As you will know, the
Internet
enables communication between millions of connected com- puters worldwide, but how does the seamless transfer of data happen? Requests for
information are transmitted from client computers and mobile devices whose users request services to server computers that hold information and host business applications that deliver
the services in response to requests. Thus, the Internet is a large-scale
clientserver
system.
Internet technology
109
Chapter 3 E-business infrastructure
Internet
The Internet refers to the physical network that
links computers across the globe. It consists of
the infrastructure of network servers and
communication links between them that are
used to hold and transport information
between the client computers and web
servers.
Clientserver
The clientserver architecture consists of
client computers, such as PCs, sharing resources
such as a database stored on a more
powerful server computer.
Q. How do you measure ROI in Second Life? Ros Lawler, Random House:
If you were to measure it purely on books sold from direct links in Second Life, it would come out as a poor investment.
However, if you measure it in terms of reaching opinion-formers and as a publicity tool it can show real returns.
For example, a number of our regular visitors write for SL newspapers or influential blogs and their reporting of our events has an incredibly wide reach.
The event we ran for Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ at which God famously put in an appearance gained coverage in six UK newspapers.
The point of being there is to maintain a dialogue with the community so as virtual worlds develop we’re a part of the action, and not playing catch up.
Q. Are you planning any further Second Life projects in the near future? Ros Lawler, Random House:
Our island on Second Life hosts regular meetings for readers and writers, alongside book launches and competitions.
For example, this month you could attend a book group to discuss ‘Atonement’, hone your writing skills with the writers group, watch a live interview with Sophie Kinsella
or pick up some audio book samplers in our Valentine’s promotion. You can find more details of events on the blog.
Q. What proportion of books do you now develop digital content for? Ros Lawler, Random House:
To date we’ve been restricted by marketing budgets, and so primarily focus on creating digital content for lead front list titles. This includes
mini-sites, podcasts, games and so on. The launch of our widgets will mean we can easily create digital content for every
book, past and present.
Q. How big a contribution to sales do you expect from digital content versus e-commerce sales of print products?
Ros Lawler, Random House:
A Nielson Online survey recently found that books are the ‘most popular online buy’, as 41 of internet users had bought books online.
As sales of digital content are so new they are yet to show up on surveys of this size. However, downloads of audiobooks have increased by over 200 in the past
year and the arrival of Kindle and the Sony Reader will have a dramatic effect on the sales of ebooks.
The landscape could be very different in 5 years time.
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