Internet Issues:
Defining Terms
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Internet Issues: Defining Terms |
| What is the Information Superhighway? | The information superhighway is a term used to describe the vast electronic highway that spans the globe, allowing high speed communication and the exchange of countless pieces of information among many users. In the United States, this "backbone" is called the National Information Infrastructure (NII). |
| What is the Internet? | The Internet is that part of the information superhighway most often discussed
in the media. It is a worldwide network of connected computer systems. These
computers may be linked through telephone wire, cable, and wireless and
satellite connections. The Internet has many features, but it is most often used to communicate, to gather information from a vast array of sources, and to transfer files or programs from one computer to another. The nicknames most often associated with the Internet are cyberspace or "the Net." Many also refer to the Internet as a "virtual world." |
| How and why did the Internet develop? | The Internet was originally developed in the 1960's to be a method for linking a series of computers within the U. S. and around the world in such a way that the network could survive the effects of a nuclear war. It was designed so that if one section of the network was destroyed, information could be automatically re-routed along another path to reach its destination. In the beginning, as a text-only environment, it was sufficient for the government agencies and universities for whom it was intended. |
| What is the World Wide Web? | Although the Internet had its beginnings in the 1960's, the World Wide Web has only been around since 1989. Researchers in Switzerland wanted to develop a better way to share information with widely-dispersed research groups. The World Wide Web (or "the Web" as it is most often called) is a network of sites on the Internet that may include words, pictures, sound, and even video.The visual and sound capabilities of the World Wide Web are what distinguish it from the rest of the Internet. The World Wide Web is only a part of the Internet, but most experts believe that it is the World Wide Web which has made the Internet so popular. |
| What does it mean to "go online?" | "Going online" refers to getting yourself connected to the Internet. Most people accomplish this process using a computer with a modem connected through a telephone line to an Internet Service Provider with whom they have established an account. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) then gives the user access to the Internet. |
| Where does a company such as America Online fit into all of this? | America Online is a commercial service which provides general Internet access as well as access to its own additional programs and services. An analogy may help: think of a general Internet connection as basic cable service. In this same analogy, think of America Online as a business which provides basic cable as well as additional premium channels that basic cable does not. |
| Why is the Internet such a powerful communication tool? | The Internet provides the user with many different services all in one system. For example:
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| The Internet seems to have its own special vocabulary. Where can I find definitions for more Internet terms? | There are a number of excellent sources that provide a glossary of Internet terms. Click on any of the links below for lists of Internet terms and their definitions: |
| Definitions |
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