...A major concern for people purchasing products or services over the internet is security. Most people think that using credit cards on the internet is unsafe, when in reality it is more safe than using it at a local grocery store or gas station. This is because when a person submits their credit card information over the internet, it is encrypted and sent securely, while when they use it at a grocery store, anyone can view the information. New uses for the internet are being discovered all the time. For instance, the digital music revolution is in progress right now. There are major lawsuits being issued by major record labels against certain internet organizations such as Napster and MP3.com.
Almost every person who knows about electronic music uses it, so this makes a major impact on the sales of CDs and cassettes. Other than electronic music, almost every other industry is benefiting from the internet. For instance, the internet auction company EBAY is one of the biggest companies in the world now. They offer the advertisement of products and services to be auctioned to everyone. This means that millions of people can buy and sell anything they want, with a broad audience of consumers. Another industry on the internet that has become big is ticket sales. The monolith company Ticketmaster now offers sales of tickets over the internet. This makes it easier and more convenient for people to buy tickets to events.
Banking is another aspect of the computer industry that has become a standard in the life of many people. The invention of the debit card has made purchasing without cash a much easier task than it was ten years ago. Most people use debit as their main source of payment, while others still prefer to use cash or check. The use of cheques and credit cards were common ten years ago, but they are slowly becoming obsolete due to the ease of debit cards. Another advance because of computers is online banking. Now people can check their balances and pay bills over the internet, which saves great amounts of time. A decade ago, paying bills and checking balances was commonly done at the bank, but now people can do this with the internet.
Electronic transfer of money is also easier now. Instead of getting a pay-check and having to go to the bank to deposit it, some employers employ a system called direct deposit. The employer can directly deposit money to an account instead of wasting the time of printing checks for every employee. This increases reliability and ease for paying employees. It also saves the employee time because they don't have to go to the bank to cash their check. There will be more advances in the way of electronic banking in the future, and eventually cash will become a thing of the past. Communications have probably advanced the most because of the computer age...

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