|
The Internet is a giant network of computers located all over the world that communicate with each other. The Internet is an international collection of computer networks` that all understand a standard system of addresses and commands, connected together through backbone systems. It was started in 1969, when the U.S. Department of Defence established a nationwide network to connect a handful of universities and contractors. The original idea was to increase computing capacity that could be shared by users in many locations and to find out what it would take for computer networks to survive a nuclear war or other disaster by providing multiple path between users. People on the ARPNET (as this nationwide network was originally called) quickly discovered that they could exchange messages and conduct electronic "conferences" with distant colleagues for purposes that had nothing to do with the military industrial complex. If somebody else had something interesting stored on their computer, it was a simple matter to obtain a copy (assuming the owner did not protect it). Over the years, additional networks joined which added access to more and more computers. The first international connections, to Norway and England, were added in 1973. Today thousands of networks and millions of computers are connected to the Internet. It is growing so quickly that nobody can say exactly how many users "On the Net". The Internet is the largest repository of information which can provide very very large network resources. The network resources can be divided into network facilities resources and network information resources. The network facilities resources provide us the ability of remote computation and communication. The network information resources provides us all kinds of information services, such as science, education, business, history, law, art, and entertainment, etc. | 
