Exactly what is the Internet?
The Internet, or ‘Net’, is a global network enabling
computers of all kinds to directly and transparently communicate and share
services throughout much of the world. The Internet is an enormously valuable
tool, enabling
many people and organizations to share global resources of information, knowledge, means of
collaboration, and co-operation among countless diverse communities. It is
remarkable that when we speak about the history of the Internet we can only
go back to the mid-1990s.
Who is Using the World Wide
Web?
Millions of computers around the world are now connected to each other by
telephone lines, underground and undersea cables and via satellites in
outer space. It has been said that mankind doubles his knowledge every ten
years. The advent of computers and the Internet may be seen as significant
steps that will accelerate the pace of knowledge accumulation.
In 1995, for the
first time in history, more computers were produced and sold in the United
States than television sets, and in 1996, Internet traffic exceeded faxes.
The
Internet should not only be seen as a source of knowledge. It has become a
substantial source of entertainment as well as a place to go shopping.
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