La Internet

Chapter 1
What’s So Great about
the Internet, Anyway?
In This Chapter
▶ What, really, is the Internet?
▶ For that matter, what is a network?
▶ What is the Internet good for?
It’s huge, it’s sprawling, it’s globe spanning, and it has become part of our
lives. It must be . . . the Internet. We all know something about it, and
most of us have tried to use it, with more or less success. (Ifyou’ve had less,
you’ve come to the right place.) In this chapter, we look at what the Internet
is and can do before we dive into details in the rest of this book.
If you’re new to the Internet, and especially if you don’t have much computer
experience, be patient with yourself. Many of the ideas here are completely
new. Allow yourself some time to read and reread. The Internet is a differentworld with its own language, and it takes some getting used to.
Even experienced computer users can find using the Internet more complex
than other tasks they’ve tackled. The Internet isn’t a single software package
and doesn’t easily lend itself to the kind of step-by-step instructions we’d
provide for a single, fixed program. This book is as step-by-step as we can
make it, but theInternet resembles a living organism mutating at an astonishing
rate more than it resembles Microsoft Word and Excel, which sit quietly
on your computer. After you get set up and practice a little, using the Internet
seems like second nature; in the beginning, however, it can be daunting.
So, What Is the Internet?
The Internet — also known as the Net — is the world’s largest computer network.
“Whatis a network?” you may ask. Even if you already know, you may
10 Part I: Welcome to the Internet
want to read the next couple of paragraphs to make sure that we’re speaking
the same language.
A computer network is a bunch of computers that communicate with each
other. It’s sort of like a radio or TV network that connects a bunch of radio or
TV stations so that they can share the latestepisode of American Idol.
Don’t take the analogy too far. In broadcast networking, TV networks send the
same information to all stations at the same time; in computer networking,
each particular message is routed to a particular computer, so different computers
can display different things. Unlike TV networks, computer networks
are two-way: When computer A sends a message to computer B, B cansend a
reply back to A.
Some computer networks consist of a central computer and a bunch of
remote stations that report to it (for example, a central airline-reservation
computer with thousands of screens and keyboards in airports and travel
agencies). Other networks, including the Internet, are more egalitarian
and permit any computer on the network to communicate with any other
computer.Many new wireless devices — cellphones, Palm handhelds, the
BlackBerry, iPhones, and their ilk — expand the reach of the Internet right
into our pockets. (Hands off our wallets!)
The Internet isn’t really one network — it’s a network of networks, all freely
exchanging information. The networks range from the big, corporate networks
to tiny ones (such as the one John built in his back bedroom,made
from a couple of old PCs he bought at an electronics parts store) and everything
in between. College and university networks have long been part of the
Internet, and now high schools and elementary schools are joining in. Lately,
the Internet has become so popular that many households have more than
one computer and are creating their own little networks that they connect to
the Internet.What’s All the Hoopla?
Everywhere you turn, you can find traces of the Internet. Household products,
business cards, radio shows, and movie credits list their Web site addresses
(usually starting with www and ending with “dot com”) and their e-mail
addresses. New people you meet would rather give you an e-mail address
than a phone number. Everyone seems to be “going online” and “googling...