e must be a specific point-to-point electronic path for the document to take. “Companies were either required to develop extensive, and expensive networks, or rely on intermittent point-to-point modem communication.”2 Because of the technological complexity and cost of implementation, cheaper alternatives hurt the widespread use of EDI. To gain some of the advantages of EDI without the high price of computer hardware, software and networks, many innovative alternatives were developed. “Overnight courier service, facsimile machines, and the ability to give customers limited access to mainframes through dumb terminals provided quick and reasonably priced alternatives to inviting a major alteration of business environments.” 3The past decade has seen an enormous change in the computing environment in most businesses, with the new breed of small, inexpensive and powerful personal computers. With the PC, computers have literally moved out of the basements and back rooms, and onto the desktops, and there has been a reduction in price.“A client based computer, or server can be obtained today for about the same cost as a small mini-computer of 10 years ago, but the same dollars are now buying a machine that has mainframe computing capability in a PC-sized box. PC's are now economical enough that their price approaches the same cost per user as a dumb terminal did attached to that same mini-computer.” 3 The same improvements are found in the area of communications. It is now commonplace for computer users in retail stores to access computers many hundreds of miles away. Now, the terminal or PC on a desk in a steel plant may actually be using data from several computers, each in a different location.“Advances in networking and client-server environments have encouraged the awareness that while information is surely one of the most valuable assets of any business, information that is shared within and be...
