If you have ever visited New York City, or looked at it on a map, you know that when people talk about the city, they mean Manhattan Island. As New Yorkers quickly point out, New York City is actually five boroughs - Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Staten Island. Nonetheless, anytime anyone except a New Yorker talks about New York, they mean Manhattan. Most people tend to use the words "the Internet ('Net)" and "the World Wide Web (Web)" interchangeably, but they are not the same. Much like Manhattan is just a part of New York City, the Web is just the dominant part of the Internet.
The Internet is a set of rules that allows computers to connect and communicate with other computers easily, a development by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) in 1969 as a way for researchers and defense contractors to exchange information. The World Wide Web (www) was developed in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, who was a computer programmer working for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Berners-Lee constructed a graphic interface that allowed you to see photos and graphics, hear sounds, and view videos by simply clicking on a hypertext link.
So the Web is only a part - yes, the dominant part - of the Internet. In most cases, when you look at your email, technically you are doing it separately from the Web. When you talk in chat rooms, you can do that without accessing the Web. When you share files, like swapping music or text files, that too can be done without the Web. All of these things can also be done using the Web, which is why things get confusing. Again, think of Manhattan Island and realize that the Web is just a part of a much larger Internet.
First, it helps to understand that "the Internet" is not a singular thing. It is a collection of computers around the world connected via phone and data lines. There is no single point of entry to the Internet - it is a crazy quilt of computers and connections.
So to get "on" you need to have a way to reach the other computers. You need a phone number that can connect you to the Internet, an interface device and software that does the mechanics of dialing that phone number so that the computer network can understand it, and you need a password that lets the system know that it is really you who wants to get started on an internet journey. The phone number and password information are provided in advance to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
The third thing you need is that interface device that can talk to other computers, and also a device or software that displays this information so you can see it. Just a couple of years ago, the answer to "what do you need to get online?" was straightforward: a personal computer, a modem that hooks into your telephone line, an account with an ISP, and some software. That is still the starting point for most of us, but now there are many ways to connect your computer to the Internet.
Now, people can access the Internet from dial-up phone lines, dedicated digital high-speed phone lines, cell phones, and other mobile devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs). So the answer is a little more complex, but the formula is the same. You still need a device that has a computer's capabilities, a way to connect to the computer network, plus software such as a web browser, email client and possibly other software components. Much of this software is preloaded on your computer (we will use the term "computer" to universally mean whatever device you are using to connect to the Web) and only requires you to enter a few pieces of information from your ISP in order to get you up and running.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Ethan B. Kendall at 08202010
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