Micro Marketing and Cookies Essay

Nowadays, the progress of science and technologies create new opportunities for the development of media. It is a widely known fact that information systems and technologies achieved really great results, especially, it concerns computer technologies, Internet, the development of wireless technologies and telecommunication media. It is evident that the spread of IT and the most modern telecommunication media forced all the society at large and every individual in particular evaluate and change for technological innovations have already become the most important part of human progress in practically all domains.

Obviously, technological innovations contributed to the development of existing media and development of new ones. In last couple of decades technological innovations were particularly successfully introduced in wireless services, telecommunication, computer technologies, and, certainly, Internet. By the way wireless technologies and media are considered to be extremely prospective for they do not have such limitations that traditional, conventional ones have and they are more economically feasible and less expansive than land lines especially in relation to the most remote areas of developing countries where infrastructure is not developed. As a result, wireless networks become more and more spread all over the world even in developing countries, where, according to the latest researches, wireless technologies are spreading faster than radio and television.

Naturally, the same trend is observed in well-developed countries of the North America and Europe. That may be proved by the fact that between 2000 and 2002 the number of subscribers was doubled (from 500 million to one billion users)[1]. It is worthy of mention that wireless networks and media have a significant advantage since they cannot be so easily controlled by governments and, consequently, they are more freee and democratic.

Nowadays, in the most developed countries the spread of Internet and computer technologies is so wide that even very sophisticated software is often used in households. Moreover, there is a very interesting: information workers and IT or IS specialist, whose share in the labor force in the USA constituted 55 percent, may work not in an office but at their homes regardless where they geographically live that makes some firms in post-industrial countries distribute work not only among their local soft ware engineers but also send projects to other countries, such as India, where the qualification of personnel is high enough whereas the wages are much lower. Thus, it helps to enlarge the labor market, improve competitiveness, overcome geographical boundaries and, at the same time, make the final product cheaper without deterioration of its quality. But, unfortunately, not all nations have equal opportunities to participate in this process since the least developed countries the use of Internet and computer technologies is quite problematic because of low educational level or illiteracy of the population of these countries that often make them prefer oral communication through cell phones on their native language rather than using Internet.

As any global process the introduction of technological innovations, particularly wireless networks, Internet and computer technologies, influence not only economy but social life as well. According to a Business Week/Harris poll released April 28, 1997, of the 89 percent of those who used e-mail, nearly one-third considered themselves part of an online community. Forty-two percent of those involved in an online community said that it was related to their profession, 35 percent said that their community was a social group, and 18 percent said that it revolved around a hobby. On analyzing this data, it is possible to indicate at a shift in the people understanding of a traditional notion of the community. For large media networks focus on information that could appeal to possibly wider audience it could cause certain local information gaps for those who live either in suburb or rural areas. At the same time, new technologies, particularly in telecommunication, may contribute to end urban dominance over rural areas making them closer to one another. But in developing countries we observe people lacking of information and technological innovations may serve to provide people any information. On the contrary, in well-developed countries the abundance of information and the most sophisticated means to its transmission people are overwhelmed by it making them a bit isolated from the life of their local community.

Thus, we can see that the latest technological innovations concern economical, social and political aspects of our life.

The most rapid progress was made in the IT and IS. Nowadays, wireless technologies, Internet and computer networks are considered to be the most prospective for the further development of the whole countries, different organizations, equally private or public, communities, and individuals.

A rapid progress of information technologies and media may be viewed not only positively but, as any other process, it also has its negative aspects. At the present moment the wide use of cookies, especially in micro marketing contribute to the wider access of companies to their customers’ private information but there is also the problem of unauthorized skimming and hacking. It is not a secret that such problems threaten to economical feasibility of IS.

For example, some experts estimate that only in 2001 over 20 Australian banks, have been a target of a security breach. Even though experts on IT security estimate that the problem mainly occurs not within the bank but on the end-user’s computer it still exists and it is absolutely necessary to find some solution. It is particularly important because this problem is common not only for the banking industry but for e-commerce at large. The same may be said about the highest level of national security of many developed countries since it is not a secret that the danger of hacker attack on Pentagon computer network and alike is reality.

In other words, the problem of skimming and hacking threatens to economical and national security of the most developed country, including the USA. At the same time, we shouldn’t forget that this is not the problem of governments or international corporations but ordinary individuals may also be under attack.

At the same time, it is also obvious that the use of cookies for micro marketing purposes affects not only material sphere but also raises moral and ethical questions. Any social relations between individuals have to be controlled and regulated by some ethical norms because ethics has an overwhelming influence on so many processes in the community, and these processes can have not only interior but exterior character as well. To put it more precisely, the problem of the unauthorized use of private information or imposing certain services or products with the help of new technologies, including the use of cookies, seems to be unethical. On the other hand, the development of IT and telecommunication media contributes to the creation of virtual communities which may have their own ethical principles and can use private information of other users of new technologies in their own interests, including commercial benefits.

Thus, on analyzing all above mentioned it is possible to conclude that technological innovations produce a great impact on socio-economical development of the whole world and increases substantially the role of media. It is important to underline that such spread of IT and IS and the growing impact of media also have certain negative consequences that can’t be ignored among the most serious may be the use of cookies in micro marketing, skimming and hacking, security of information accompanied by limited access to certain information, protection of intellectual property, and finally the problem of lack of ethical norms or ways of regulation of morality within e-communities which are in the process of formation. Naturally, each problem demands a particular solution that is one of the main tasks of the further IT and media development. It is necessary to work out the ways to prevent illegal breaches in IS as well as the ways to protect intellectual property have to be found. Probably, improvement of educational and moral level of those who are a part of IT and IS (even now a great part of the population is involved in such relations and in the future even developing countries will have the same results) is a panacea but to achieve best results we need to make this improvement as global as the spread of technological innovations and increasing role of media.