what is the internet

Do you want to communicate with your friends across town or perhaps in another city or country? You would like to share your photos, videos or documents with your friends and colleagues. Perhaps you are searching for research papers or books. Perhaps you want to download latest songs or movies. Where do you start? For this, and many more information and entertainment activities, try the Internet and the web.

The Internet is a gigantic web of computers that connects people across the globe. Providing an easy access to information and entertainment.

The internet has become an everyday tool for everyone to use. An internet user must be competent enough to know where these resources are available. They must know how to access these resources, to communicate with others, to find information, to locate best deals on e-commerce websites and above all to be knowledgeable about security issues that is unfortunately part of the internet.

The Internet was "launched in 1969" when the United States funded a project calledAdvanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET). The World Wide Web (WWW) was introduced by Sir Tim Berners Lee in 1992 at CERN (Center for European Nuclear Research), Switzerland.

Many people take the internet and the Web as the same thing, but they are not the same. The Internet is the actual physical network which comprises of wires, cables & Satellites. They connect computers across the globe. The Web on the other hand is a multimedia interface to resources and information that we find over the internet.

Every day over a billion of people connects to the internet. What are they doing? The following are the most common uses of the internet.

Uses of the Internet

Communicating

Communicating is by far the most common & popular activity over the internet. One can send emails through email service providers like Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook. Or share & view photos, videos with your friends and family on social media websites like Facebook, Google +, Twitter.

Online Shopping

Instead of going out to the market why not shop online. Find the best deals available on e-commerce websites like eBay, Amazon etc. look for what’s new in the fashion industry, and make purchases directly from these websites. You can pay the bills using Checks, Credit Cards or electronic cash.

Searching

Searching for information has never been easy and more convenient. You can access online libraries, research papers from you home. You can read books online or download it on you computer. Websites like Wikipedia provides free materials on any given topic.

Entertainment

Entertainment options on the internet are nearly endless. From listening to music online, watching movies to even playing games. Visit websites about your favorite sports, want to know about the latest block buster movies, go ahead the internet has tons of information regarding your favorite movies. Get social with your friends using social media websites like facebook.

Education

Online Education is another rapidly growing Web Application. From formal education to simply learning new skills, you can find material almost about any subject. There are courses available just for fun and there are full fledge courses on any subject for high school, college or university credits. Some courses are free while some cost a lot. Websites like Lynda.com, provides a variety of tutorials on different subjects.

The first step to using the internet and the Web is to get connected, or to gain access to the Internet.