Internet Primer
Navigating the Internet, like travelling in any unfamiliar place, can be a challenge for new visitors. The Internet offers many places to see, many ways to travel and many services to try. The Internet has grown so fast that even experienced users need to know more about what services are available and how to use them.
Large companies, universities and governments rent these lines and maintain the computers that pass on information. It is a cooperative activity where everyone helps everyone else. As a result, each user's communication power is multiplied over and over again.
What makes the Internet so hot is that anyone with a personal computer and phone line can now access the network, without having to be part of a large organization.
The World is Your Hard Drive
So what good is the Internet? The whole answer includes everything from communicating with family, friends and associates with email, to advertising, shopping online and all other kinds of information gathering, as well as access to vast numbers of computer files, programs, and digital graphics. This is the equivalent of millions of floppy disks, tens of thousands of CD-ROM's, all accessible from your home computer through an easy-to-use graphical interface.
In addition to being a great source of data, you can choose from a variety of Internet tools to get your work done. The Internet has tools for:
For businesses, virtually every area of a company can use the Internet to expand its capabilities or reduce costs. For years R&D centers have been using the Internet for sharing scientific information. Today, corporate communications departments can provide information to the press around the world. Sales and marketing departments can communicate with customers and find new prospects. Thousands of computer and software companies provide customer support via the Internet.