Background about the Internet

What follows is a VERY abbreviated overview. I may be a "geek" but I'm sure not a "techie"! Please refer to more authoritative resources by searching for a particular term.

First of all, the term "Internet" is used incorrectly by most people now, who are speaking about the World Wide Web. The Internet itself is a communication network connecting computers. The WWW is a name for the data transmitted, the pages of information that anyone can see.

History

Interestingly, Isaac Asimov, the sci-fi writer, set forth the idea back in 1959 in a short story called "Anniversary". It actually got started about 30 years later, around 1989, when an English genius named Tim Berners-Lee saw what the current technologies could do when combined. Since then, the continuous improvement is just an exponential WOW! No one could foresee what a force this has become in the world. It has political influence, and gives every reader a chance for an unlimited education. For further information see Wikipedia: World Wide Web

Terms

In order to see what's on the Web, you must have "access", for which one pays a "Provider". There are thousands + of providers. Some older ones here are AOL, MSN, Net-zero, Juno. There are smaller, local and even free ones, but very few.

The types (and prices) of services depend on the speed desired, because as web pages become more complicated, they take longer time to "download", or be seen on your screen. In America, we all started with Dial Up over phone lines.. but have become too impatient to wait "forever"(over 40 seconds!) today. DSL or broadband is much preferred and more expensive. They can be transmitted over fiber-optic cable, usually through the local phone or Cable TV company, so the newer ISPs are Comcast, Charter and Verizon. It's even available from satellite dish. I have to admit ignorance of the situation in other countries, but I do understand some have much more extensive wireless capabilities than we do. We have a big country, and that will take time.

The wired hardware peripheral required to access the Internet is called a modem. It is usually rented from the provider, but can be owned individually as well. It is the interface between the Internet and your computer.

Addresses

Internet "Addresses" or URLs are important for the routing of communication on the Net. Each and every computer (or modem) has it's own particular "address". It is a series of numbers, but every webpage has a name that is really the path or route to get to it, in the form of "http://www.senior-computer-help.com/background.html".You can see it in the address box above when you are on that page. It has been succinctly said, that " A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route or path indicates how to get there." Very logical.

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