E-Commerce

This program offers a comprehensive introduction to the basic principles of Web site design. Applicable to online retail outlets, electronic newspapers, blogs, search engines, and other types of sites, it explains how to identify the target audience, determine the site's core purpose, apply Ben Schneiderman's eight golden rules of GUI design, address technological issues and matters of visual appeal, and carry out an ongoing test/evaluation/update cycle. Interviews with two successful Web site designers are also included, to illustrate how it all comes together in the real world. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. (25 minutes)

In segment one of this program, NewsHour correspondent Paul Solman, Cisco Systems' John Chambers, and other top Cisco executives discuss how the computer network infrastructure giant, whose routers are the brains of the Internet, uses Internet technology to enhance its own operations and growth. In segment two, correspondent Ray Suarez talks with Jay Whitehead, CEO of EmployeeService.com; labor economist Robert Reich; and other experts about the implications of the eyebrow-raising increase in employment in the Internet economy-before the bubble burst. (28 minutes)

Internet auction house eBay and virtual music community Napster are redefining established paradigms of online interactivity. In segment one of this program, NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels explores eBay's phenomenal success with President and CEO Margaret Whitman and others, while addressing concerns related to fraudulent merchandise and shill bidding. In segment two, Mr. Michels examines the roots of the landmark Napster case through interviews with partisans on both sides of the dispute, including the Recording Industry Association of America's Hillary Rosen. (26 minutes)

Gambling is the world's third-largest industry, and the Web has made it more global than ever. One in twenty Americans gamble online, an illegal activity under the Wire Act which forbids interstate bookmaking over phone lines. This program looks at the explosive proliferation of Internet gaming and how America-its people and its government-are reacting to it. To present an overview of gambling in the electronic era, the video canvasses many perspectives, from Web bookmaker Victor Chandler to casino owner and publisher Larry Flynt; from Congressional opponents of Internet gambling, such as John Goodlatte, John Wolf, and Senator Jon Kyle, to Congressman Ron Paul, who opposes regulation of the Web. (50 minutes)

E-tailers routinely collect information from visitors to their Web sites to better target their ads. Is this surrender of privacy the price of a personalized online shopping experience? In this program, NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Kaye seeks to understand the dynamics of, and the ethical issues surrounding, strategic online marketing with top management from Buy.com, Lycos, and DoubleClick and an attorney from the Center for Democracy and Technology. From cookies to banner ads, the gathering and leveraging of consumer data is viewed as the key to making e-commerce viable. (13 minutes)

Data is of extremely limited value unless it can be quickly and easily sorted, searched, and linked to other data-tasks at which database management systems excel. This program takes viewers through the fundamentals of making and maintaining a database: creating a basic table structure, setting up relationships, creating a data capture form, formulating queries, setting up reports, and creating and running macros. Featured DBMSs include Oracle, DB2, Access, MySQL, 4D, and FileMaker Pro. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. (26 minutes)