Background Information
What
is the Internet?
- The Internet is probably the most used yet least understood technology
of our day. While it is not necessary to truly understand the Internet
to take advantage of what it has to offer, it is usefull to understand
what is going on "behind the scenes". To define the Internet
in a nutshell, it is a massive connection of computers and networks across
the planet earth. All of these computers are linked to other computers,
which are linked to other computers, and so on. This is why the Internet
is commonly compared to a spider's web. Imagine a spider building a spider
web. His web becomes so interconnected that the spider can freely travel
from one corner of his web to the other. This is similar to how data travels
across the Internet. When information is sent from one country to another,
it is not sent directly from one computer to the next, but rather through
multiple computers before reaching it's final destination. These computers
are named servers. You may also hear the Internet commonly referred to
as the Information SuperHighway. Using a similar analogy as a spider's
web, you can visualize a car traveling from New York to California. Obviously
there is no single road which the car can travel to reach it's destination,
but rather a series of roads which are interconnected.
Where
is the Internet?
- There is no physical location of the Internet. It's everywhere. When
you connect to the Internet via your modem, one could say the Internet
is on your computer. It's in the air in the form of radio signals. It's
under the oceans on fiber optic cables running from continent to continent.
It's in outer space bouncing off of satellites. It's running across phone
wires all across the world. The Internet is everywhere.
Who
owns the Internet?
- Who owns the world's water supply? Nobody! Everybody worldwide has
the right to access the Internet. The Internet is basically a free service.
While it will cost you to CONNECT to the Internet, it will not cost you
to use it. Most library's offer access to the Internet now, so anybody
off the street can use it for free. There is no one person, company, government,
or other entity who owns the Internet. It is free and will most likely
stay that way for it's existance.
How
did the Internet get started?
- The Internet began as an experiment back in the 1960's by the U.S.
Department of Defense. The purpose was to help scientists and researchers
across long distances share information and to work together. When the
U.S. government first designed the Internet, it was built to never die.
The Cold War sparked their interest in creating a bombproof network that
would survive any war. The idea was that after an attack if portions of
the Internet were damaged, data would still be able to reach it's destination
from help of the remaining, undamaged network. The Internet has since caught
on worlwide as more and more people began seeing the advantages that could
be had by using the Internet. Colleges and Universities across the country
have helped to build and strengthen the Internet since it's early days.
Whiel the Internet has been around for decades, it did not really catch
on until the early '90's.
How
many people are on the Internet?
- It is hard to say how many people use the Internet since very often
people share their Internet account with friends and family members. Some
polls estimate anywhere from 30 million to 200 million people have access
to the Internet. One thing known for sure is that the Internet's population
is growing tremendously.
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