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What
is this Internet thing?
The Internet, sometimes called simply "the Net,"
is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks in which
users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any
other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). It was
conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. government
in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANet.
The original aim was to create a network that would allow users of a research
computer at one university to be able to "talk to" research computers
at other universities. A side benefit of ARPANet's design was that, because
messages could be routed or rerouted in more than one direction, the network
could continue to function even if parts of it were destroyed in the event of a
military attack or other disaster.
Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and
self-sustaining facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total resources of the currently
existing public telecommunication networks. Technically, what distinguishes the
Internet is its use of a set of protocols called TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Two recent adaptations of
Internet technology, the intranet and the extranet,
also make use of the TCP/IP protocol.
For many Internet users, electronic mail (e-mail)
has practically replaced the Postal Service for short written transactions.
Electronic mail is the most widely used application on the Net. You can also
carry on live "conversations" with other computer users, using IRC
(Internet Relay Chat). More recently, Internet
telephony hardware and software allows real-time voice conversations.
The most widely used part of the Internet is the World
Wide Web (often abbreviated "WWW" or called "the Web").
Its outstanding feature is hypertext, a
method of instant cross-referencing. In most Web sites, certain words or phrases
appear in text of a different color than the rest; often this text is also
underlined. When you select one of these words or phrases, you will be
transferred to the site or page that is relevant to this word or phrase.
Sometimes there are buttons, images, or portions of images that are "clickable."
If you move the pointer over a spot on a Web site and the pointer changes into a
hand, this indicates that you can click and be transferred to another site.
Using the Web, you have access to millions of pages of
information. Web "surfing" is done
with a Web browser, the most popular of
which are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. The appearance of
a particular Web site may vary slightly depending on the browser you use. Also,
later versions of a particular browser are able to render more "bells and
whistles" such as animation, virtual reality, sound, and music files, than
earlier versions.
Selected Books
Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon. Where
Wizards Stay Up Late - The Origins of the Internet, Touchstone, (1996)
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