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What is the Internet?.....by Sammy the Spider

What is the thing that fascinates you most about spiders? Is it the fact that we have eight legs or that we scare your friends? I reckon that it is the fact that most spiders make webs. Isn't it amazing how such a small creature like me can build such a complex structure?

Take a close look at my web. Can you see where it begins and where it ends? I bet that you can't. Doesn't it appear as if my web is made up of lots of smaller webs, all joined together to form one big one!

Well the Internet is very similar to my web in the way that it is constructed. Think of each strand of my web as being the wires that connect each computer together. At the end of each strand is a computer containing information. This information can be sent from one computer to another, just as easily as I move around my web.

Each "web" of connected computers is called a computer network. Just as with my web, lots of small networks can be joined together to form one giant network, which we know as the Internet! So the Internet is actually a giant network of networks that provides a standard way for exchanging files, electronic mail and other information.

Easy, isn't it!

How do I get connected?

First of all you obviously need a computer. One of the nice things about the Internet is that you don't need a special computer to connect to it. You can use your own PC, Mac or Amiga if you wish. However you do need to buy a modem. A modem is a special device that allows your computer to send and receive data with the Internet down a telephone line.

Access to the Internet is provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as Demon, CompuServe or Virgin. Some providers let you connect for free, such as BT Click and Freeserve, but most will charge you about £10 a month. Since you connect to the Internet via your home telephone, you will also be charged for the phone calls.

However, you are only charged for the cost of a local call, even if you are sending an email to your friend in Australia. But remember: someone has to pay the phone bill, so don't stay connected for too long!

Why should I get connected?

The Internet contains a huge amount of exciting and useful information. You can use this information to help you to do your home work, find out what films are on at your local cinema, or even to find out how your favourite football team or tennis players are doing. The Internet also allows you to contact people all over the world via e-mail, newsgroups and Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Let me explain these terms:

E-mail
E-mail, or electronic mail, is the post office of the Internet. It allows you to send messages all over the world. For instance, if you have a penpal in Australia who has an email address, you can send them a message any time during the day and it will arrive almost straight away! This is much faster than the usual "snail mail" method of sending it by post.

Newsgroups
Think of your favorite hobbies and interests and I guarantee that there is a newgroup that covers it. Newsgroups allow people with similar interests to discuss interesting topics. For example, you can find out information and ask questions about the Space Shuttle (sci.space.shuttle) and the environment (sci.environment). When you send a message to a newsgroup, it is sent to everyone who is a member of that newsgroup, so you may get a lot of replies!

Internet Relay Chat
IRC is a real-time discussion forum. Its a bit like a telephone call, but with words. As you type words appear on your friend's screen. They can also type messages back to you. All of these Internet tools and services are fun to use, but currently the most exciting feature of the Internet is the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web

One of the most powerful features of the Internet is that it can store many different types of information, (e.g. text, images, video, sound, etc), commonly known as multimedia information (multi = many, media = types) . Before the World Wide Web (WWW) came along, you needed to use a separate piece of software in order to access each type of information. For example, if you wanted to download some text and pictures that you were interested in, you had to use one piece of software to obtain the text and another piece of software to view the pictures. This made the Internet quite difficult to use.

The WWW is different. One of main aims of the WWW was to make it very easy to access this multimedia information. It allows you to view all this information from within the same piece of software, known as a Web browser. Web browsers are very easy to use, in fact, you are currently viewing this page from within a Web browser. Notice how the Web browser displays all of the text, pictures and animations on the same page! Clever stuff, eh?

Each page on the Web is written in a special "programming language", known as the Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML for short. If you wish to see what HTML looks like, select the "Page Source" option from the "View" menu on the Netscape toolbar. Looks complicated, doesn't it? However, don't worry, HTML is actually quite simple to learn. With a little bit of help you could start to write your own Web page. This is another reason why the WWW is so much fun. Any one can write their own Web page if they want to!

The WWW contains millions of different Web pages, covering every subject that you can think of. In order to find the information that you are looking for, the best place to start is with a search engine. Search engines allow you to use words, or groups of words, to search for Web pages with information on them that you are interested in. There are many different search engines on the Web. Some of them are listed here.

The Future...

So what's the future?

Imagine this:

Multimedia - One desktop box , like a computer but one you can watch television on, then download the latest films, music and games.

Shopping - You can look at the latest football kits, fashions, toys and order them directly using the internet. You can already do your shopping on the internet. Look at Tesco for food and The Gap for clothes. There are many other sites from all over the world where you can buy almost anything.

Video Conferencing - You'll be able to talk to and SEE people at the same time.

Thanks for reading this, I hope it helps you understand all this technology a little better. Remember - keep on surfing... it's fun out there!