What is the Internet?

You wake up, grab a cup of coffee, and turn your computer on. Waiting for you is an electronic mail message from your daughter, detailing your grandson's growing fascination with dinosaurs. To help feed his interest, you search the web for dinosaur web sites devoted to kids. You find a great web site packed full of challenging interactive games (of course you had to try a couple out), drawings, and descriptions of dinosaurs. There's even an online coloring book. You copy the web address and send it on to your daughter—that should keep your grandson occupied for awhile.

Next stop, the weather. The National Weather Service's web page says to expect cold, rainy weather. Sounds like a good day to catch up on your favorite online magazines, review your online stock market portfolio, and maybe send an online postcard or two your friends. If you have time, you may join an online discussion dedicated to gardening or authentic cajun cooking.

When finished, you decide to put the final touches on your family's web page. All that's left to do is find some fun images. A web search later, and you've tracked down several web pages that offer free graphics. With a few clicks of the mouse you've downloaded some fun photos and inserted them into your web page.

Such is a day in cyberspace—the world we call the Internet.

In the last few years the Internet has gone mainstream. Magazine articles review the latest Internet technologies, business cards include email addresses, and television commercials end with pleas to visit their web site at http://theirproduct.com. In July 1999, the Nielson/NetRatings group estimated that in the United States alone, 43 million people used the Internet, whether at home, school, or work.

The Internet—with a capital "I"—is a network of computer networks that understand the same language (or protocol) for transferring data. The networks that make up the Internet are located around the state, county, and world. Any single computer that is connected to one of these networks is part of the Internet.

The Master Internet Volunteer Program was developed by the University of Minnesota Extension Service and was adapted for use in North Dakota with permission. Copyright  © 2003  North Dakota State University. All rights reserved.

North Dakota State University Extension Service