3.1c) ICT and mobile phone use in the twenty-first century: Flashcards
1a) What improvements have there been in telephone technology, and how have these revolutionised businesses?
1b) What is leap-frogging?
1a) Telegraph cables were put across the Atlantic, which replaced a 3-week long journey. The telephone is its successor.
1b) Areas in Africa are jumping straight to mobile phone use.
1a) What improvements have there been in broadband and fibre optics?
1b) How many kilometres of flexible undersea cables are there?
1a) The introduction of fibre broadbands in the 1980s and 1990s, allowed large amounts of data to be transferred. This data is conveyed across the ocean floor, by fibre optic cables that are owned by TNCs or governments.
1b) More than 1 million.
1a) What improvements have there been in GIS and GPS?
1b) How do they benefit businesses?
1a) The first GPS satellite was launched in the 1970s. There are now 24, 10,000 km above the Earth.
1b) Deliveries can be tracked using vehicle-tracking systems. This helps the growth of global production networks.
1a) What improvements have there been in the internet and social networks?
1b) By 2014, how many likes were being registered daily, on Facebook?
1a) It was a scheme funded by the US Defence Department during the Cold War. The computer network ARPANET was designed in the 1960s, to link research computers.
1b) 5 billion
1) Why are quick delivery times an important part of Amazon’s business model?
1) Quicker delivery times mean that the costs of storing large items for long periods, are reduced.
1) When did Amazon move into China?
1) In 2014, Amazon established a base in Shanghai, due to its Chinese sales growing, as China’s wealth increases.
1) How does Amazon use internet technology to open up and exploit new markets?
1) > They have a media machine, which sells music, movies and books, through its 11 websites.
> They offer sellers, writers and musicians access to a global market for their sales, through its warehouses.
> Grown from online bookseller to world’s leading e-tailer - with customers in 180 countries.
> Its ‘Prime’ product offers online TV and films.
> Its Kindles give its customers access 24 hours a day.
1) Why is it a problem that national governments find it hard to keep track of Amazon’s sales in each country.
1) This is because governments can’t calculate the level of business tax that is owed in each location. Amazon can also register its sales in countries with lower tax rates.
1) What is a throw away society?
2) How much of what is purchased is thrown away within a year?
1) Economies of scale and a race to deliver ever-cheaper goods - mean that people buy and throw away more. Human rights violations and environmental impacts are ignored.
2) 30%
1a) What is a throw-away society?
1b) How much of what is purchased will be thrown away within a year?
1a) Items purchased through Amazon are cheaper, due to lower operating costs and bulk buying. The economies of scale and the race to deliver cheaper goods, mean that people buy and throw away more. People ignore the costs in terms of human rights, and environmental impacts.
1b) 30%
