Since data mining is the tool of processing information and recognizing some mostly common patterns, interrelations and tendencies existing within the company, it may be a powerful source of increasing the company’s profit: through the market basket analysis it is possible to find out what products are mostly popular with the existing customers at what periods of time and arrangement of further direct marketing of these products. Other ways may include branding, key products identification etc.
The list of databases that may contain information about me is rather long – it might be the bank where I have my credit card serviced, it is the school database, the library database, the database of my favorite computer club and databases of all shops where I have ever done my shopping – the information from my credit card is automatically registered in every place I conduct any financial operation, be it buying a ticket to another city or paying for a DVD disk. It is hardly possible to take any printouts from the shops, but it is permitted to request a printout from the bank, the school as well as probably from the library. Privacy information is mostly preserved by these institutions, but still most people surely wish they had more privacy with their financial activity.
Visual and audio databases may be effectively used within a company as they may serve specific needs of handicapped people or may serve the specially planned promotion company of, for instance, a new sound system where it is necessary to assess not the image but the sound, and vice versa. However, the more general use is for people with disabilities.
Databases play an enormous role in the digital space of the Internet – they help the user gain access to multiple storages of data with varied contents to speed up the process of finding what is necessary and to increase the range of possibilities. Speaking about the range of online games, forums and chat-rooms, it is also important to mind that the databases afford multilevel access to users to ensure global participation without breakdowns.
The free Wi-Fi access is good for people to remain mobile and to be able to gain access to the Internet everywhere. But on the other hand the technologies have to pay off, and in case everyone will get access to them for free there will be no funds for financing further development. More than that, overall access to the Wi-Fi network will pollute and overload it, thus worsening the quality of provided services.
Voice mail is more emotional and personal, so it may be used in case the sender wants the recipient to understand his/her emotions and mood. However, e-mail is more secure as it may be encrypted; more than that, e-mail is easier to modify when entering the information – voicemail should never be sent to inform the person about some important business events or arrangements. Visual perception of typed information is much better.
The course seems to be very informative and explicitly built to make up a good distance course. There are a large number of facts, definitions, explanations and visuals that would enhance the overall understanding of the topic. However, the material is rather hard as it concerns many aspects of information systems functioning – for this reason in some cases, e.g. explaining the work of software and hardware it is better to perform certain functions in the class but not in a distanced way.
WCP has developed dramatically because of people’s striving for mobility and wider access to the Internet, finding easier, quicker and higher-quality means of communication and data transmission. Despite this, in case the air is overloaded by the users who do this not only for business but mostly for fun, in the nearest future the technologies are likely to make a turn and become focused on finding more advanced and high-quality ways of communication that are not so heavily overloaded, so WCPs’ production is likely to decrease, unless the way to provide high quality for the ever-increasing number of users is found.