now allows students to write the majority of their work on a general computer. From here they can transfer to home to edit or enhance and return to school at the required date.

There are benefits for student with regards to software like these. These include;

·         Give students the chance to do work wherever they have a computer, and allow it to be more independent.

·         Gives them the chance to experience exactly what it will be like in a work environment.

·         Allows them to develop communicational and computer skills integrating them into school work.

However, there are benefits for teachers as well. These include;

·         Can mark work on a computer with students sending it to them. This stops having to mark work pages manually.

As well as benefits, negatives do come from ICT in education.  One negative is how students have replaces computers and keyboards for general writing, from this decreasing quality of handwriting, which is what’s needed in exams.

Plagiarism has also come apparent in coursework and essays, where students have cut and paste others work and claimed it to be there’s.  However, software has now come apparent that cracks downs on this and can differentiate their work with work done previously by others.

In conclusion to ICT in education, there is a number of products that have changed the way in which education brought across today. As years go by and technology increases, so will it and will soon unearth even greater educational tools for a student and teachers needs.

Entertainment

For many years now entertainment has become a forefront of the internet, and provides millions of people with amusement and fun throughout. A number of these entertainment based services have been around even longer that the internet itself, with some including games, radio and TV. However, with masses of people every year turning their entertainment needs to the computer and internet, so have these services.

With these services now being available via the internet, a number of advantages have come apparent. These advantages are both present for the client and the company.

One thing websites can do is portray advertisement round each service, this allows for the clients to check out latest offers on wither clothing wear, or other sites that may relate to what your doing. This would be an advantage for the company as it would allow them to sell advertisement on their site which in turn can bring in money.

A consumer advantage is that they access a number of different entertainment services through the aid of a computer. This means they can watch and play games all from one piece of hardware rather than having to keep changing from a television to a radio, and then to a game console.

The first example of an entertainment service would be online games. Online games are probably the oldest entertainment service on the web, and hold both educational and recreational uses. An example recreationally is miniclip. Miniclip hosts to a number of games changing from action packed to mentally challenging. Its holds a wide range for each, and allows players to generate high scores competing against players all over the world.

An example for educational use would be ‘Classtools.net’. Class tools provide a number of ranging games that can make education fun to the consumer. This way of learning will entice people to play and in the future can become a forefront of learning, with examples of music, maths and English all being present.

Overall, games are a growing way of entertainment, and as the internet grows so will it.

Radio is another form of online entertainment, and grants thousands of people with access to their favourite shows whenever they desire. This has also been present for many years, but has slowly grown, with a number of different aspects being introduced. An example would be a ‘BBC Radio podcast’ which allows user to downloads their favourite show, and put it onto their MP3/IPod device where they can play back when the time is right. Furthermore, it allows people to watch missed shows and catch up on the latest information wherever WIFI is present.

Online TV is another form of online entertainment and provides vast amounts of people with digital services of their choice. This service is quite prestigious, whereas unlike radio and games, television requires subscription to a number of companies. However one service has gone a different road and has allowed their service to be broadcast over the computer free! This service however does require a subscription with a monthly payment but that equips you for just general television. With the aid of your sky subscription code, you can sign up online free and watch you packages through the aid of a computer and internet service.

Download Services

Downloading has grown into one of the most commonly used ways to access products online, and from this has attracted fundamental advantages and disadvantages. It’s a service that allows anyone to gain a product over the internet, which in turn acts as an easy accessed advantage. Its use of transactional payments online is the way to purchase a product, however for many downloading has succumbed to illegal barriers, with many now being free.

Examples of downloadable services include;

·        Music- This is the biggest form of downloading on the internet, whether it is for making money purposes or non-profitable (illegal) ways. ITunes is an example of money making software, with each customer setting up their own account for themselves. This allows them to store whatever music they desire, with you either playing it through ITunes itself, or transferring onto their Iphone/Ipod. This transaction favours a lot of people, as it allows them to download a song/album wherever a WIFI connection is present.

·        Games- This is another form of downloading and allows people to download files onto either CD’s or their computers hard disk. From there they can be play the files, on either consoles like PS3’s or your PC. This isn’t favoured to many gamers, as consoles like PS3’s can pick up fake disks and ban you from using the online services.

·        Software- Large companies are the people that will release software, with many bringing out further updates as well as adds ones for products. Patches for glitches can also be released, that can help the product perform. These can either be free trials with a later option to buy, or a straight purchase. A straight purchase will generally be used for a whole program. E.g.-Adobe Photoshop.

·        Videos- Sky player is an example of playing back videos and films and is a free feature with a general sky account. This allows people to watch shows whenever they want, whether it’s through a computer or accessed through services on their television.

·        Anti-virus- This is another common download and allows people to be safe and secure when roaming online. Free software can be available for this, but is usually only appeared as a free trial leading to a payment, (eg-1 month free trial). However, these don’t tend to be secure, so it is recommended that payed downloads are the best/safest products to go for. An example would be Norton’s antivirus.

 

With all of these example comes an array of advantages for downloading, over that of physical purchase. The downloadable purchase is generally always cheaper, with a number of these either being updates or add ones to the software, or just small files, like songs. Furthermore, this will not take a lot to format/make and therefore will be cheaper than hardware purchases.

The chance of not having to leave your seat is another bonus, with a WIFI connection only needing to do so. This helps people who may be stuck in remote area, where shops like Curry’s and PCworld are not nearby.

The security of the product itself is always an issue when buying something, with trying to keep it functional/working and not losing it. This isn’t a problem for downloads, with many optioning for back up storage, which allows for lost or accidental deleted files to be restored to the hard drive. This saves people buying the product again, and in turn makes people come round to the idea of downloading further files.

Another advantage is that the file will never have issues of being out of stock. This allows people to buy and downloads the product, without this ever being a problem. In conjunction to this, timing should never be an issue, with downloads being available 24/7 365 days of the year.

However, though these advantages hold an incentive to downloading products, it does nonetheless have disadvantages, with different people owning altered points of view. The transactional side of this is the main disadvantage, as it possesses a security risk that too many isn’t trusted. Many feel that certain sites can’t be trusted and need to make customer security number one priority, with stronger passwords needed as well as securer transaction of payment.

With this in mind, many online sites allow customers to use a secure payment website called PayPal. PayPal act as the middle man, and allow both ends of the bargain to get what they want, whether it be getting the product or the money. A site can show it used PayPal through the ‘PayPal verified’ sticker being located on the payment section of the purchase. These sorts of transaction sites hold a guarantee for people when downloading, and can allow them to do so, safe and secure.

As well as paying for your downloads through sites like PayPal, downloading has become a trait that too many is seen now as free. Piracy has taken this on, with various sharing domains being open for file sharing between people online. Pirated products have grown massively, but with it holding illegal traits, does hold consequences if caught.

An example would be pirate bay, where through registration you can access millions of different songs, videos and films that are available through file sharing called torrents. Pirate bay itself is 100% legal as well as the downloading side, however if said material holds copyright laws, sharing of the product is therefore illegal and can hold consequences to the sharer.

Downloading has become one of the main uses of the internet across its existence and will only get stronger and more used. It brings people a number of different produce without even having to leave their home, however, with this brings disadvantages including secure payment issues, as well as the products roots, whether it be legal or illegal. Whatever anyone says, downloading will always be a part of the internet and to many will continue to bring merchandise.

E-Government

Everyday technological aspects of the world are developed, and in turn provides more services to the world’s infrastructure. This has now been applied to the internet and in turn as provided a functional government scheme. This scheme is called electronic government or e-government.

The aim of E-government is to transfer all paper based documents online to produce an 'online application scheme', in turn saving government spending by £1.4 million. This will need to be tackled for a number of services including;

·        Tax and benefits

·        Crime justice/law

·        Employment online

·        Health and well being

·        Employment online

·        Citizens online

·        Education and learning online

·        Home and community online

·        Motoring online

·        Travel and transport online

With this comes an enormous audience, with 62.7% said to have internet access on a daily basis.  This allows a much larger amount of viewers to these sites, with a number of different options being available to them. Furthermore, this allows people to read easy accessible information, which in turn can create successful and positive feedback for these areas websites. I shall be explaining 4 of these, with me analysing what they can deliver and achieve for the modern day person.

Some of these areas have become more popular than others, and have succumbed to sub sections and divisions within their website. This allows people to have easy access to certain areas of the website, rather than reading various amounts of paperwork which would have happened in the old system. An example would be the motoring section of www.Directgov.co.uk, which splits itself into specific areas. This gives you expertise about what exactly you need to do, in comparison to a certain topic.  DVLA, Taxing, Testing and buying a vehicle are just some of their areas you can access, with various help sections being accessible. With it all being available online, this allows the general public to view it 24 hours a day, therefore accessing the information as and when they wish.

This cross over to an online scheme does bring a lot of information being let loose onto the internet, with access to it potentially being tricky. However, in conjunction to this, a number of these areas have come together, making them into ‘partnering websites’. This allows one specific website to hold a number of divisions, which in turn provides its information about a number of different topics easily and hassle free.

www. Directgov.co.uk  is an example of this, with my previous comments regarding ‘motoring online’ being a area within.

Another area within the Directgov site is ‘Travel and transport’. This section provides information mainly in conjunction to being abroad, with topics on Foreign Travel, Passports and Boating and travelling. These subject matters need to be very detailed, with certain aspects of it having to be done in person, rather than over the online application. However, this isn’t to say some documents can’t be filled out online, with introduction of this helping parts of UK business, (e.g.-post office).  However, it can be argued with such areas like renewing your passport now being available online, this had affected post offices and has lead to a decline of business for them, and therefore eventual closure.

Information regarding staying in the country is also displayed with topics on Highway Code, Getting about in the UK, and Cycling being available. Again, like the other areas, subsections are provided, which in turn makes the viewers needs a lot easier.

If there is certain information not covered within this site, information can be accessed elsewhere with the websites approval. In conjunction still with ‘Directgov’, useful contacts have been set up in place to help with topics that they know can be explained further.

An example would be ‘Access for disabled people’, with a further site given further, more accurate information on this. Other than the website link, Directgov provides the user with general points about said site, with the address, phone number and email address being shown.

 

‘Crime Justice’ is another area which can has been affected through the government’s scheme. Again, information regarding this can be found on the ‘Directgov’ website, with a number of topics being displayed and updates regularly.

This area has probably been affected the most, with a number of sections positively advancing for the greater good. The accessibility of sites like these can be shown as evidence for any case, with areas to pay fines and tax as well as a person’s rights if arrested. In relation to the fines, including speeding and parking tickets, there is areas online for them to pay them across a certain time span. This therefore shows no reason/excuse not to pay a ticket/fine at anytime.

As well as information on people pursuing the crimes, there is also allocated sections for victims and people that have been affected by this. This is show as the largest section, with a number of topics being displayed below, demonstrating what to do if you are victim of a crime, if you witness a crime, and your rights. This shows that the treatment of victims and people safety is their most important feature.



Education and learning is the final section I'm going to look at, with its departure to the online application having a positive effect on it overall. The area focuses on education right through your life, starting from primary school, straight through to where your university degree can get you. Its subject matters include,

·        14-19: your life, your options

·        Preschool

·        Higher Education and university

·        Qualifications’ explained

What this does is explain every option of you life’s education, will all parts of it being explained on what it does, where it can get you, and how it can change your life. This is again very detailed, however is seen more as a learning aid, with a number of matters including higher and lower education having to be tackled head on with certain teaching agreements and organisations.

Other than this, information regarding them as a person is also available, with costing always being a major issue. The costs to get to and from college/school and university are a serious matter when it comes to learning, with this no doubt deciding a person’s need and chance of gathering this learning. Schemes like EMA are set in place to help these people covers these costs, with a weekly amount being sent to certain people regarding their attendance and grades in class. This will allow people to get there education they deserve with costing having to not be an issue.

In conjunction to the overall e-government scheme, it does bring out numerous areas that have positively advanced from it. The chance to have various information on sites like ‘Directgov’ allows people to access information in an easy navigated way, with other topics being interlinked with these. This allows people to read up and gain knowledge on areas that they would never have thought of even reading.

The sites friendly and well maintained way allows people to interact with it, through the use of gaining information to transactional payments, whether it be Road tax or fines.

With ‘Directgov’ being a general example of this turnover, it can only be described as a success that will continue to grow and be updated as time goes on.

Online Education

Online Education has grown into one of the most frequently used ways of learning today. The use of the internet provides people with millions of different links that can help and inform them for a number of different topics. This use of education can not only be accessed for people at home, but it used as a learning tool for teachers and students in the modern day classroom. The 3 main ways of which learning can be achieved is through, literate, audio and visual.

    Although there is much information provided free on the internet, certain sites and education packs do require signing up. This involves handing over details including name, household address and email address'. From here, you are granted the material as well as constant emails from the company explaining about new upcoming software and merchandise. This provides the company with advertisement to people they know have a chance of purchasing it.

    An example of an educational website that requires a subscription is MyMaths. MyMaths is a revolutionary program that teaches through the aid of homework sheets, revision pages and videos examples. With a yearly subscription price, it brings multiple students/teachers with a number of revision tools and practices that will set them up for maths tuition/revision across the course. Its designed for both GCSE and A-level courses and incorporates the idea that maths can be fun and included in everyday life. With these fundamentals revealed, MyMaths uses its examples with relation to everyday life, whether it is counting money to pay at the shops right through to working out how much petrol is left in your car. Although this site can be a great tool for students and teachers, it doesn’t replace the contribution of an educator and is therefore maintained as a revision guide as well as homework activities. With this in mind, individual logins can be made for students where tasks and revision exercises can be set by teachers. These tasks can be marked online, with a grade/score being sent to the teachers allowing them to monitor each student’s progress through the topics. This has therefore seen MyMaths grow into one of the most used and respected maths programs on the internet.

     Another example of online learning is YouTube. YouTube is an uploading videos site, which provides people with a subscribed account to upload videos, social network and comment to each other about everyday life. However, unlike MyMaths, it isn’t a site dedicated to learning, but much rather a source of enjoyment and acknowledgement. This isn’t to say it can’t be used as an educational tool, with numerous videos being available to the public about a number of different topics. These videos vary from ‘Maths problems tutorials’ right through to ‘how to make a cake’ and ‘riding a bike’. On the other hand, there are disadvantages to this, with some videos not always being 100% correct, therfore making users not always sure on the subject matter themselves. In comparison to MyMaths, this is not the case, with MyMaths always being correct and guaranteed. There are of course advantages for YouTube, which can overweigh the problems. One is the way in which the videos are shown, with many portraying topics in both videos and audio form step by step. This allows the viewer to have 1 on 1 security with videos, as well as the chance to rewind and watch over bits that may not be understood first time round. Unlike MyMaths, YouTube is free with all videos being available to anyone with an internet connection. Nevertheless, donations can be made to the organisation at anytime.

     There are websites that require no general subscription or payment/donation. One example is BBC Bitesize. This is an online program which provides information about a number of different subjects at both GCSE and A-level intensity. Again, like MyMaths, it uses examples through the eyes of everyday life trying to relate it to the daily person as much as it can. However in comparison to MyMaths, Bitesize doesn’t possess the inline depth in regards to topics, which MyMaths can undoubtedly deliver. This site is more suited for revision purposes and reading over subject matters. Nonetheless it is still a tool for online education.

     Wikipedia is again like BBC Bitesize with regards to it requires no subscription, with it instead being a site run purposely on donations. Each topic, whether it be a person or event or product is provided a page, in which all types of information is provided. However, unlike MyMaths, YouTube and Bitesize, these facts can be edited. This allows any general person to edit information about whatever it is, and in turn creates a disadvantage. This therefore allows any person to upload information that may not be correct and in turn gives out false information to both viewer and other general public. This causes people, including students, to being doing important research, being misled and then told it’s incorrect.

     Online education has been massive transformations in the way people learn, and has opened up a huge market to do so, with huge profits and donations to be made for a number of organisations and companies. With a variety of offers and subscriptions being available, it is clear that these programs requiring a payment to use are the stronger educational tools. This supplies people with accurate and supported information that can be used and learned in a number of different ways.

Online Banking

    Online banking is a internet accessed way to your bank account allowing one to check balances, transfer between accounts and launch international wires from anywhere in the world. From this, loans and mortgages cane be granted as well as managing personal details. These purposes are formed for all banks, and I plan to focus on both ‘Halifax’ and ‘NatWest’ in particular.

    Online banking is an industry used by pretty much any high street bank chain, providing people with wide spread access about them and their banking experience. What people intend to do with it is entirely up to them, with a range of programs that isn’t just targeted at one subject audience, however any one owning and possessing a bank card.

    Therefore online banking can be used by anyone, providing people with an up to date check of the details, including balance and transactions payments, just through login. This overwhelms high street banking with queuing and access to information also being a major problem throughout the countries systems.

    Security is the main concern for people through the idea of online banking. With millions of people now preferring this to normal banking, so have public ‘scams’, with more and more people now trying to  corrupt people’s security to access vital funds. The idea of people having their money stolen or accessed has feared many people, and without these upcoming security checks, online banking to many would be a ‘no go area’.

A number of fake web pages are designed made to look exactly like that one of the banks. From here, emails are sent with links to these sites, telling these people to update their current information, which means logging in vital account details that are then saved and made to hack and clear out.

    However, with this rise of online theft, so has the rise of security, with many banks now possessing security questions that hopefully only the client should know. In conjunction to this, Halifax and NatWest these both have the security of the customer as priority.

    NatWest have gone one further than anybody else, and have provided a system called ‘Rapport security check, which enables customers a chance to do online banking securely, with regular scans and checks of your finances for any intrusion or irregular behaviour. If anything is thought to be happening, the bank is there to contact you, where guidelines and support will be laid down for you. As well as this, phishing emails information is available to you, where you can access details on how to know when it’s a real email and when it isn’t. This varies from the definition of phishing, right through to what to identify from wording to sophisticated language.

    Halifax have also kept their customers secure with a section on security questions. These are question specifically about the customers themselves, allowing them to disclose answers to questions that only they should know. However, these questions have been known to have been too simple and through this, have created something called ‘memorable information’. This involves having a word involving both letters and numbers. This acts as a password, however rather than being asked for the secret word as a whole, they would ask for 3 of the characters, which are randomly selected. This adds a constant array of security with the hackers having to get past 2 sets of question in order to technically steal your ‘identity’.

   

    The transaction of payment is another problem across modern day shopping, with a banks spending and loaning of money playing a major part of this. People fear that they will not get their end of the bargain, and through this are anxious of where the money might go. With his in mind people tend to use other forms of transaction, with websites like Paypal.com and Google checkout being these. From this, online banking is helped and can provide people with an incentive to join and experience, with PayPal being the only ones able to access your bank  account and not that of a complete stranger.

    PayPal is often used through auction sites like eBay, where identity fraud and consumer declaration laws are broken on a daily basis. This helps both sides of the transaction have their product/money, with the aid of one side not feeling they got ripped off or scammed. In relation to Halifax and NatWest, both of these yes use these sites, and rain nothing but the praise for them, with each explaining how these sort of operations have only helped the growth of online banking.

E-Commerce

E-commerce is the transaction of buying and selling products online, where a financial gain and product gain is available for both sets of potential people.

Features of e-commerce:

·         Payment is done online

·         Help pages are available

·         Store finder

·         Navigation controls

·         Reviews for the product

·         24/7, 365 days a year

·         Price comparison

·         Delivery options

·         Secure, with login and password needed

Amazon

    I’m going to investigate into what makes Amazon a successful e-commerce site, in comparison to a general retail shop. Its simplistic design and secure experience provide customers with a convenient customer service that makes them want to return, and enjoy shopping in near future.

    The start up homepage lays out a white background design, which demonstrates who exactly their buying from with a hyperlinked logo located at the top of the page, acting a link straight back to the homepage wherever you are in the website.

This simplistic design is something that you may not find in street shops, and something that can attract people to wanting to buy online rather than go to the cluttered lifestyle of street shopping. Its uses a smart font that can be read and interpreted easily, being shown in a descent size for all to see.

    

Its split into 3 main sections on the homepage, with the main navigation parts being located on the left hand side. This is used as a general search that splits merchandise into their respected categories, ranging from books to DIY tools.

The middle focuses mainly on you the buyer, with it succumb with recommendations, what you may like to buy (which would be in conjunction with recent buys) right through to what other customers are browsing right now.

The right hand side is defined with advertisement, showing various shops for books, jewellery and bags. This brings in extra income to Amazon, as well as helping these businesses with potential buyers.

The idea of a homepage in comparison to a retail store, is that online shopping provides you with all relative information with the click of the button. Amazon provides you with this for a number of products, with a store involving constant looking and in a number of cases having to ask a staff member. However, though Amazon does provide this offer, retail shopping doesn’t mind this. A number of shops ranging from Next to River Island, picture their store in a design that interacts customers with the entire store. They believe that if customers were to trail through counters looking for something, they’d have a higher chance of seeing something they like, and be inclined to buy it. This you wouldn’t happen online, with people generally shopping for something specific and planned to buy. E.g. - pair of jeans.

    Navigation is set out in a straightforward way, with a search bar located at the top of the screen and controls down the left side, helping for wide/broader searches. In comparison to in store retail, online provides quick and easy access to products, (like I mentioned above) rather than crawling through shops. For clothes, Amazon can be available to search for just sizes, so anything you find that you like; you know your size is available for dispatch, which isn’t always the case when general retail shopping.

    Customer information can also be accessed through the homepage, with a navigation button located at the top of the page called ‘your account’, from this you can track deliveries and change primary form of payment, something that you certainly cant do in a general store.

    Advertisement can play a massive part in E-commerce websites, with it this being the main form of product showing. For Amazon, this is shown with a constant array of products interactively portrayed over the middle of the homepage. This provides customers with a firsthand look at a product, and the site doesn’t have to stop at 2 or 3, it can go on for as many products as it desires. At the moment, the main advertisement for Amazon is the ‘kindle’. In comparison to general retail shopping, advertisement can yes be shown, but nowhere near in the vast amount of product quantity than e-commerce sites can reveal.

   Amazon is a massive worldwide e-commerce site, and provides millions of people over the world with products on a daily basis. Its simplistic but detailed design brings attributes that no retail shop can compete with, however, it does have points that general retail shopping may overcome, but at the end of the day e-commerce shopping overcomes all.