Answer to Question 1
A
Answer to Question 2
The Internet and the Web have made e-commerce possible because they have brought about an extraordinary expansion of digital services to millions of amateur computer users. The Web makes nearly all of the elements of rich human expression including color, text, images, photos, animations, sound, and video available, creating a unique environment in which to establish a commercial marketplace. Many of the Web's services and features support e-commerce, including communication tools such as e-mail and messaging applications, search engines and streaming media.
E-mail, for example, can be used as a very effective marketing tool. E-commerce sites can buy e-mail lists from various sources and collate them with lists of their current customers to create a targeted advertising message that can be quickly and economically delivered and will produce a creditable response.
Messaging applications such as mobile messaging apps are increasingly being used by companies to market their brands.
Search engines have also become a crucial tool on e-commerce sites, providing a method for customers to quickly locate the product category or a specific product they are looking for.
Streaming media enables online video, music, video, and other large-bandwidth files to be sent to users in a variety of ways that enable the user to play back the files. Web advertisers increasingly use video to attract viewers. Streaming audio and video segments used in online ads and news stories are perhaps the most frequently used streaming services.
Answer to Question 3
In the past, voice and fax were the exclusive provenance of the regulated telephone networks. With the convergence of the Internet and telephone, however, this dominance is already starting to change with local and long distance telephone providers and cable companies becoming ISPs, and ISPs getting into the phone market. Key players in the VoiP market include independent service providers such as VoIP pioneers Vonage and Skype (now owned by Microsoft), as well as traditional players such as telephone and cable companies that have moved aggressively into the market.