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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(NewsUSA) - With technology moving at such a quick pace, it has become harder to keep up with the lingo that lingers out in cyberspace.
A new survey conducted by Harris Interactive shows that only 43 percent of adults in the U.S. feel they are knowledgeable about the latest tech buzzwords.
For example, one in three U.S. adults don't know what "VoIP" is.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) allows people to have voice conversations in their computers, or enables a person to use a computer to talk with someone who just has access to a regular phone. You can have access to this service through IM services like Windows Live Messenger.
"Many people seem to shy away from using new technologies," said Windows Live director Phil Holden. "But just because these things sound complicated doesn't mean that they are. These technologies are built into many services people already use on a daily basis, such as instant messaging and e-mail."
The survey also found that 70 percent of U.S. adults do not know the definition of "beta" (a preview version of a Web site or software) and nearly half are unsure of the term "Internet tagging," a tool for categorizing information on the Net.
Seventy-one percent of U.S. adults, and 41 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34, have never heard of "RSS," or Really Simple Syndication, which allows Internet users to subscribe to the information that appeals to them online, such as updates to blogs or online newspapers.
Subscribers to a Web site's RSS feed can receive real-time updates to their e-mail inbox or have a special Web page set up specifically to receive feeds from their favorite sites.
One way to put RSS to use is with sites like www.live.com, which enables users to create a customized home page, similar to having a personalized newspaper that is updated 24 hours a day.
"Once they scratch beneath the surface and pass the intimidating lingo, people can discover new and wonderful ways to harness the Internet and perhaps even become passionate about discovering the next big tech breakthrough," Holden said.
Tech Buzzwords Explained
* VoIP: short for Voice over Internet Protocol, it allows people to have voice conversations through their computers.
* Beta: a term used to describe a preview version of a Web site or product.
* RSS: short for Really Simple Syndication, it allows Internet users to subscribe to information via real-time updates to their e-mail inbox or a special Web page.
* Tagging: similar to a bookmark, a tag helps people categorize information on the Internet. Tagged Web pages are stored online and can be accessed from any computer.
Courtesy of Windows Live
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