The information superhighway is as many different types of transport systems and does not function as a monolithic entity; there is no single interstate highway. Instead the architecture is a mixture of many forms of high-speed networks transport whether it is land-based telephone, air based wireless, Modem-based PC or satellite-based. For example, a message sent from New York to London travels across several other different types of transport networks interconnected with each other before reaching its destination. The players in this industry segment can be called as information transport providers. These include Telco companies that provide phone lines, cable TV that provides co-axial cables, wireless companies that provide mobile services and satellite network, and computer network including private networks and public data networks like the Internet. This industry segment also provides hardware and software tools to provide an interface with various network options.
This category of subscriber terminal equipment is divided into three parts:-cable TV set-top box, computer-based telephoning and network hardware. The biggest area of growth over the last five years has been in the router business. Routers or digital switches help connect large network or inter-networks. Routers are devices that can connect the LAN (Local Area Networks) inside an organization to the WAN (Wide Area Networks) of the various network providers. This does enables easy communication between separate networks spread across geographical distances.
The implications of information superhighways are “Multimedia Content & Network Publishing” and “Messaging & Information Distribution”.
Let us first see how multimedia content and network publishing is implied on information superhighways. The information superhighway is the transportation foundation that enables transmission of content. The electronic system by which content is transmitted is analogous to the non-electronic world in which the different types of products are stored in distribution centers before they are loaded onto various vehicles for transport. Currently the most prevalent architecture that enables network publishing is the World Wide Web. The pair allows small businesses and individuals to create content in the form of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and publish it on a Web Server. In short, the pair that provides means to create product information and means to publish it on a distribution centres.
Now let us see how messaging and information distribution is implied on information superhighways. The information being transferred on a network consists of text, numbers, did you, audio, pictures, etc. However the network does not differentiate between content as everything is digital i.e. combination of 1's and 0's. Once content has been created it is stored on a Web Server, the vehicle or the messaging and information distribution methods carrying the content of the various networks. The messaging vehicle is called middleware software that sits between the Web Server and end users application. Messaging and information distribution also includes translation that interprets and transforms data format.
