Accelerated access to an electronic catalog

A computer program embodied in a tangible medium comprising:

• a first module adapted to monitor a request for a content that is intended to be loaded onto a Web page viewable by a user;
• a second module adapted to determine whether the requested content is locally available from a Distributed Electronic Catalog Component, where the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is an optical disk;
• a third module adapted to retrieve the content from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component if the content is available on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• and
• a fourth module adapted to retrieve the content from a remote Web server if the content is not available on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component.

A system that accelerates access to an e-commerce Web site comprising:

• a Distributed Electronic Catalog Component that is provided to a user computer, where the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is pre-loaded with content that is also available from the e-commerce Web site;
• an Internet connection that allows the user computer to communicate with the e-commerce Web site;
• a means for monitoring a Web browser in the user computer for a request for content, where the request is intended to be sent to the e-commerce Web site;
• a means for determining whether the requested content is present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• a means for intercepting the request to the e-commerce Web site for the content such that the request is not sent to the e-commerce Web site, where the means for intercepting is activated when the requested content is present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• a means for locally retrieving the content from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component, where the means for locally retrieving is activated when the requested content is present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• a means for allowing the request for the content to proceed to the e-commerce Web site where the means for allowing is activated when the requested content is not present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• a means for remotely retrieving the content from the e-commerce Web site, where the means for remotely retrieving is activated when the requested content is not present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• and
• a means for providing the retrieved content to the Web browser.

A system that accelerates access to an e-commerce Web site that is remote from a user computer, the system comprising:

• a removable Distributed Electronic Catalog Component in a user computer, where the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is pre-loaded with content that is also available from the e-commerce Web site;
• an Internet connection that allows the user computer to communicate with the e-commerce Web site;
• a means for receiving a source code for a Web page from the e-commerce Web site;
• a means for evaluating the source code for the Web page for content that is to be retrieved from a remote Web site including from the e-commerce Web site;
• a means for retrieving content from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component, wherein the means for retrieving is active when the content is available from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• a means for retrieving the content from the remote Web site, where the means for retrieving is active when the requested content is not present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• a means for displaying the Web page with the retrieved content;
• and
• a means for using the Web page to make a purchase.

A process for accelerating access to an e-commerce Web site comprising:

• providing a Distributed Electronic Catalog Component to a user computer, where the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is pre-loaded with content that is also available from the e-commerce Web site, where the e-commerce Web site is accessible to the user computer through an Internet connection;
• monitoring a Web browser in the user computer for a request for content, where the request is intended to be sent to the e-commerce Web site;
• delaying the request for content;
• determining whether the requested content is present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• intercepting the request to the e-commerce Web site for the content such that the request is not sent to the e-commerce Web site and retrieving the content from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component if the requested content is present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• allowing the request for the content to proceed to the e-commerce Web site and retrieving the content from the e-commerce Web site if the requested content is not present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• and
• providing the retrieved content to the Web browser.

A process for accelerating access to an e-commerce Web site that is remote from a user computer, the process comprising:

• providing a Distributed Electronic Catalog Component to the user computer, where the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is pre-loaded with content that is also available from the e-commerce Web site;
• receiving a source code for a Web page from the e-commerce Web site;
• evaluating the source code for the Web page for content that is to be retrieved from a remote Web site including from the e-commerce Web site;
• retrieving content from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component if the content is available from the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• retrieving the content from the remote Web site if the requested content is not present on the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component;
• displaying the Web page with the content;
• and
• using the Web page to make a purchase.

A process of selecting content to be served from an e-commerce Web site to a user computer, the process comprising:

• communicating with the user computer;
• receiving an indication of whether a Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is available in the user computer;
• providing a first content to the user computer when the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is available in the user computer;
• and
• providing a second content to the user computer when the Distributed Electronic Catalog Component is not available in the user computer.