In 1492, Christopher Columbus started his voyage to explore a new world but the result of his journey was far beyond for giving a proof that the Earth is spherical and smaller than any fantasy verdict of science about globe at that time (Biography, 2013). Followed Columbus’s generating footsteps, there had been many changes around the globe. The transaction, international trade between the countries and continents, gradually formed and developed (The Political System, n.d.). Nevertheless, an interesting concept happened in recent years is that those developments of the gradual results and the advent of the Internet through the achievements of science and technology are changing the world in the opposite way once again. The Earth is flat and owing to the Internet, the globe becomes globalized (Friedman, 2005). However, it cannot be denied that globalization in Internet has both advantages and disadvantages. This essay will analyze the aspects of the globalized internet in terms of economy. It will look at the positive and negative sides of the Internet applications based on the history of the Internet Web browsers, from the initiative of Netscape to the competition between Netscape and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, and then to the replacement of Google Chrome on the Internet business market. This essay includes the arguments on those issues to conclude that there are more positive effects which play an important role in the worldwide economy nowadays.

1. KINGSTON PRE-SESSIONAL COURSE
GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
THE EFFECTS OF THE WORLDWIDE INTERNET ON THE GLOBAL
ECONOMY BASED ON THE HISTORY OF THE WEB BROWSERS
Maxie – K1270095
21st August 2013
***
Tutors: Joanna & Rachel
Words count: 2.042

2. GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
ESSAY PLAN
TITLE
GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT:
THE EFFECTS OF THE WORLDWIDE INTERNET ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
The arguments of Globalization issue in the economic sector, the positive and negative side of the Internet effects
based on the history of the Internet Web browsers
INTRODUCTION

Background: the adventure story to explore a new world of Christopher Columbus (Biography, 2013)

The change of the world in all aspects after Columbus’s voyage (The Political System)

The cause which made the world become globalization (Friedman, T., 2005) and mention the both sides of
this event

Essay structure and Thesis Statement:
-
This essay analyzes those sides of Internet effects to the global economy based on the history Internet
Web browser, from the initiative of Netscape to the success of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and then to
the replacement of Google Chrome on the Internet market.
-
It concludes that there are more positive effects which play an important role in the world nowadays and
the benefits created by those far outweigh the disadvantages.
BODY
BLOCK STRUCTURE
Paragraph 1: Positive side of the impacts of the Internet based on history of Internet Web browser

Illustrate the history of the world till the day the Internet was created which changed the globe to be
globalized

The first argument of how Internet contributed to the global economy in many beneficial ways
-

A direct citation about the Internet’s achievements (Quelch, J., 2009)
Based on telling the origin of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) to link to one important sector of Internet
which affect the world positively, the Netscape’s Web browser
-
Indication of the meaning of HTML (Friedman, T., 2005)
-
The use of HTML by Netscape and the advent of world-wide-web to change the face of the Internet to
the users (New York Times, 2007 and Mitra, S., 2010)
-
Data of the increase of Internet effects in many aspects (Figure 1, OECD, 1999)
E.g: the average online shopper bought $228 in groceries in 2009, because Tesco embraced the Internet
very early in the U.K (Mc Kinsey Global Institute, 2011)
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3. GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
-
Extend how enormous of the impact of Internet on global economy (Figure 2, OECD, 1999)
Paragraph 2 & 3: Negative side of the Internet effects based on history of Internet Web browser, the “Browser war”
Paragraph 2: The Internet Explorer of Microsoft defeated the predecessors, Netscape

Mention on the “dot-com bubble” effect that Netscape could not overcome the competition with the next
versions of Internet browsers of other company (Friedman, 2005)
-
The advent of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) and how IE knocked Netscape out of the international
Internet market (Berkeley, 1998)
-
Extend and explain the cause for this competition from the negative perspective on a statement of Bill
Gates, Microsoft’s chairman (Berkeley, 1998)
-
Show the results of the business and finance of both companies, Netscape and Microsoft to interpret
how they negatively affect the U.S. economy in particular and the global economy in general
E.g: Netscape’s revenues dropped to $12 million in 1998 while the web browser usage of Microsoft
increased to an unbelievable number about 96% in 2002 (Figure 3, the U.S. Department of Justice, 2000
and Peter, I., 2004)
Paragraph 3: The ongoing competition within global Internet

Follow the history to state once again that the competition of the global Internet have been and will be
nonstop (Vaughan-Nichols, J. S., 2013)
-
Netscape web browser seemed to become a distant concept (PC Mag, 2008)
-
Chrome is becoming the next step to overtake and replace IE (The Economist, 2013)
-
Bring some data and number to analysis this issue (Figure 4, The Economist, 2013)
-
Predict that the competition of the global Internet will keep happening which always turns the global
economy up-side-down negatively (Symonds, M., 1999)

Emphasize how the globe will keep depending on the activities of Internet technology in future (Levie, J. et al,
2010 and CV Tips, 2013)
CONCLUSION

Restate the impact of globalization in Internet sector which transform the face of the whole global economy

Argue that although there will be both side of the Internet effects, the benefits created by globalization of
Internet far outweigh the hindrances and obstacles based on the theory of evolution (Than, K., 2012)

Emphasizes that for the development of the global economy, the competition is inevitable and necessary

Illustrate some statistics that show the achievement and success of the Internet effects to the whole global
economy (Figure 5, MCKinsey Global Institute, 2011).
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4. GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT:
THE EFFECTS OF THE WORLDWIDE INTERNET ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
In 1492, Christopher Columbus started his voyage to explore a new world but the result of his journey was far
beyond for giving a proof that the Earth is spherical and smaller than any fantasy verdict of science about globe at
that time (Biography, 2013). Followed Columbus’s generating footsteps, there had been many changes around the
globe. The transaction, international trade between the countries and continents, gradually formed and developed
(The Political System, n.d.). Nevertheless, an interesting concept happened in recent years is that those
developments of the gradual results and the advent of the Internet through the achievements of science and
technology are changing the world in the opposite way once again. The Earth is flat and owing to the Internet, the
globe becomes globalized (Friedman, 2005). However, it cannot be denied that globalization in Internet has both
advantages and disadvantages. This essay will analyze the aspects of the globalized internet in terms of economy. It
will look at the positive and negative sides of the Internet applications based on the history of the Internet Web
browsers, from the initiative of Netscape to the competition between Netscape and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer,
and then to the replacement of Google Chrome on the Internet business market. This essay includes the arguments
on those issues to conclude that there are more positive effects which play an important role in the worldwide
economy nowadays.
Figure 1. Growth in Internet host computers and major e-commerce developments (OECD, 1999)
This line chart shows the rapid increase of the Internet host computers and major e-commerce developments
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About millions of years ago, scientists observed that the Earth exists as only a single continent but after one
geological change or an unexplained incident, it was currently divided and formed as the seven continents and five
oceans. However, with the development of superior technology as well as the breakthrough inventions of the
Internet, the whole world seems to be moving closer together and becomes a unified and single entity again as
forming the concept of globalization in these few decades. First and foremost, the most prominent argument has
been debated for this happening event is that the Internet was born and has contributed to the global economy in
many beneficial ways. As mentioned in an article of Harvard Business School (2009), “each Internet job supports
approximately 1.54 additional jobs elsewhere in the economy, or roughly 2 percent of employed Americas. The
advertising-supported Internet creates annual value of $444 billion. About 190 million people in the United States
spend, on average, 68 hours a month on the Internet. A conservative valuation of this time is an estimated $680
billion”; John Quelch (2009) has quantified the impact of the Internet to the U.S. economy in particular and to the
international economy in common. Back to the early 1990s, the communication of the Internet was only at average;
according to Friedman (2005), HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) was born by the hands of Tim Berners-Lee as
known as a programming language for writing webpages that supported the Internet users to link from one page to
another and to store and share images. However, HTML only really become successful when Netscape (US computer
services company) firstly configured it into Internet Web browser’s code and made Internet friendly to the users
(New York Times, 2007). The advent of the World Wide Web ushered in a quiet revolution all over the world which
was like an online library or a world encyclopedia and more; and radically changed the way people communicate or
do business (Mitra, S., 2010). In addition, the number of Internet users, Internet host computers and major ecommerce developments had increased dramatically every year as a significant and noticeable phenomenon (Figure
1, OECD, 1999); and anyone or any businesses, no matter where they are, could start exploring, finding or owning the
information and data from furthest location compared to where they live or even the smallest corners of the globe
and travelling around the world, by just a mouse-click on their computer and an Internet connection. In the same
way, they can easily perform acts of online exchange, business transaction, sale or worldwide commercial
transcontinental. For example, in the U.K., the average online shopper bought $228 in groceries in 2009, because
Tesco embraced the Internet very early in the U.K (Mc Kinsey Global Institute, 2011). This was a significant advantage
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6. GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
in business computing because before prior to Netscape, it could not be able to communicate with the computers in
the sales division; but now, the sales department can receive an order on the web and within seconds the order has
been routed to create a bill and to send it to the consumers around the world (Friedman, 2005). That creates a major
transformation not only for the development of the region economy, but also help the locals approach to global
economy. It has been claimed that for only three years, Internet and its application from the success of Netscape had
the potential to radically alter economic activities; furthermore, it affected such large sectors as finance and retail
trade and increased 30 per cent of global GDP (OECD, 1999). OECD (1999) also mentioned that from 1996 to 1998,
Web-based advertising had the revenue at $310 million and in the U.S. alone, the amount of adults who accessed to
Internet up to 55 million, the U.K ranked at fourth with nearly 6 million (Figure 2, OECD, 1999).
Figure 2. Adults accessing the Internet (OECD, 1999)
These bar and pie charts illustrates the amount and percentage of the worldwide Internet mature users
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Notwithstanding, these changes happen with its own price. Although Netscape was the first Web browser in
the world, it could not overcome the competition with the other versions of Internet browsers about next four years.
Because of the benefits from the profits and revenues of the Internet development, more and more network
companies were formed and it has been known as a globalization effect called “dot-com bubble” on 8th September,
2000 (Friedman, 2005). In 1994, Netscape refused the offer of Microsoft on transferring their browser technology
and one year later, Microsoft successfully introduced its Web browser, the Internet Explorer or referred to as IE
(Berkeley, 1998). Both companies had built their relationships with global customers by their own way but in a
positive view, Microsoft had provided IE and its applications free for Internet users, while Netscape had not. In other
words, IE already helped people from around the world easily to access and ownership the benefits from the Internet
services and it obviously also supported to expand and strengthen the global market as global economy positively.
Despite the fact that James Barksdale (Netscape CEO) insisted the Internet business would not evolve in the same
way as the operating system business, Netscape almost immediately lost its position in the ranks of Internet
technology. On a negative perspective, as also mentioned in the report of University Berkeley (1998), Bill Gates,
Microsoft’s chairman stated that “There is absolutely no question that in the computer business you are better off
being a friend of”; it seemly implied that the competition between IE and Netscape was an uncompromising battle in
Internet economic market and Bill’s target was almost completely to push Netscape out of the global market. In
addition, it might be recognized that if Netscape was wiped off the market and Microsoft became exclusive, it would
be able to form an imbalance phase for the Internet market in general and the global economy in particular at that
time. As a consequence in 1998, Netscape’s browser market has shrunk and the company's revenues from so-called
client software, which includes its Navigator browser, dropped to $12 million, down from $52 million, while the new
dominant IE browser attained a peak of about 68% of the web browser usage share during 2000 (Figure 3, the U.S.
Department of Justice, 2000) and this proportion also increased to an unbelievable number about 96% in 2002 (Peter,
I., 2004). It could be argued that there had probably many staffs of Netscape who must been out of their business
and the unemployment rate was also increased obviously at that time which would affect the economy negatively.
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Figure 3. Browser Usage Shares from January 1997 to April 2000 (The U.S. Department of Justice, 2000)
This line chart indicates the proportion of the increase and decrease of the Browser Usage Shares (1997-2000)
Step to 2004, Netscape seemed to become a distant concept for the new generation of worldwide Internet
users even though it has not completely disappeared from the global market in same time (PC Mag, 2008).
Nonetheless, there was a sudden and surprising event but could foresee which been happened right after the failure
of Netscape; Microsoft’s IE lost its edge for the next Internet browsers, Mozilla and Opera and more recently, Google
Chrome is becoming one of the most popular Web browsers (Vaughan-Nichols, J. S., 2013). According to The
Economist (2013), “Empires rise and fall swiftly on the Internet”, it is interpreted that as Netscape’s browser was
knocked out by IE, Chrome might be the next step to overtake and replace IE; Chrome has accounted for 43% of
global users who access the Internet today, while there is only 25% left for IE’s customers (Figure 4, The Economist,
2013). The world history seems to be repeated again with a similar case as Microsoft’s IE, the Internet users easily
adapt to new technology with more benefits. If everyone takes a view on the positive side, because the competition
always offers the high quality products, it argues that Google Chrome is now offering and supporting the best service
for Internet users quickly and effectively than any of other web browsers. However, also by this same reason,
Chrome may again be replaced by its juniors because the new browser will provide more benefits to Internet users in
the future. The negative point from this is that Internet market can be a race which been expected to be ongoing
continuously. The alternative of a new and better web browser is an undeniable advantage for Internet users as well
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9. GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
as for any organization or companies which are using Internet but sometimes, it might also negatively turns the
global economy up-side-down (Symonds, M., 1999). By many current statistics, not only about how people use the
Internet in general, but also in the financial aspect or the global economy in particular, most businesses which do not
exclude large or small business have been and will still depends on the activities of Internet technology in all levels
(Levie, J. et al, 2010 and CV Tips, 2013); it argues that the Internet influences on global economic sectors are
increasingly enormous.
Figure 4. Global desktop Web-browser market share (The Economist, 2013)
These lines of the chart illuminate the success of Google Chrome in recent years
Overall, globalization is not a new concept today which can be interpreted figuratively as a world without any
walls; and as only one of its aspects, such as the Internet effects or more specifically is the competition of the
Internet's web browsers, Internet has contributed not a few change to transform the face of the whole global
economy in these few decades. Despite those changes have both right and left sides, it argues that the benefits
created by globalization of Internet effects far outweigh the hindrances and obstacles. If everyone take a look in
terms of the history of mankind over millions of years or in the real aspects of the world, the evolution are always
about getting rid of the old to achieve a new and better one (Than, K., 2012) . In other words, it also happen as a
same case for the development of the global economy; with the impact of the worldwide Internet, the market
competition is necessary and the powerless companies, departments or entrepreneurs as well as low-quality
products, poor services or an ineffective personal business would be abandoned which it is an inevitable issue.
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Instead of the last words, it has been analyzed statistically that there are two billion people are now connected to the
Internet which this number is growing by 200 million each year; 13 countries account for more than 3.4 percent of
global GDP by the Internet applications and technologies with 21% of GDP growth in the last 5 years in mature
countries; 75% of Internet impact arises from traditional industries; 10% increase in productivity for small and
medium businesses from Internet usage; up to €20 per Internet user per month of consumer surplus and so on
(Figure 5, MCKinsey Global Institute, 2011).
Figure 5. Internet contribution to GDP, 2009 (Mc Kinsey Global Institute, 2011)
This statistic analysis that the Internet has 3.4 percent share of total GDP in the 13 countries
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BBC TV (2012). Two: The World, My Stuff and Me, My jeans and globalization [Online] Available at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xr69y, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Biography (2013). Christopher Columbus [Online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/christophercolumbus-9254209?page=3, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Crash Course (2012). Globalization I - The Upside: Crash Course World History #41 [Online video] Available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnR-e0S6Ic, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
CV Tips (2013) Effects of Technology: The ten second entrepreneur [Online] Available at: http://www.cvtips.com/careerchoice/effects-of-technology-ten-second-entrepreneur.html, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Friedman, T. (2005). The World is Flat Chapter 2: The ten forces that flattened the world. Flattener #2. New York: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux. [Online Ebook] Available at: http://maktaba.tum.ac.ke:8888/get/pdf/693/, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Levi, J. (2010) Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Impact of Media on Entrepreneurial Intentions and Actions [Online] Nov,
2010. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/32243/11-773-impact-ofmedia-entrepreneurial-intentions-actions.pdf, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
MCKinsey Global Institute (2011) Internet matters: The Net’s sweeping impact on growth, jobs and prosperity [Online
slide] May 2011. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/agarwalvaibhav/internet-impact-on-global-gdp-worldwide-statistics,
(Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Mitra, S. (2010) Power and Impact of the Web [Online]
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~mitra/honors/web2.html, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
23
rd
Jul,
2010.
Available
at:
OECD: Organization for Economic co-operation and development (1999) The Economic and Social Impact of Electronic
Commerce: Preliminary Findings and Research Agenda. Paris: OECD [E-book online] Available at: http://www.oecdilibrary.org/docserver/download/5kzdcc6tnfmp.pdf?expires=1377035242&id=id&accname=guest
&checksum=06A985B33C359367CC4C1EF6B7B77D03, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Peter,
I.
(2004)
Net
History:
History
of
the
Internet
–
the
Browser
wars
[Online]
Available
at:
http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/browserwars.html, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
PC Mag (2008). R.I.P Netscape (1994-2004) Special Video Feature [Online] 21
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2266177,00.asp, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
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Feb, 2008. Available at:
Quelch, J. (2009) Harvard Business School: Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet [Online] Available at:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6268.html, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
th
Symonds, M. (1999) The Economist: The Net Imperative [Online] 26 June to 2
http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/economistnetbusiness.htm, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
nd
July, 1999. Available at:
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Than, K. (2012) Live Science: What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution [Online] 7 Dec. 2012. Available at:
http://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
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The Economist (2013) Browser Wars: Chrome rules the web [Online] 10 Aug, 2013. Available at:
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21583288-what-googles-browser-has-common-queen-victoria-chrome-rules-web,
(Accessed: 20 August 2013)
th
The New York Times (2007) The Associated Press: AOL to End Support of Netscape Navigator [Online] 29 Dec, 2007.
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/29/technology/29browser.html?_r=0, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
The Political System (n.d.) Economic Growth and its Effects on Politics [Online]
http://thepoliticalsystem.weebly.com/economic-effects-and-columbus.html, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
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at:
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14. GLOBALIZATION IN AN UNDENIABLE ASPECT
The U.S. Department of Justice (2000) Antitrust Case Filling, Declaration of Rebecca M. Henderson: U.S. v. Microsoft
Corporation [Online] April, 2000. Available at: http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f219100/219129.htm, (Accessed: 20 August
2013)
th
University of California, Berkeley (1998) Strategic Computing and Communication Technology [Online] 8 Mar, 1998.
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Vaughan-Nichols, J. S. (2013) Web browser war: The early 2013 report [Online]
http://www.zdnet.com/web-browser-war-the-early-2013-report-7000013354/, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
Available
at:
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Friedman, T. (2005). The World is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. [Online Ebook] Available at:
http://maktaba.tum.ac.ke:8888/get/pdf/693/, (Accessed: 20 August 2013)
“The World is Flat” is a book of an historical and geographical journey which indicates many ideas
such as analysing about the concept of Globalization in the world nowadays. In the introduction of the
book, Friedman (2005) has illustrated that there were many matters had been changed from the day
Christopher Columbus explored the new land (America) which made the Earth became smaller and he
implied that the theory of globalization was seemly born at that time. Friedman discussed both
opposite sides of Globalization issue by ten forces that flattened the World. Although there were so
many positive views on globalization, Friedman also argued that the negative impacts were hard to
avoid. As he states in “The World is Flat”, “In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America
today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears-and that is our problem” (Friedman, T., p.177, 2005); by using
the figure of famous people, it referred to an insinuated way about the economic isolation of the U.S.
in the globalized world.
“The World is Flat” completely explains of virtually every aspects of
Globalization in economy which is essential and useful for my writing essay; however, some authors’
points seemly are too strong and should be evaluated by further consideration based on the other
relevant documents.
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