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Computer Networks
Published in Vivek Kale, Agile Network Businesses, 2017
The invention of the WWW by Berners-Lee was a revolution in the use of the Internet. Users could now “surf the Web”—that is, hyperlink among the millions of computers in the world and obtain information easily. The WWW creates a space in which users can access information easily in any part of the world. This is done using only a Web browser and simple Web addresses. Browsers are used to connect to remote computers over the Internet to request, retrieve, and display the Web pages on the local machine. The user can then click on hyperlinks on Web pages to access further relevant information that may be on an entirely different continent. Berners-Lee developed the first Web browser, called the World Wide Web browser. He also wrote the first browser program, and this allowed users to access Web pages throughout the world. Early browsers included Gopher, developed at the University of Minnesota, and Mosaic, developed at the University of Illinois. These were replaced in later years by Netscape, and the objective of its design was to create a graphical user interface browser that would be easy to use and would gain widespread acceptance in the Internet community. Initially, the Netscape browser dominated the market, and this remained so until Microsoft developed its own browser, called Internet Explorer. Microsoft’s browser would eventually come to dominate the market, after what became known as the browser wars. The eventual dominance of Internet Explorer was controversial, and it was subject to legal investigations in the United States. The development of the graphical browsers led to the commercialization of the WWW.
Comparison of Mobile Web Browsers for Smartphones
Published in Journal of Computer Information Systems, 2018
Junyoung Ahn, Kyungdoh Kim, Robert W. Proctor
Java platform-based feature phones were popular in the first decade of the 21st century. They had the ability to use the mobile Internet but were limited to their pre-installed basic Web browsers, due to the complicated interface environment. The transition from mobile phones to smartphones with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 produced great changes in the mobile Web environment. In addition to the pre-installed basic Web browsers, it is now possible to install various Web browsers for use in smartphones through the Apple store (Apple iOS) or Google Play (Google Android OS). Consequently, several mobile versions of browsers have emerged. Many information technology companies have recognized the usage share of their mobile Web browsers as an important marketing strategy and have focused on improving their browsers to offer better user experiences [11]. Representatively, Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster [24] and Gray [9] reported “Browser Wars” in that companies let people choose which of the numerous browsers to use as their primary browser. Although PC-like Web browsing environments on mobile devices have been greatly improved due to the touch screen on smartphones, many interface problems still exist because of screen-size constraints and content-compatibility problems [16].