What is the Internet?Last updated on June 26, 1996
The Internet is a vast interconnected super-network of computer networks, and networked information resources worldwide collectively dubbed cyberspace. It's often also referred to as the Information Superhighway, or simply, the Net or the Web, replete with a lot of spider imagery - arachnophobes beware. It's developing a style, ethics and culture all its own. It's rapidly becoming a sort of global village - a meeting place - a bazaar - a university - in short, Alice's Restaurant in cyberspace. No one knows exactly how big it actually is. It reaches into just about every country of the world. It has hundreds of thousands of local sites, hundreds of which pop up or disappear every day. It's a very bubbly and vibrant place. It's used by millions of people - estimates range from 30 million to 80 million worldwide. It consists of several components and can be accessed in a variety of ways shown in the table below:
Each of these components and modes of access has special features that makes it uniquely suited to a particular purpose. The most popular and widely used component today is the WWW (World Wide Web) and the mode of access of choice for millions is the Net browser. A full 80% of people who access the WWW - often referred to as Net Surfers - make use of the Netscape browser.
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