| Written by: Roderick Hames |
Very few people
have never heard of the Internet; and most people have either used
the Internet occasionally or frequently. It doesn't take much to
know that the Internet has attracted an enormous amount
of attention the past few years.
What truly is all this fuss about?
Some
believe it's the speed and wide variety of information found on the internet that
has made it so popular. Others say it's the ease one can access and
publish information on the Internet while others just believe it is a fad.
No matter what people say, they can't deny the Internet's tremendous growth
rate and current level of popularity in this and other countries.
In fact, if you have not heard or browsed the Internet, it is not the fault of the Internet. It just isn't that complicated or isolated. Furthermore, anyone with a computer, phone line, modem , and an ISP can connect and even publish on the Internet. However to publish you will have to get to know some Basic Terms such as HTML, HTTP, URL, and others. From young to old, millions of companies, organization, and individuals have published with great success.
ust
look around. As my mom says, "Everything has gone www.com
crazy." Don't get me wrong the Internet has its complex side.
It is a well thought out network with lots of technical languages and protocols
that make it work. But that complexity has simply made it easier
for the average person to use. From doctors, lawyers,
professors, scientist to hobbyist, housewives and elementary students all
have found something of value on the Internet .
he
Internet's speed, vast resources,
and its ability to directly communicate with
others are its greatest benefits. Because the Internet uses the quickness
of computers to transmit its data, information can travel at tremendous
speeds.
Speed
is
not the only benefit. The Internet uses hundreds of thousands of
computers all connected to each other to store vast amounts of information.
And finally, because the Internet allows for individuals to have specific
electronic mail addresses, people can easily communicate with one another.
he
Internet is considered by many to be superior to the best and biggest libraries
in the county. This superiority exists primarily due to the thousands
of organizations, companies and individuals publishing on the Internet.
With such ease of publishing and the wide variety of publishers, there
is almost no subject left off the Internet. The Internet's ability
to deliver this vast amount of information has drawn even more users.
Not having to wait for a book, newspaper, or magazine publisher to review
and send an author's manuscript to a printing press to be bound or printed
eliminates the time it would normally take to publish something.
Instead of reading a medical breakthrough in next month's journal, it can
be published on the Internet instantly. A breaking news event can
be published almost immediately after the event occurs. People don't
have to wait until the morning paper to read about
an event. This part of the Internet alone has helped make the Internet
a technological breakthrough.
ven
finding not so current information can be a breeze using the Internet.
Driving to a library and searching for possibly hours just to find some
specific information is a task many of us have experienced. With
the Internet you can sit in the convenience of your home and search (surf)
to find information faster than going to a library.
heoretically,
the information on the Internet can travel at the speed of light (186,000
miles/sec.). Realistically, we know that this speed is nearly impossible
due mainly to the large number of people using the Internet, and the limitation
of the phone system. However the Internet's
speed is much faster than traditional means of gathering news and reporting
information.
ommunication
is a huge benefit of the Internet. Many people use the Internet to
simple send messages and nothing else. Whether it be by news
groups, chat rooms, or the most
popular method E-mail, communicating over
the Internet has developed vast appeal and usage. Millions of people
around the globe use E-mail to communicate everyday. They all place
great value on the convenience of sending and receiving E-mail. I
am one of its biggest fans. E-mail can be sent and retrieved by its
recipient almost instantly. The message never has to be printed or
physically mailed to get to it's destination. Furthermore, the cost
is considerably less than a thirty-two cent stamp and is delivered a lot
faster.
ith
the invention of the Internet phone, some people can now even talk across
the Internet just like on a voice phone but without paying long distance
charges. It is just a fact; the time it takes to send a letter or
reply to a phone message is no match for E-mail's speed and convenience.
he
Internet's
history is not very complicated nor that long. It may surprise
you to know that the Internet began 25 years ago as an experiment of the
U.S. Defense Department. In fact, it was not originally designed
for the public's personal use. The original goal of the Internet
was to establish a system to safeguard the exchange of information among
different government agencies in the event of war. With no one computer
or person controlling the Internet, the enemy could not destroy our means
of communication with just one military strike. Today this unique
feature of the Internet remains constant and part of its success. No one
person or organization controls or heads the
Internet. It is basically hosted by thousands of individual computers
that have registered with the NSF (National Science Foundation) for an
Internet address.
n
1991 there were only 100 host computers or sites. Today this number
exceeds half a million and is constantly growing. The Internet has
certainly seen tremendous growth in just the past 3 to 6 years.
hat
really caused the Internet's tremendous growth spurt was the invention
of something that made the Internet both easy to use and easy to transmit
multimedia (graphics, sound, and video). The invention was a software
product now known as a browser .
In 1991 in an European physics lab, an invention was made that enabled
words in a sentence to be clicked on and an action then performed.
This invention today is know as hypertext
.
Hypertext is when words or pictures are clicked on that takes the place
of typing commands into the computer. This single feature made the
Internet easier to use. With this invention came new users from small
kids to senior adults who felt comfortable riding the information
super highway. This has forever changed the way average people
use the Internet. Today we find people reading magazines, buying
products, listening to radio stations, talking
to friends, writing messages, playing games, even watching video all through
the use of the Internet.
ith
almost each passing day, a new product or
tool
is
invented or improved upon to help people use the Internet. However
millions of people still are not using the Internet. This is due
mainly to the lack of either a computer or an Internet service provider.
Nevertheless the Internet continues to surprise even the experts with its
tremendous growth and popularity. Its tremendous influence on today's
society is certain to be felt for many years to come.
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Directions: Answer each of the following questions in your own words using the article "The Internet: What's the fuss?" on the Internet.
11. Give an example of a real URL.
12. When text are in a different color on a web site, that is referred to as what?
13. What is a browser and what is the most popular browser today?
14. Name a different browser than the one in question 13.
15. How are computer messages sent across the telephone?
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