The Internet
The Internet is a collection of computer networks around the world that are connected to each other via high-speed telecommunications links. These links may be made using optical fibre, copper wire or even microwaves (using satellites and microwave towers). Individuals connect to the Internet using a computer, modem, telephone line and Internet service provider (ISP).
Uses of the Internet
The Internet is used for communication and sharing files across vast distances. For many people it is the preferred method of sharing ideas and ®les because it is relatively cheap and fast. Some common uses of the Internet are:
Chat, email, video conferencing, research, shopping, file sharing, news, self-publishing, technical support.

Timeline of the internet: source is sushi.global teacher.org.au
History of the Internet

1960 The Internet is first conceived. Under the leadership of ARPA.
1969 Researchers on four University campuses create the first hosts of the ARPANET.
1970 The ARPANET grows to 23 hosts connecting a number of US Universities.
1971 The InterNetworking Group was established to govern the growing network.
1977 TCP/IP invented to connect small networks to ARPANET.
1979 The first USENET newsgroup the started.
1981 ARPANET has 213 hosts.
1983 TCP/IP becomes the network standard.
1984 The number of Internet hosts exceeds 1,000.
1985 The USA Nat. Science Foundation program based on 6 Supercomputers.
1987 The number of Internet hosts exceeds 10,000.
1988 The “Internet Worm” disables about 6,000 of the 60,000 hosts.
1990 ARPANET finished left the Internet.
1990 The number of hosts exceeds 300,000.
1991 Ban on commercial use lifted.
1992 First audio & video broadcast over the Internet.
1992 More than 1,000,000 hosts.
1993 First graphic-based Web browser developed.
1994 Netscape Communication Corp formed.
1996 Users in almost 150 countries use Internet.
1996 10,000,000 hosts.
2003 iTunes and Myspaces launched
2004 Social networking such as facebook, blogs and flickr grows
2005 Youtube commences
2006 Twitter developed




INTRANET
An intranet is a private version of the Internet. From about 1995, people started to adapt Internet and web-development tools to create corporate networks. Intranets use Internet standards and protocols to allow users in an organisation to communicate and collaborate more efficiently. With the appropriate permissions, employees can share information and collaborate with colleagues worldwide.
Intranets provide five core uses:

· email
· file sharing
· directories
· searches
· network management.


World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW) is a graphic representation of the millions of documents and resources that are available on the Internet. When you think of the Internet and the WWW, think of them as two parts of the same object. The Internet is
the physical structure of millions of computers cabled together worldwide Ð the hardware, topology and technical part. The WWW is the content of the Internet Ð the graphics, text and hyperlinked structure. To access the WWW, you need:
· a web browser that allows you to view documents stored on the various servers that make up the Internet
· a computer that is connected to the Internet.

Browser software
In the early days of the Internet, the software used to access information on the Internet was text based and command driven. Users needed to know many
special commands to access the information held on the various servers. This changed quite dramatically in the late 1990s with the advent of the web browser.
Web browsers provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to the resources available on the Internet. The special commands are coded into web browsers, allowing users to interact visually with the vast resources stored on the Internet simply by using the mouse.