, over 21,000 businesses and corporations have become accessible through the Internet (Baig 81). These companies range from corporate giants like IBM, AT&T, Ford and J.C. Penny, to small law firms. "With the Internet, the whole globe is one marketplace and the Internet's information-rich WWW pages can help companies reach new customers," says Bill Washburn, former executive director of Commercial Internet Exchange (Baig 81). Through the Internet, new opportunities to save money are created for companies. One of the bigger savings is the cost of transmission. It is estimated that the administrative cost of trade between companies in the U.S. amounts to $250 billion a year (Liosa 160). Sending an ordinary one-page e-mail message from New York to California via the Internet costs about a penny and a half, vs. 32 cents for a letter and $2 for a fax (Liosa 158). Hale & Dorr for example, a Boston based law firm, uses the Internet to its advantage. If a client company requests a contract for a foreign distributor, it can send electronic mail over the Internet to a Hale & Dorr computer, where a draft document will be constructed from the text. A lawyer will then review the documents and ship them back over the Internet to the client, including a list of lawyers in the other country (Verity 81). The ability to process orders quickly has always been an important factor in the business world, especially for mail-order companies. Traditional methods however tended to be fairly expensive. On the average it has cost mail-order companies from $10 to $15 to process a telephone or mail order, says Rodney Joffe, president of American Computer Group Inc. Over the Internet, this cost falls to $4, and it is much faster this way, too (Verity 84). Advertising on the Internet is another way to endorse products. Hyatt Hotels Corporation for instance advertises its hotels and resorts, and it even offers a discount for people who say they 'saw it on the net (Verity 81).' Hundreds of computer software companies now have their own Internet sites on the World Wide Web, where customers can get immediate support directly from the experts or buy and register new software online. Even magazine publishers are joining the Internet to regularly publish special Internet versions of their magazines which are read by millions of people worldwide. The Internet attracts so many companies because they can use it as a tool for communication, marketing, advertising, sales, and customer support. It is not only faster and more efficient than using traditional methods, but it is also cheaper. The Internet doesn't just promote growth of businesses, it also creates new ways for Americans to get in touch with the rest of the world. It lets people expand their horizons and learn about different countries and cultures by getting insight into others people's lives across the globe. One of the many way

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