Enterprise means Networked

In Software nowadays you hear a lot about Enterprise - such and such is "Enterprise-Ready". What on earth does that mean?

I learned what it means, when I studied the Java programming language. It comes in two versions - Java SE (Standard Version) and Java EE (Enterprise Version). The Standard version does not need the Internet (it can run on one machine, that has its own servers) but the Enterprise version does - it connects to servers on the Internet.

Either kind uses a browser/server technology. Browsers ask servers for information - and severs supply that information. It's all about Information, and that used to be slow, because the Internet was so large - it covered the whole world. A lot of clever technology however - has made it much faster, and a lot more complicated.

The differences here are huge. Programs used to be sold on Optical Disks. You put one in the Optical Drive on your computer (probably a Desktop computer, something three feet tall, and two feet deep) and installed your new program from that disk.

Now, you probably use a Laptop computer, with a fast Internet connection (usually a WiFi) - and download software from the Net. Optical Disks are obsolete.

Software now is smarter, AI (Artificial Intelligence is used a lot) - but, as we are finding out, this intelligence contains its own problems - that are biting us in the ass.