A History Of
Thomas Squire
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10 Interesting Things About The internet
1) The future of the Internet is weird! I found a series of youtube videos that predicted the landscape of the internet in the future and non were anything like it is today. Each video depicted a different scenario for the internet's future, however they all focussed on the theme of the how open the web is and how this might change in the future due to, politics, corporations and the separation of nations wanting to control the flow of information. I found it of particular interest researching into the future of the internet because often we take the internet for granted but there are many political and social factors that could lead to change in the internet and before we know it we may have an internet that is nothing like it is today.
2) Stuxnet. Another short youtube video I found was about the extent of virus that exist within the world wide web, however one in particular is of great significance and that is stuxnet. Stuxnet is the first virus to target system of information that are not public use and system of information that control industrial processes, such as oil rigs, transport networks and so on. Although many in power deny it's existence, it does exist and it is readily available on the internet for anyone to download and play around the code and develop there own version of the virus.
3) The United Kingdom is slow, in comparison with the rest of the world our internet is extremely slow but we are one of the biggest westernised countries so how can this be. Although the EU is ranked highest in the world many easternised countries are way ahead in terms of technology and speed with Hong Kong at the top of the list with there internet speed average reaching 44 Mbps. Before researching into the internet speed I assumed that Britain would be one of the fastest countries but it was interesting to find we are not even in the top ten.
4) The Internet and the environment. One thing that really shocked me the most was how the internet impacts on the environment, its clearly obvious that it has an effect on our planet but you never really associate the use of the internet with drastic contributions to environmental change. For every second of youtube video watched on the internet 0.2g of CO2 is used and we watched in average 2 billions youtube videos a day. I'm interested in subject of the environment on a general but to combine this with the subject of the internet returned some interesting findings, particularly when you consider the vastness of the internet and the huge contributions it make to the environment.
5) Growth. Through looking at statistics its easy to see the dramatic growth the internet sees in every aspect of the technology from severs, to websites to users to amount of viruses. The statistics rise year on year and not but a little but by a lot. There aren't many technologies in our world that grow like the internet, it seems as if it can't stop it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and becoming an evermore integral part of our lives.
6) Censorship is an issue i'm really interested in as I believe the internet should be an open environment as that what's made the internet what is today and why it is so popular, but many countries in the world such as china censor there internet to control what it's society and read and view of the internet allowing the government to stop the flow of information ad freedom of speech, corporations such as google have to abide by these censorship's guidelines.
7) Online retail sales have grown by 113% over the last five yearsEcommerce became the main area I focused my research because I find the relationship between ecommerce, internet shopping and the high street intresting, the statistics show it all, ecommerce is on the rise and the high street is taking a drastic fall in nothingness.
8) An interesting aspect of the internet I found was the types of things people search for and use the internet for, google offer an expansive tool to allow you to search for the most popular search terms for any given year and the change for year to year. Back in 2002 the number one googled term was 'Spider man' in 2012 'Rebecca Black' was the most googled term this suggests how our internet habits have changed for using the internet to find out about commercial entertainment to now viewing user generated content on youtube and looking at and creating memes.
9) Friendster or Facebook. I have always found the creation of Facebook to be an interesting story, which I still don't think is complete one, but one interesting thing to remember is that Facebook was not the first social network. Before Facebook was Friendster and Facebook maybe has to thank Friendster for some of the work it did in the industry of social networking. Social networking as a whole is really interesting it's something that is still very immature in its lifecycle and has a long future of innovation ahead.
10) Where does the internet come from? The internet is just there, its on our phones and it's in our homes but it was interesting to find out where it comes from us and how it gets to us.
Fall of the High Street
Habitat: Thirty of Habitat's UK stores were put into administration, leaving just three London-based shops that were bought by Home Retail Group. The creation of Terence Conran, who wanted a vehicle for his designs, Habitat said poor trading conditions were to blame, but acknowledged their products' expense and poorly located stores contributed to their problems.
Oddbins: The quirky wine merchant that aimed to personalise wine shopping failed to beat off mass-market competition and went into administration in April after amassing debts of £20m. Around 400 jobs in total were put at risk, but 37 stores out of 128 stores were bought by the EFB Group and relaunched in October.
TJ Hughes: The Liverpool-based homes discount store, that has been trading for over 100 years, was put into administration in June after a difficult period. Two months later, the company announced that 22 stores would be closed, resulting in the loss of 1,062 jobs - over a quarter of the total workforce.
Thomas Cook: For 170 years, Thomas Cook has been taking British travellers on holiday, easing journeys from the UK to countries the world over. But in November, the travel operator said that the Arab Spring and the crisis in the eurozone all contributed to falling sales, and the company revealed a loss of £400m, as well as announcing the closure of 200 stores.
Thorntons: The much-loved chocolate retailer, which has been trading for almost a century, said in June that it plans to close up at least 120 stores over the next three years, with the possibility of a further 60 closures. The company said it would increase selling via supermarkets and try to be less dependent on seasonal events, such as Easter and Christmas.
Jane Norman: Founded in the 1950s, the upmarket clothing retailer went into administration in June citing "severe cash flow difficulties". However, Edinburgh Woollen Mill bought 33 of its 94 stores in a deal that will allow the company to buy more stores in the future if trading picks up.
Borders: The UK branch of the company went bust back in 2009, and after putting up a tough fight, the US book and music retailer Borders Group finally announced defeat in July. The remaining 400 shops were liquidated in September, with the company blaming the rise of e-books and online shopping for the decline in sales.
Barratts: A familiar name on the high street, the shoe chain Barratts was placed in administration in December, putting 3,840 jobs at risk. The shoe retailer ran into trouble in 2009 when it reduced its number of shops from 380 to 220. Its administrators, Deloitte, said that "difficult economic conditions" were to blame.
HMV: 'His Master’s Voice' started trading in 1921 after the opening ceremony was attended by composer Sir Edward Elgar, confirming the brand's place in the British high street. The struggling music retailer issued a profit warning in the first quarter, then sold its bookseller chain Waterstone’s, and finally this week announced it may sell its live music division to generate sales.
Dominoes
Just over half of Domino’s Pizza takeaway orders are now made online, the company said today.
In the 13 weeks to March 25, ecommerce sales accounted for 50.6% of delivered sales at Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland, up from 39.3% at the same time last year.
Online sales rose by 44.5% to £59.3m, from £41.3m last time of which 16.4% came through the company’s mobile platform. More than £1m in sales was taken through its mobile platforms in a single week during the period.
Social media followings also rose during the period. Its UK Facebook page has more than 520,000 fans, with another 13,700 in Ireland. Domino’s also has more than 22,000 Twitter followers across its UK and Ireland sites.
The update came as Domino’s reported a 9% total rise in sales, to £144.2m in the 13 weeks in its interim management statement. Sales were up from £132.3m at the same time last year. Both new store openings and like-for-like growth in sales, up by 3.5% during the period, drove the rise.
Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased with the group’s performance in the first quarter and, although they are just part of the growth story, it is good to see our like-for-like sales continue to increase. It is especially pleasing to see sales in the Republic of Ireland return to positive territory.
“We may have a softer comparative for the second quarter of the year – but we will not be taking our foot off the accelerator. We have a number of marketing initiatives and other programmes aimed at ensuring our franchisees can profitably grow their businesses in the coming months. This, combined with a full pipeline of potential new sites, expansion in Germany, a strong management team in place and our ever improving operational gearing, makes me confident and optimistic about the months and years ahead.”
In the 13 weeks to March 25, ecommerce sales accounted for 50.6% of delivered sales at Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland, up from 39.3% at the same time last year.
Online sales rose by 44.5% to £59.3m, from £41.3m last time of which 16.4% came through the company’s mobile platform. More than £1m in sales was taken through its mobile platforms in a single week during the period.
Social media followings also rose during the period. Its UK Facebook page has more than 520,000 fans, with another 13,700 in Ireland. Domino’s also has more than 22,000 Twitter followers across its UK and Ireland sites.
The update came as Domino’s reported a 9% total rise in sales, to £144.2m in the 13 weeks in its interim management statement. Sales were up from £132.3m at the same time last year. Both new store openings and like-for-like growth in sales, up by 3.5% during the period, drove the rise.
Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased with the group’s performance in the first quarter and, although they are just part of the growth story, it is good to see our like-for-like sales continue to increase. It is especially pleasing to see sales in the Republic of Ireland return to positive territory.
“We may have a softer comparative for the second quarter of the year – but we will not be taking our foot off the accelerator. We have a number of marketing initiatives and other programmes aimed at ensuring our franchisees can profitably grow their businesses in the coming months. This, combined with a full pipeline of potential new sites, expansion in Germany, a strong management team in place and our ever improving operational gearing, makes me confident and optimistic about the months and years ahead.”
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