Telecommunications Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Telecommunications Industry - Essay Example Popular link protocols for local area networks (LANs) appeared in the 1970s. AT&T was the first biggest telecommunications company. In 1913, AT&T committed to dispose its telegraph stock. The Telecommunication Act of 1996 changed the regulation and opened the market for competition. AT&T continued to act as the leader, establishing standards for others to follow. In 2000s, the telecommunication industry saw a lot of mergers and reorganizations. Bell Atlantic and GTE combined to form Verizon. Lucent Technologies hived off its enterprise solution group into a new company. Cisco, Nortel Networks, and DSL started making names in voice and data communications and the Internet business. The telecommunications industry is growing at a fast pace. New technology is bringing in new opportunities, and telecommunication companies are catching up fast. The convergence of the computer, Internet, and cellular phones, along with the increased access options through fiber optic, wireless, satellite, and DSL is leading to a continuously connected global community. Information exchange takes place with the push of a button, and the most remote locations are now accessible through the satellite or cellular. This high speed growth is creating new companies, which are further getting merged into the major telecom entities. Some of the large Some of the largest international telecommunications companies known for innovative technology and products are AT&T, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, NTT, SBC Communications, Verizon Communications, Vodafone, and WorldCom. Venture Capital and Start-up Financing Activities Venture Capital (VC) investment is when a third party takes equity in a company. A strong, self-sustaining, and vibrant VC industry is a critical factor to create an enterprise culture in which emerging entrepreneurs get encouragement to take risks and build successful businesses. Private sector funding is crucial to enable government policies. Venture capitalists have always backed the high potential telecommunications business. The top VCs, as listed in Forbes.com include Promod Haque (Norwest Venture Partners), Vinod Khosla and Tom Perkins (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), David Strohm (Greylock), Lawrence Sonsini (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati), and Paul Chamberlain (Morgan Stanley). One of the most successful VC backed start up company would be Cisco Systems (Mayer and Kenney 2004). Industry Statistics The VC industry plays a major role in the U.S. economy. In 2007, USA saw a VC investment of $29.4 billion in 3,813 deals. The investment in telecommunication industry stood at $2.1 billion dollars from 290 deals, though it decreased from $2.6 billion (301 deals) in 2006. As against this, the Life Sciences sector (Biotechnology and Medical Device industries together) received a VC investment of $9.1 billion in 2007 (862 deals). Software investing was flat at $5.3 billion in 905 deals. Internet-specific companies got $4.6 billion from 748

How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development - Essay Example How Did Piaget View Cognitive Development? Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the leading developmental psychologists that mainly focused on the impact of environmental and social factors on human development, particularly cognitive development in children. His theories on how a child’s way of thinking grows and adapts through acquiring experiences through the process of interacting with nonliving things as well as by engaging in social interaction with other children or adults, was very much looked upon especially during the pre-war era. Most of the theories were to be tested as models for improving people’s learning in school or at work, but were not tested fully after World War II broke out. In theory, development can either be continuous or discontinuous. Continuous development is related to the human development through gradual progress from infancy to adulthood. Discontinuous development, on the other hand, occurs through a fixed sequence that has discrete and predictable stages. In Piaget’s view on cognitive development in humans, the trend is rather discontinuous, and that growth is seen as having specific, qualitatively different stages. Each stage then has particular information-processing approaches that would be based on memory and language skills acquired at a certain stage. Also, cognitive growth is stimulated by what a child perceives, and that the process of learning can be enhanced by letting the child experience and discover new things suitable for his or her age.