Internet vs. Web – The Quiet Revolution
Ever thought about the difference between the internet and the web? Perhaps you thought they were synonymous, or perhaps you vaguely knew there was a technical difference but didn’t really care. Well it matters now, and will increasingly matter and sooner or later it will profoundly affect your company’s IT strategy.
To be pedantic, the internet is the network of computers across the world which allows any computer to connect to any other computer. Information travels across the internet in a number of formats or protocols. The web is just one way of accessing information using a particular protocol, HTTP. Web browsers provide access to web pages using HTTP. Applications are connected using web services which also use HTTP.
OK, so why does this distinction matter? Well for the first time the web isn’t everything; the era of the app has arrived and it is very much here to stay. Apps, downloaded to mobile devices such as the iPhone, use the internet but not the web. And apps are catching on, fast. Corporations which have traditionally relied on websites as their principal means of connecting with suppliers and customers are now turning to apps too. The BBC has one of the most visited websites in the world, but also has invested heavily in its app, delivering news and video content to users’ mobile devices without the dead hand of the web-browser.
This can have the advantage; an app can offer richer functionality e.g. by making use of the touch-screen technology, movement sensors, camera and directional capabilities of modern handsets, an app can also be faster as more of the processing logic is downloaded on the phone. These features are already being used by many apps, such as those produced by estate agents which allow you search, locate and view properties for sale in your desired area, perhaps while you are walking around with your mobile device.
Websites are not unlikely to be passé quite yet though; they are accessible from any device that has a browser and don’t required anything to be (consciously) downloaded, and potential functionality is about to be significantly increased as HTML 5 is released (i.e. the language in which many websites are written).
So which is best? The simple answer is both, depending on circumstances. What is certain is that most successful companies in the near future will have both websites and apps, and that a quiet revolution is currently taking place – one that will be as profound as the .com era of the 1990s.
How could your company make best use of the web and the internet?
