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reviewed by Charlie Morris
Frontiers of Electronic Commerce is a big book, and it covers a lot of ground. Its 850 pages include information on credit card systems, EDI, electronic cash systems, security, multimedia, and even the history and structure of the Internet. Every author seems to define the scope of "Electronic Commerce" differently, and authors Kalakota and Whinston define it to include almost everything to do with the Internet and other global networks.
December 13, 1997
There is a lot of good information here, not only of a technical nature, but concerning existing business models and some of the major players in e-commerce-related industries. Particularly detailed is the description of EDI. This book may be of interest not only to Web developers, but to any business people who need to bone up on electronic commerce, particularly those in the finance or retail fields.
The authors are both professors, and Frontiers of Electronic Commerce is basically a textbook, with each chapter outlined in a neat hierarchy and summarized at the end. Flow charts round out the scene.
The first 4 chapters comprise a pretty detailed description of the World's existing network infrastructure. The history of the Internet, and the basic structure of the major networks that make it up, network access equipment and business models (cable TV, telcos, cellular, etc) are all discussed. There's an assesment of the current business situation among phone companies, ISPs and the rest.
A chapter on Network Security and Firewalls follows. Without getting too technical, the authors describe the basic security challenges (Client-server seurity and data and transaction security), and how they are addressed. Firewalls, challenge-response systems, and various encryption methods are discussed, as are the US Government's regulations regarding the export of software using certain cryptographic protocols.
Next is a brief description of the World Wide Web and its architecture. The basic concepts of hypertext, Web servers, HTTP, HTML, CGI, etc. are explained.
Now we get to the meat. The next couple of chapters explain how credit cards, check clearing, electronic funds transfer and other electronic payment technologies work. The credit card process is well explained, but there's not much discussion of the specifics of using credit cards over the Web. "Shopping Cart" software packages are not discussed. There is, however, an excellent summary of the various "electronic cash" systems that now exist. The authors also explore the concept of electronic cash in general, pointing out the needs that any e-cash system must address, and some of the issues (taxes, privacy) that will have to be addressed in the future.
The next 2 chapters are a fairly detailed look at the wonderful world of EDI. Electronic Data Interchange is basically a system by which one business exchanges electronic documents with another. EDI has been around for a long time, but mainly in proprietary environments. For example, a big automaker like GM might have a custom software application connected to its suppliers by a private network, that allowed them to electronically file purchase orders, invoices, and such. Naturally the Internet will make EDI even more prevalent, most EDI applications shifting to a more open system. Documents that are now sent over proprietary networks can now simply be encoded as a MIME type, and sent via e-mail.
At many points, Frontiers of Electronic Commerce crosses over into the realm of management theory, explaining such modern business concepts as Just-In-Time inventory systems, Supply-Chain Management and Work-Flow Coordination. Internet advertising is covered very briefly, as is the field of information search on the Web.
Digital copyrights, software agents, Internet protocols, digital video, broadband telecommunications, mobile and wireless computing, and structured documents all merit a chapter apiece in this hefty tome.
Frontiers of Electronic Commerce
by Ravi Kalakota and Andrew B. Whinston
850 Pages
ISBN# 0-201-84520-2
1996
Price: $XX.95
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
1 Jacob Way
Reading, MA 01867
(617) 944-3700
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