UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNET
WHAT IS THE INTERNET

The single, most famous and wonderful network ever created, is the Internet. Ultimately, except for networks kept apart mainly for security reasons, all the networks may eventually join the single global network known fondly as the Internet. The internet has a long history. It is originally created by the United States Department of Defense as an emergency communication link in the event of a nuclear fallout, which, will no doubt render any other communication links useless with their Electro-Magnetic Pulse effect. Since then, the Internet has evolved into the largest computer network on Earth! It consist of as many as 50 million computers linked together in the mid-1990's, the numbers are still increasing at an alarming rate! The computers hooked into the Internet ranges from Personal Computers, to huge mainframes at government offices, and corporations. All of them are linked together through the telephone system. The Internet, nicknamed the Information Highway, enables individuals like us to obtain huge amounts of information from all over the world. Any computers which are connected to the Internet can access any information source on the network. It is just like a giant computer with every single known information stored within, shared by everyone all over the world. Furthermore, the number of people who have access to the information is increasing at an equally amazing rate.

The World Book "Science Year" is quoted as saying "We are witnessing the creation of a global database that may one day contain all of the world's information including artwork, music, and even motion pictures!"

The drawbacks of the Internet are few; A common problem can be the crime called hacking. Hacking is much easier to commit via the Internet, as it is an extrememly large network diffucult to trace and monitor entirely at one time. Another problem is taht it could sometimes be slow.