What is the Internet?

The Internet is a worldwide network that connects computers ranging from small personal computers to large supercomputers. No one knows how large the Internet is - some estimate it to be as high as 4 million computers used by 20 million people. No one is in charge of the Internet - and because of this it changes all the time. What you find today, may not be there tomorrow. You can use the Internet to do things such as view artwork, listen to music, access library catalogs and databases, obtain software, read electronic books, get the latest weather maps, write e-mail to friends around the world, take a walking tour of a college, and do additional things that weren't even dreamed up when this sentence was written.

The Internet is like a large highway system - you travel to certain places to be able to see and do special things. How you get to these places depends on the kinds of roads you take. The road we will use to explore is the World Wide Web. It is called the navigational tool because it helps users locate the information they need. Each place has its own type of information and tool for getting the information. But these places can talk to each other and can exchange information because everyone has agreed upon a standard way to "talk." This allows us to exchange text, graphics, sound, audio, and video.